Werewolf By Night Transformation Did Not Use CGI

The werewolf transformation sequence in Marvel's Halloween special Werewolf By Night did not use CGI, according to director Michael Giacchino. Marvel's first Halloween special, the hour-long film will mark MCU composer Giacchino's feature directorial debut. After the first trailer for Werewolf By Night's release during the D23 Expo, fan anticipation has only increased due to the promise of seeing the Marvel Comics character Jack Russell - who has previously appeared in comics alongside characters like Moon Knight and Ghost Rider - make his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut. Marvel has since confirmed the appearance of the classic swamp monster Man-Thing in the special.

Werewolf By Night will star Gael Garcia Bernal as Jack Russell (the Werewolf By Night) and Laura Donnelly as Elsa Bloodstone, a monster hunter. The film centers on a group of monster hunters who unite after the death of their leader, Ulysses Bloodstone, agreeing to decide on his replacement through a competition to find an ominous artifact. Drastically different from other Marvel projects in terms of the introduction of monsters as well as the black-and-white style, Werewolf By Night has already set itself apart from the MCU in many ways, and Giacchino has recently pointed to another.

In an interview with ComicBook.com for the Phase Zero podcast, Giacchino discussed Jack's transformation in the special, referencing inspiration from classic werewolf transformations in horror films and citing a desire to avoid imitating what had already been done. Instead, the director spoke of the decision to take a different route and focus on Elsa's reaction to the werewolf transformation, while displaying the actual monster take shape in shadow and silhouette, in order to amp up the horror due to the inherent fear present in the unseen. In a move away from much of the MCU's current fare, the director says the shot was achieved "in-camera" rather than through the use of CGI. Check out what he had to say below:

"That's not a visual effect, that shot. That was all done in-camera and that took months to design and figure out how we were going to do it, but Joe Farrell, our visual effects supervisor, was incredible in helping put that together. But that is almost exactly as I storyboarded that moment, exactly that... so wherever we could do practical, in-camera effects, we did it, and I would say there [are] a ton of them in there, you just would never even know."

What Werewolf By Night's Practical Effects Mean For The MCU's CGI Going Forward

Ulysses Bloodstone in a coffin in Werewolf by Night

Though the MCU has used a combination of practical effects and CGI since it kicked off with 2008's Iron Man, the franchise has come under fire recently for its use of CGI, which many fans have deemed excessive. With the technology available to modern filmmakers, MCU creators have been able to produce award-winning visual effects, providing an impressive level of immersion into the fantastical worlds of Marvel's heroes. However, the CGI sometimes doesn't land, and viewers have expressed a desire to return to the more realistic feel lent to a project that incorporates more practical effects than CGI. The Marvel Disney+ shows, in particular, have seen complaints from audiences due to the time and budget constraints placed on the TV series that lead to ambitious VFX work coming under scrutiny. With the increased use of practical effects described by Giacchino in Werewolf By Night, perhaps fans will renew their calls for more practical effects work in the franchise's next phase.

Despite the public's renewed interest in practical effects, Giacchino's comments indicate that the transformation sequence's practical effects took "months" to bring to fruition, making it unlikely that the MCU will make a significant change to their current effects work based on their strict scheduling. However, Marvel's newly expanded franchise thanks to the Disney+ era allows for smaller-scale, isolated projects such as Werewolf By Night to dive into experimentation and new visual styles. Based on early critic reviews of Werewolf By Night as well as the director's commitment to practical effects, the Halloween special will be a resounding hit when it premieres on October 7th.

Source: ComicBook.com