Leigh Whannell, the director of “The Invisible Man,” is set to reboot another classic Universal Monsters character with Blumhouse’s “Wolf Man.” The first trailer, poster, and synopsis for the film have been released. The teaser, running for 70 seconds, provides a glimpse into the plot of the upcoming horror movie. It appears that Christopher Abbott’s character, Blake, inherits his remote childhood home in rural Oregon after his father vanishes and is presumed dead. Following an encounter with a werewolf, Blake transforms into the titular Wolf Man. Although the trailer doesn’t fully reveal the Wolf Man’s appearance, the monster’s final design has been unveiled at Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios. For those interested, the teaser trailer and the first poster for “Wolf Man” are available for viewing.
In the film “Wolf Man,” Julia Garner plays the role of Charlotte, the wife of the main character, Blake. Despite their troubled marriage, Blake convinces Charlotte to accompany him and their young daughter, Ginger, for a countryside retreat. However, their peaceful getaway is disrupted when they are attacked by an unknown creature upon arriving at the farmhouse in the dead of night. They hastily seek refuge inside the house, but as the night unfolds, Blake’s behavior becomes increasingly erratic, leading to a startling transformation. Charlotte is then confronted with a harrowing decision as she grapples with the dangers lurking both within and outside their home.
Universal initially had plans to create a high-budget reboot of its Universal Monsters franchise known as the “Dark Universe.” However, following the disappointing performance of the first installment, “The Mummy” (2017) starring Tom Cruise, all future planned entries were canceled. The focus shifted to developing individual horror-driven films. In 2020, “The Invisible Man” achieved success at the box office, standing out as one of the final hits before the COVID-19 pandemic prompted the closure of theaters worldwide. “The Invisible Man” was not part of the Dark Universe, and producer Ken Kao announced in March 2024 that “Wolf Man” would also remain standalone.
Kao expressed his perspective, stating, “As an outsider, I would say that The Mummy’s Dark Universe, in my humble opinion, felt like it was reactive to what was going on with all the superhero stuff — the MCU and DC universe.” He elaborated that “Wolf Man” would follow a standalone approach, similar to 2019’s “Joker,” which was not part of the DC Extended Universe. Reflecting on this approach, Kao mentioned, “[Wolf Man] maybe more like the Joker approach. In my opinion, especially if you’re going to do it for contained pieces, like Blumhouse is really good at doing, [it] makes a lot more sense to me. So that’s a good playbook.”
Following the success of “The Invisible Man,” Blumhouse and Universal are looking to move forward with a sequel. Elisabeth Moss, who starred in the film, confirmed in April 2024 that a sequel was close to being greenlit and expressed confidence in continuing the story. However, the focus on “The Invisible Man” has caused the planned spinoff “The Invisible Woman,” starring Elizabeth Banks, to be put on hold. Banks mentioned in August 2024 that the studio’s priority is to see the “Invisible Man” series through, which has temporarily shelved “The Invisible Woman.” Additionally, “Wolf Man” is set to be released in theaters on Jan. 17, 2025.
