Director Leigh Whannel is bringing Wolf Man to theaters next year, but since its announcement four years ago, fans have been wondering if it will connect to Universal’s previous plans for a shared Dark Universe, and now they have somewhat of an answer. Featuring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, Wolf Man began principal photography in March 2024, and was originally scheduled for an October release, but with the WGA/SAG-AFTRA strikes of 2023, plans were pushed back, and the new film will now arrive in theaters on January 17, 2025.
Speaking to Screen Rant, Wolf Man producer Ken Kao was asked if the new film was in any way connected to a plan that would see a revival of Universal’s Dark Universe. While he wasn’t able to give a clear answer, he does believe that those plans that began with The Mummy in 2017 were largely a reaction to the MCU and DCU franchises dominating the box office. He would go on to explain that Blumhouse’s Wolf Man is more of a self-contained piece akin to Todd Phillips’ Joker:
“Well, I think you've probably got to set an interview with the powers that be at Uni to get a clear answer on that one. That's above my pay grade, truly. But 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. And we know there's been a lot of talk about what happened with all that [in] the last year or so. I guess you could call it maybe more like the Joker approach .”
Originally, Ryan Gosling was set to portray the lead of Larry Talbot in Wolf Man, but in an unexpected turn of events, Gosling departed the project in late 2023, paving the way for Christopher Abbott to step into the role. He’ll star alongside Julia Garner, and while major plot details are being kept under wraps, it has been revealed that the film will focus on a man seeking to protect himself and his family from a dangerous werewolf at night during a full moon.
Ken Kao Believes Characters Like the Wolf Man Need Time to Shine
While Universal’s initial plans for a Dark Universe were largely scrapped after the box office failure of The Mummy, they continued to move forward with more modern re-tellings of their classic monsters. Whannel was at the helm for 2020s The Invisible Man, which earned a staggering $144 million at the box office against a budget of just $7 million. He was quickly tapped to direct Wolf Man following its success, and a sequel to The Invisible Man was recently given a hopeful update by star Elisabeth Moss.
In the opinion of producer Ken Kao, he believes that Blumhouse’s idea of making a few, self-contained films before exploring a larger universe is a good playbook to follow. He says that rather than Whannell and others worried about how these films will connect to one another, it’s best to let characters such as Wolf Man, Dracula, and Frankenstein's monster breathe on their own, giving them each a chance to shine.
“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. Rather than working toward a predetermined team-up event, characters like Dracula, the Mummy, Frankenstein's monster and the Wolf Man all need their respective time to shine .”
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