We're never short of a few (well, more than a few) online rumors when it comes to upcoming Marvel Studios projects, and more often than not, they turn out to be either completely false or at least mostly inaccurate.
Recently, the lads over at the Weekly Planet podcast - who do tend to be pretty reliable - claimed that Mahershala Ali was set to make his MCU debut (unless you happen to count his off-screen voice cameo in Eternals' post-credits scene) as Blade in the Disney+ Werewolf By Night Halloween Special, and Michael Giacchino was asked about the report during an interview with BSL.
"You know what, rumours are insanely inaccurate I would say…99.9% of the time," said the composer-turned-director. "The thing about the Marvel Cinematic Universe is everyone thinks that every single thing is going to be connected. Every single thing. And it doesn’t mean that we’re not connected. But, I didn’t feel the need to blatantly say we were."
"You know, every other show has done that and they’ve done it brilliantly and I thought 'you know what?', when I was a kid, I would pull a comic off the shelf and this particular Werewolf By Night issue had nothing to do with anything else in the Marvel Universe. What’s wrong with that? That’s okay! You know, they can all live together but we don’t need to always show them together."
It doesn't sound like an appearance from The Daywalker is on the cards for this Special Presentation, but Giacchino doesn't actually confirm or deny that Ali was going to show up, so maybe it was the original plan.
Blade or no Blade, initial reactions to Werewolf By Night have been very positive, and it sounds like old-school horror fans are going to have plenty to look forward to.
While the likes of Moon Knight and the Doctor Strange movies have included horror elements, Werewolf By Night looks like it's going to be Marvel Studios' first full-on foray into the genre. The black-and-white teaser gives of a grindhouse creature feature vibe, as a group of monster hunters come to realize that a member of the team is one of the very beasts they've been pursuing.
Have another look at the footage below.
Though very little has been officially revealed about this Special, based on what we see here, there's a very good chance the extensive plot leak that did the rounds earlier this year was accurate.
Werewolf By Night will premiere on Disney+ just in time for Halloween on October 7.