Man-Thing has now appeared twice in live-action, making a debut in the SYFY Original Man-Thing back in 2005 before joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Disney+’s Werewolf by Night earlier this month. In both cases, the character was largely filmed using practical effects, meaning a massive practical suit or puppet was built for actors to appear alongside. In the case of Werewolf by Night, the version of Man-Thing that appeared was an animatornic, complete with movable eyebrows and the like.
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An extended video was recently posted of the animatronic courtesy of sculptor Mikey Rotella, showing off exactly what the animatronic could do.
Why was Man-Thing practical in Werewolf by Night?
As Michael Giacchino recently told us, it was always his goal to make both Man-Thing and Werewolf by Night using practical effects wherever necessary.
“When it started out, I was like, ‘Werewolf’s gotta be practical, let’s build a Man-Thing. Let’s see how far we can get with that? The folks with K&B craft studio, they did the most incredible job,” Giacchino added. “They built a life-size Man-Thing. It was completely animatronic and its eyes glowed red. It was crazy and the hands were all motorized. So, yeah it was great. Now, it was mostly on-set so there would be something for the actors to work with.”
For what it’s worth, Man-Thing co-creator Roy Thomas loved the character’s look.
“Only 15 minutes into the debut ofย Werewolf by Night, and we’re already heading for theย Legion of Monsters! Both the Werewolf and Man-Thing look wonderfully comic-accurate (never a forgone conclusion in these things), the Man-Thing in particular reflecting the original Gray Morrow design of 1971, a latter-day embodiment of the Golden Age monster the Heap, which of course had been Stan Lee’s and my intention when Gray was given the assignment,” the writer told us.
How to watchย Werewolf by Night
Since Werewolf by Night didn’t receive a theatrical release, the “Special Presentation,” as Marvel Studios calls it, was lumped in with the rest of the television shows the outfit produced for Disney+. As such,ย Werewolf by Nightย is available to watch exclusively on Disney+ and nowhere else.
