Marvel's Werewolf By Night Prop Team Borrowed Something From Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3
The Marvel Studios Special Presentation "Werewolf By Night" put lauded composer Michael Giacchino in the director's chair for the first time. Well, the first time for a major production. In the new documentary special "Director By Night," we learn from his brother Anthony (who shot the doc) about Michael's history of shooting his own films on a Super 8 camera that he got from his parents. (They are also in the documentary, and they're the cutest.) Giacchino has had a love of movie making since the early 1980s, and he did everything in his short films, from figuring out special effects to choreographing fight scenes, to finding props, to scratching the film to make laser blasts and lightsabers.
By the way, if Michael Giacchino's name is familiar to you, perhaps it's because he's scored films like "The Incredibles," "Mission: Impossible III," "Ratatouille," "Cloverfield," "Star Trek," "Up," "Super 8," "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes," "Jurassic World," "Doctor Strange," "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story," the "Spider-Man" trilogy, "Jojo Rabbit," "The Batman," "Thor: Love and Thunder," and TV series like "Alias," "Lost," and "Fringe." That's just a sampling of his insane body of work.
"Director By Night" is just the loveliest documentary, giving us a background on Michael Giacchino's lifelong love of film and a reunion with his filmmaking buddies from Holy Cross High School in New Jersey. We also get a look behind-the-scenes of "Werewolf By Night," the creature department, the shoot, and some of the production meetings. We even get a little glimpse at the props, including one that somehow made its way from the set of "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3," which is coming out next May.
Well, that doesn't bode well for the extras in the new film, does it?
You can see it at the 31:09 mark (or look at the image bove). Jonathan Derosa, the property master, and Joe Salas, the assistant property manager, are standing on what appears to be the maze set from "Werewolf By Night." We see a burned body in some sort of structured vest, and that guy has been through it. Details aren't exactly easy to see. He is lying on what looks like the edge of one of the pits. Derosa says, "Poor soul, this guy, he's been here for the last three days." Then he says, "This guy was supposed to be in 'Guardians of the Galaxy 3.' We pulled him beforehand, so ... "
Now we don't know exactly what is going to happen with this guy in the upcoming end of the trilogy (though we will very likely see some of the characters in future Marvel films), but something harrowing is going on if there is a scorched person. Perhaps more than one if they were able to just lift this from the set of the sequel without upsetting anything on James Gunn's set. I like to imagine someone in the props department for "Guardians" saying something like, "Oh yeah, sure. Grab him. We've got plenty of burned corpses lying around."
Whatever this indicates for "Guardians of the Galaxy," it should be said that "Director By Night" is absolutely worth a watch.
"Director By Night" and "Werewolf By Night" are currently streaming on Disney+, and "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" will hit theaters on May 5, 2023.