Marvel Studios is about to expand heavily on its catalog of characters over the next couple of years, especially as all-new properties come to theaters and Disney+. This even includes the studio's first real dip into the supernatural and mystical side of the MCU with entries like Oscar Isaac's Moon Knight on Disney+.
The series is currently filming in Budapest, although story details for Marc Spector's first solo project remain a mystery for the time being.
Isaac will be joined by Ethan Hawke as one of the villains in Moon Knight, although it's unclear what specific character he will play even from looking at set photos of him in costume. In fact, there have been no rumors pointing to any specific big bad that the hero will face, although the character boasts an impressive rogues' gallery from the comics.
In that light, news has just come regarding one specific villain for whom Marvel Studios may have plans for in this show.
THE BIRTH OF WEREWOLF BY NIGHT
Filmmaker Kevin Smith suggested on an episode of his FatMan Beyond show, via ComicBook, that former Marvel TV head Jeph Loeb turned Smith down from using Werewolf by Night in a Howard the Duck show he was working on for Hulu.
Smith spoke about wanting to "take a stab at all the f***ing '70s characters" in this new show, which included Jack Russell on the list. When running his idea by Loeb for how he would have used Werewolf by Night, Loeb shot down the idea and simply said "the movie division was using him:"
"Two years ago when we announced, 'Hey, we're gonna be doing Masters of the Universe!' which is now about to happen, we also announced 'Hey, we're gonna be doing Howard the Duck!' over at Hulu, remember that? For a red hot minute, I was working on Howard the Duck and before Dave [Willis, Aqua Teen Hunger Force co-creator] involved, when it was just me, Jeph Loeb was like 'Hey man, I think you'd be good for Howard the f--king Duck.' I reached out to Walter Flanagan from Comic Book Men and told him I'm gonna take a stab at all the f--king 70s characters. Walt was giving suggestions and Werewolf By Night was absolutely on the list."
"In my head, as I started building my season, I was like, 'Alright. Episode 5. Werewolf by Night.' The idea of our story was that Howard was trapped here and he was trying to get pages of the Darkhold, which would allow him to go back. There's Howard as I'm laying it out and then I go into Jeph and told him what I wanted to do, and that's when they said 'You can't use Werewolf by Night,' and I asked why. They said the movie division was using him."
JACK RUSSELL GOING MCU?
As one of the biggest names in comic book movies, Smith's quotes certainly hold weight, especially considering that Werewolf by Night is a key player in Marvel Comics' history.
Nearly two years ago, rumors first teased that Marvel Studios had plans to bring Marvel Comics' popular werewolf into the MCU, although the capacity of his arrival wasn't known at the time. Looking at his ties to Moon Knight, especially with his show having recently been announced at the time it seemed most likely that the two would find their way into a Marvel Studios property together.
Moon Knight originally made his comics debut in "Werewolf by Night #32" from 1975, so it seems only right that Jack Russell would be an important piece of the story in the live-action Moon Knight series for Marvel Studios. Taking into account how Egyptian mythology plays into Marc Spector's origin story, bringing werewolves into play here as well could be a fairly easy entry point.
With story details still unknown for Oscar Isaac's solo series still likely remaining under wraps for some time, fans wait to find out if Marvel's well-known lycanthrope will make his first appearance alongside the mystical anti-hero. The rumor is a thrilling one nonetheless, and it seems as though Marvel has plans to bring him into play at some point in the near future.
Moon Knight is currently filming and will release on Disney+ sometime in 2022.
