Composer Michael Giacchino is Directing Marvel’s Halloween Special

Over the decades, Michael Giacchino has cemented himself as one of the biggest music composers around, thanks to Lost, the Star Trek reboot films, and The Incredibles, and plenty more. You’ve heard his music a lot in recent years, and now you’ll get to see him take on directing duties for Marvel.

Giacchino has signed on to direct Marvel’s upcoming (and still untitled) Halloween special that currently only has Gael Garcia Bernal and The Nevers’ Laura Donnelly revealed as part of its cast. Very little is known about the special itself, other than it’s believed to focus Werewolf by Night, who often hangs around the more supernatural corners of the Marvel universe and first appeared in a comic with Moon Knight. (You may have heard of him.) The one-hour special is expected to begin filming later this month for a release timed around Halloween, followed by a Guardians of the Galaxy special for the winter holidays.

While Giacchino’s had plenty experience composing music for Marvel—he did the original Doctor Strange, as well as all three MCU Spider-Man movies and this summer’s Thor: Love & Thunder—he’s also directed a handful of times. In 2018, he directed, wrote, and scored the short film Monster Challenge, and later directed a short for Star Trek the following year. It’s currently unknown if Giacchino will also handle the special’s score.

Having Giacchino on to direct the special is interesting, both because it’s not something many composers do, and also because of the character involved. While most comic fans may know of Werewolf by Night’s original incarnation of Jack Russell, a more modern version of the obscure hero arrived in Marvel’s four-part Werewolf by Night miniseries in 2020 from writers Taboo and Benjamin Jackendoff and artist Scott Eaton. The new Werewolf was a teenager named Jake Gomez born with his powers and who found he could transform at any time based on his emotions, and used music to keep in control. With music being a key component of the character, and a musician on hand to direct, it may give some clues as to what to expect from the Halloween special as we begin to learn more about it.

[via The Hollywood Reporter]

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