Wolf Man director Leigh Whannell says Heath Ledger’s Joker inspired the brand new design and feedback on leaked model of the creature.

After tackling The Invisible Man, author/director Leigh Whannell set his sights on updating one other iconic Universal Horror Monster: The Wolf Man. There have been many alternative incarnations of the Wolf Man character, however Whannell advised ScreenRant that his model is in contrast to any which have come earlier than it, including that he even took inspiration from Heath Ledger’s Joker.

“I lined up all the different versions, I had a PDF of everyone from Lon Chaney to David Norton in American Werewolf, The Howling, Dog Soldiers. I had every look in front of me, and I’m kind of staring at it, and I’m like, ‘All right, so where do I fit in?’” Whannell defined. “You know what an enormous inspiration to me was, was Heath Ledger’s model of the Joker. Not a lot by way of look, however I had a photograph of him on my desk because the Joker as a result of I actually love what they did there with the character.“

While Heath Ledger’s Joker is now a beloved tackle the character, Whannell remembers the extreme unfavorable response when the primary pictures of Ledger within the position have been launched. “I find that so inspirational what they did with that character and how they approached it,” Whannell mentioned. “And I used to be considering [about] if I can take their method to Wolf Man, and I feel I did.“

The Wolf Man director gave full credit score to make-up artist Arjen Tuiten for the brand new design, saying that he had zero notes on the preliminary idea. “I was just staring at it for the first time, and I was like, ‘That’s it. It just looked perfect,’” he mentioned. “Do you already know what? I by no means had any notes. I used to be like, ‘That’s it, that’s what we must always do.’ It doesn’t [happen often]. Usually in L.A., in Hollywood, it’s like, ‘Can we change this?’ S–t, each screenplay I’ve written has simply been completely inundated with notes. But once I noticed the maquette, the mannequin that Arian had made, I used to be like, ‘There’s no notes I may give you that may [improve this].’“

We nonetheless haven’t gotten a transparent take a look at the brand new Wolf Man design but, not even within the newest trailer, however the model that was seen at Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios didn’t win over many followers (type of just like the preliminary response to Ledger’s Joker). In a separate interview with Gizmodo, Whannell indicated that that design was not their Wolf Man. “No, I mean, without spoiling anything, that’s not our Wolf Man,” Whannell mentioned. “And I suppose, films have so many alternative folks concerned. It’s like this large octopus with many tentacles and you’ll’t all the time management each single facet of one thing. So generally one thing would possibly get on the market that doesn’t characterize what you’re doing and it simply falls via the cracks. So no, it doesn’t characterize [our movie].“

Wolf Man will hit theaters on January 17, 2025.