Universal finally drops first teaser for their long-gestating Wolf Man remake

Universal and Blumhouse have finally emerged from the woods with the first teaser for their latest stab at Wolf Man. The clip is mostly here to settle one important question: What if Planet Earth was backed by a horror soundtrack? Okay, that’s just the first 10 seconds, but the answer is… pretty goofy. 

The Wolf Man himself is also pretty damn goofy in a first look at his character design from Universal Studios’ Halloween Horror Nights this week; thankfully, we have a little bit of time before we have to confront that particular horror onscreen. Wolf Man doesn’t make an appearance in this clip in his full howl-at-the-moon form (maybe to give Universal time to make a few last-minute tweaks?), but his claw marks sure do. By the end, the screen is so shredded that it’s a challenge to make out anything at all. Now that’s spooky.

Wolf Man is a new take on the classic 1941 monster, originally created by Curt Siodmak and played by Lon Chaney Jr. The studio tried again in 2010 with The Wolfman, starring Benicio Del Toro, but critics weren’t howling. (We gave it a “C”.) The character has been transformed many times since, even within the scope of this production. In 2020, rumors began to swirl that Ryan Gosling would be taking on the iconic lycanthrope. In the years following, both the lead role and director changed multiple times. In its final form, the film is helmed by The Invisible Man director Leigh Whannell, and stars Christopher Abbott, Julia Garner, Matilda Firth, Sam Jaeger.

The film’s official synopsis reads as follows: 

Golden Globe nominee Christopher Abbott (Poor Things, It Comes at Night) stars as Blake, a San Francisco husband and father, who inherits his remote childhood home in rural Oregon after his own father vanishes and is presumed dead. With his marriage to his high-powered wife, Charlotte (Emmy winner Julia Garner; Ozark, Inventing Anna), fraying, Blake persuades Charlotte to take a break from the city and visit the property with their young daughter, Ginger (Matilda Firth; Hullraisers, Coma).

But as the family approaches the farmhouse in the dead of night, they’re attacked by an unseen animal and, in a desperate escape, barricade themselves inside the home as the creature prowls the perimeter. As the night stretches on, however, Blake begins to behave strangely, transforming into something unrecognizable, and Charlotte will be forced to decide whether the terror within their house is more lethal than the danger without.

Wolf Man premieres in theaters January 17.