Wolf Man: Leigh Whannell admits “some people won’t like” his monster because they love the traditional one too much

We’ve seen many incarnations of the Wolf Man over the decades, but the iconic monster will soon receive another update, this time from writer/director Leigh Whannell (The Invisible Man). Whannell has already teased that his version of the Wolf Man is unlike any that’s come before it, but he admitted to SFX Magazine that some people probably won’t like it.

“I think you have to bring a new approach,” Whannell said. “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.” He added that his Wolf Man is “100% practical, all make-up – there are no CGI elements.“

I’ll admit to being a big fan of the classic Wolf Man design, but I’m also not opposed to something different. We haven’t gotten a clear look at the new design yet, but the version seen at Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios didn’t win over many fans. However, Whannell has indicated that that design was not their Wolf Man. “No, I mean, without spoiling anything, that’s not our Wolf Man,” Whannell said. “And I guess, movies have so many different people involved. It’s like this huge octopus with many tentacles and you can’t always control every single aspect of something. So sometimes something might get out there that doesn’t represent what you’re doing and it just falls through the cracks. So no, it doesn’t represent [our movie].“

Wolf Man stars Christopher Abbott 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 (Julia Garner), fraying, Blake persuades Charlotte to take a break from the city and visit the property with their young daughter, Ginger (Matlida Firth). 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 will hit theaters on January 17, 2025.