The titular character in Leigh Wannell’s Wolf Man has been officially revealed, days before the movie comes to cinemas for the first time – watch the new teaser below.
READ MORE: Director Leigh Whannell on viral ‘Wolf Man’ backlash and why horror fans will be “blown away”
The horror, which has been over a decade in the making and is the seventh instalment of The Wolf Man franchise, is set for release by Universal Pictures on January 17.
The official Wolf Man X (Twitter) account shared a new trailer earlier today (January 7), in which main character Blake, played by Christopher Abbott, begins to transform. In the footage, he’s squirming on the ground with his bones crunching, his fingers growing longer and his jaw becoming wider – he snaps his lower jaw into place.
As he gets up, he takes in his surroundings, looking part human and part wolf. The clip ends with him chasing his wife, Julia Garner’s Charlotte, and their daughter Ginger, played by Matilda Firth, showing his transition after being attacked by a werewolf.
Per the official synopsis: “Family man Blake relocates from San Francisco to Oregon with his workaholic wife Charlotte and daughter Ginger after inheriting his childhood home, left vacant following his estranged father’s mysterious disappearance and presumed death.
“At the farmhouse at night during a full moon, the family is attacked by a werewolf that claws Blake’s arm. They barricade themselves inside the home, but soon Blake begins to transform into something horrifying, jeopardizing the safety of his wife and daughter.”
Reception to the Wolf Man’s reveal on social media seemed mixed, with some fans suggesting they’d rather see the character look more like a wolf.
Some compared his appearance to that of the Wolf Man in the 2010 remake The Wolfman, played by Benicio del Toro, with one saying: “I’ve been so excited for a new Wolfman film and was excited to see who was directing it. But everything I’ve seen so far as for the design as [sic] really not got me excited at all. 2010 film design was literally perfect and I don’t think it’ll ever be topped.”
I’ve been so excited for a new Wolfman film and was excited to see who was directing it. But everything I’ve seen so far as for the design as really not got me excited at all. 2010 film design was literally perfect and I don’t think it’ll ever be topped. pic.twitter.com/YBPwwii3Xz
— Benjamin Pritchard (@Pritch533) January 7, 2025
While this marks the first reveal of the Wolf Man, in September, Universal Theme Park Florida in Orlando hosted a Halloween Horror Night that featured a photo opportunity with branding for the movie. It included an actor seemingly intended to portray the Wolf Man, but the ‘reveal’ was derided by fans on social media shortly before the first official trailer dropped.
The following month, director Whannell reassured fans that it wasn’t a reflection on the film itself, while the theme park removed the Wolf Man branding. And when NME asked him how similar the film’s Wolf Man is to the one at the theme park in December, he said: “Very different. Without spoiling anything, what we’ve done, I just stand behind it. I’m so proud of the makeup in this film and the [Wolf Man’s] transformation.”
He also said: “The marketing department for a movie is so huge,” he said, “it’s really impossible to keep tabs on every single thing. So when something comes out that maybe the internet decides they don’t like, the only thing I can think is: ‘Well, you haven’t seen the finished movie, and I know what we did.’”
Elsewhere in the interview, he teased a powerful performance from Abbott, explaining that the atmosphere on set was jovial until Abbott came out in costume. “There was a hush that fell over everyone,” he said, “Almost like everyone was afraid of how he looked. Imagine standing there, you’re at work and someone comes in looking completely different. They don’t look like themselves, they’re not acting like themselves. How do you react?
“That was definitely something that put everybody in a tense state, almost as if we’re dealing with an actual animal here.”
The post Watch the Wolf Man gets his first official reveal in new teaser appeared first on NME.
