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SYFY WIRE Wolf Man

Wolf Man Director Leigh Whannell Reveals Why He'd Like to Tackle Jekyll & Hyde Next

There's a whole lineup of classic Universal Monsters just waiting for a creative take.

By Tara Bennett

After five years, The Invisible Man writer/director Leigh Whannell is back in the saddle, revisiting another of Universal's iconic monsters with his latest film, Wolf Man (get tickets here!). A contemporary spin on werewolf tropes and motifs, Whannell and his co-writer/wife, Corbett Tuck, have crafted a more intimate and claustrophobic approach to the horror of transformation which defines this monster's lore.

At a recent screening for Wolf Man in Los Angeles attended by SYFY WIRE, Whannell spoke about returning to the Universal Monsters lineup: "I think these monster characters, they're so malleable, and they're such great characters that you can pluck them out of the time where they were invented, and you can plug them into a modern story."

Having tackled two creatures so far, would Whannell have any interest in reimagining the once charted Dark Universe, or even another monster standalone? He had strong opinions about both.

Wolf Man writer/director Leigh Whannell's thoughts on a Dark Universe of Classic Universal Monsters

Posters of the movies Dracula, The Mummy, and The Wolf Man

Universal Picture's intended Dark Universe franchise of interconnected Universal Monster films died on the vine with 2017’s The Mummy. However, the success of subsequent standalone monster films has made some horror pundits wonder if a second go with Whannell at the helm might be a better idea?

When asked about it at the screening, Whannell said, "For me, if someone was to present that opportunity to me and say, 'All right, you're going to be in charge of the Monster-verse or the Dark Universe,' I wouldn't think about it because it's reverse engineering. Rather than me going to them, it would be them presenting it to me that would make me ponder it. Right now, I'm in the middle of the release of this film, yet my mind goes to original scripts. That's what I grew up on, original stories, and so that's what I love."

However, as in the case of Wolf Man, Whannell said he was pitched the creature by Blumhouse and Universal, and then he figured out an angle. "Sometimes the films choose you," he said. "The opportunity just comes out of nowhere and you never expected it."

Leigh Whannell on why he'd like to tackle Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde as his next Universal Monster reimagining

Director of Photography Stefan Duscio and Director Leigh Whannell discuss on set of Wolf Man (2024).

At the screening, Whannell was complimentary of his peers, like Robert Eggers and his recent critically acclaimed take on Nosferatu, as an example of how to put bite back into the Universal Monsters. 

"The characters are so ubiquitous now that they almost become non threatening," he appraised. "They'll use Dracula to sell toothpaste. They're cartoon characters, right? But what seems to be happening recently — and I just saw Nosferatu — is I feel like these monsters are being rediscovered, and people are actually trying to go back to how terrifying they were. I think that you can still do that. Robert Eggers is obviously doing something that's more historical. My approach is to make it as modern as possible and to make it feel like it's a new story, as opposed to an old story."

As to what monster he might want to tackle next, Whannell pondered: "Well, Guillermo del Toro is [doing] Frankenstein, so that's taken. And I think James Wan is gonna do Creature from the Black Lagoon. I feel like no one has done a version of Jekyll and Hyde recently, so I feel like that's a character that's ready for something. It's such an interesting thing that the antagonist and the protagonist is the same person, in this duality thing. I think it'd be interesting to put that in a modern context."

Catch Wolf Man in theaters everywhere January 17, 2025.

The poster for Wolf Man (2024).

When will Wolf Man stream on Peacock?

The new Wolf Man will stream on Peacock later this year. Check back for more updates!