Last Halloween, Marvel Studios released its first Special Presentation with Werewolf by Night. Directed by acclaimed composer Michael Giacchino, it introduced us to characters like the titular werewolf, Man-Thing, and Elsa Bloodstone, though we've yet to see any of them reappear.
As the first MCU horror story, it was something new from Marvel Studios. The fact it was presented in black and white ensured the special felt unlike anything else we'd seen from the studio on Disney+, and it's set to return to the streamer later this month, this time in full colour.
Giacchino recently spoke with Marvel.com about colourizing Werewolf by Night, explaining the idea first came up while putting the finishing touches to the original.
"We started doing some tests, and we were like, that's cool. We were well into this a year ago - wanting to do this and share this. We thought after a year of people having seen it, it's been up there, it would be fun to reintroduce it in another way - in another version of what horror really is, which is in those old movies that I used to love growing up from Hammer horror films, which were these saturated colors and stark lighting."
"When we shot it, we tried to - at least in my head, I always knew black and white was foremost, the first version we were going to do," the filmmaker adds. "But I also kept an eye on what we were doing color-wise, in hopes that if we did a color version, it could be fun. So I think it's just a fun, nice way to reintroduce it to the world in a different way for them to experience Werewolf By Night."
Asked how Hammer horror movies inspired this colourization of Werewolf by Night, Giacchino made it clear they were at the forefront of his mind (meaning this version is every bit as stylised as its predecessor).
"We were looking at stills from every one of those movies - I mean, it was across the board. It wasn't any one thing. Because they kind of had a house style, especially for the things that they were shooting on sets. The way they would light them, the way that they would push the colors in the scenes. As best as we could, we did that."
The director went on to admit he was initially concerned that the Bloodstone and Elsa's final scene no longer being the only things portrayed in colour would lessen their respective impacts. However, "[After] watching it, I still felt the same feelings. I still felt the same about everything. It's certainly a different experience than in black and white, but it's just a different experience. It's just, as I said, a new way to experience that story."
So, we've had Werewolf by Night in black and white and now colour, but what will follow next year? "3D! Yes! Yes, then we'll do the 1950s version of the movie where it was just 3D," Giacchino jokes. "Yeah, maybe. I don't know. That would be great. I'd be down."
Werewolf by Night arrives on Disney+ on October 20. You can also check out a new still below.