Halloween Horror Nights Has Revealed Universal's New Wolf Man, And Fans Are Not Over The Moon

Filmmaking is a ruthless business. You grind yourself half to death trying to make a name for yourself, finally make it to the big leagues with a well-received hit like Leigh Whannell's "The Invisible Man," parlay that success into a top-secret project like "Wolf Man," and then some harebrained marketing stunt goes and ruins it all. If that sounds a little dramatic, well, that's only because you haven't yet seen the latest big reveal from — of all places — this year's Halloween Horror Nights event at Universal Studios in Los Angeles. The annual spooky fest has always been a treat for theme park aficionados, but this time it came with an extra surprise: our first public look at Whannell's "Wolf Man" (lucky CinemaCon attendees already got a sneak peek earlier in April). To put it generously, the reactions are decidedly ... mixed.

This initial reveal started making the rounds on social media yesterday evening, led by tweets such as this one by Halloween Horror Nights enthusiast HHNSpeculationMatt. And as far as first impressions go, this one felt a bit, ah, questionable. Basically little more than a guy in a neat mask, some ratty clothes, and long hair, users were quick to sound off. (/Film's very own Ryan Scott accurately nailed the "Big Leprechaun" vibes of this whole design.) Most rubbernecking onlookers assumed that this was little more than a fun instance of promotional work — one that couldn't possibly reflect what the main monster in the upcoming remake actually looks like, right?

Well, the joke's on us. According to some additional confirmation from a rather trustworthy source, all indications are that this really is an early representation of the Wolf Man design in the final film. Yeah, talk about a head-scratcher.

Look, Leigh Whannell has earned the benefit of the doubt. After guiding both "Upgrade" and "The Invisible Man" to such thrilling and entertaining results, none of us should be skeptical of what else he has up his sleeve with "The Wolf Man" — even if original leading man Ryan Gosling has since been replaced with Christopher Abbott. But with all that said, I mean, just look at that bizarre facsimile of the Wolf Man! There's positively nothing wolfish about any of that at all. That wouldn't be such a big deal, of course, if it weren't for another post by popular "scooper" Daniel Richtman, where he indicated that:

"Unfortunately, I've confirmed that this IS the design, but it looks slightly better in the actual film."

Ominous! Obviously there's a long, long way to go between a (probably underpaid) guy in a suit at Halloween Horror Nights and the main baddie that will be seen wreaking havoc in all his sharp-clawed glory in the actual movie. And, of course, it's worth noting that the original 1941 film was brought to life precisely by the same means ... though horror fans would agree that that classic looked far better than anything we've seen since. Whether it will be boosted by much higher-quality prosthetics or a dash of seamless VFX work, Richtman's reporting would seem to indicate that fans can safely wait for a "slightly" better version once we get a look at the trailer footage. Even if it turns out to be a serious improvement, however, it'll always feel like an odd choice to set expectations quite low with this particular first look.

Once meant to hit theaters in October of this year, Whannell's "Wolf Man" will finally arrive January 17, 2025.