Wolf Man Director Issues Warning That Not Everyone Will Like the Creature Design (But for Good Reason)

Filmmaker Leigh Whannell warns that not everyone will love the way the Wolf Man looks in his upcoming movie, but those that do will be overjoyed. In a new interview with SFX Magazine published on Monday, Whannell revealed that the creature design is all practical — with no CGI involved. Some viewers might find this approach antiquated, though many have been calling for a return to these kinds of special effects.

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“I think you have to bring a new approach,” Whannell said of his approach to Wolf Man. “Maybe there are some people that won’t like it because they love the traditional wolf too much, but that was the approach I wanted.” Whannell then confirmed that his Wolf Man is “100 percent practical, all make-up — there are no CGI elements.” However, Whannell clarified that the practical costume and makeup fans saw at the 2024 Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights in Orlando was not his creation.

“Things slipped through the cracks, and it was like, ‘Oh, they’re doing this promotion for Wolf Man at a theme park, but it doesn’t look right,’” he said. “We shouldn’t be putting that out in the world, because people are going to think that’s what our wolf looks like.’ My only response is to say, ‘Look, that doesn’t represent what we’re doing.’ All I can do is wait for the movie to come out. Then hopefully people will be like, ‘Oh, I see what they were doing.’”

[RELATED: Wolf Man Director Reveals Why He Wants to Make a Third Universal Monsters Reboot]

Wolf Man is a reboot of the 1941 horror classic The Wolf Man. Whannell is the director and co-writer, while Christopher Abbott plays the lead character, Blake. The movie is about Blake moving from San Francisco to his childhood home in remote Oregon with his wife Charlotte (Julia Garner) and his daughter Ginger (Matilda Firth) after his father’s mysterious disappearance. Once there, they start to uncover clues about where Blake’s dad might have gone.

This reboot has been in the works for about a decade now in various forms, initially as part of the “Dark Universe” and the “Universal Monsters library.” Whannell has been instrumental in keeping that franchise afloat with his 2020 take on The Invisible Man. It encouraged studio executives to consider fresh ideas using the same characters, which is what Whannell appears to be doing in Wolf Man.

We’ll be able to see for ourselves very soon. Wolf Man hits theaters on January 17, 2025. The Invisible Man is streaming now on Prime Video.