Master monster hunter Ulysses Bloodstone is dead. Various monster hunters have been summoned to Bloodstone Manor. Jack Russell (Gael García Bernal) and Elsa Bloodstone (Laura Donnelly) are two hunters. One will inherit the powerful Bloodstone. There is a trial. The hunter who kills the monster wins.

The MCU is taking a side trip. It's a throwback to old black and white horror. It has some fun. It has some horror. It has some camp. It's not directly connected to the main MCU stories. I hope that they do more of this and that it remains a side story. I like both Bernal and Donnelly. There is good potential here.

A simple Google search of these characters will present the various editions of the 70s Marvel comics and will show how comic accurate the Werewolf & Man-Thing are, Elsa Bloodstone is another matter, her character wasn't created until 2001 and although her tough nature and fighting skills are evident she looks nothing like her various depictions from the comics, neither the big busted scantily clad blonde version or the big busted red haired rifle toting version.

All in all this Halloween special was excellent, entertaining and most of all it introduces these characters into the MCU, each character has played a part of the wider Marvel comics storylines since their introductions and have been alongside or fought against the myriad of Marvels more popular superheroes.

Criticism of Werewolf by night's appearance is in itself ridiculous as the character was based on Lon Chaneys version of the Wolfman and apart from more recent artistic choices by some artists the character has always been depicted as a Wolfman and not as a version of a full blown Werewolf depicted in various movies from the past few decades.

Man-Thing was an excellent addition to this special and a fantastic surprise, all thanks to Kevin Feige's suggestion the character be included, both characters have a long history together in the comics, more importantly, apart from a brief cameo in Dr Strange 2 this is the 1st time Man-Thing has been seen on screen since the 2005 Man-Thing movie,a low budget monster movie loosely based on the characters comic origin that depicts the character as a monster rather than the monster-super-hero of the comics.

Hopefully this one off special will lead to more appearances by these fantastic characters.

Werewolf by Night is Marvel's new tv special, and it does things the company hasn't done before.

One: It's in black and white. It's advertisements were in the style of classic horror b-movies, and while the film didn't really use that style, it was clearly inspired by those types of films, with Easter eggs to films like 'The Brain that Wouldn't Die', and scenes that, in formula and concept seem ripped straight out of a 40s horror film.

Two: It's mostly self contained. There are no references to any other Marvel films or shows. Since Moon Knight had his first appearance in an issue of the comic series this tv special is based on, many expected Steven Grant to make an appearance (myself included). But he wasn't even mentioned or referenced. While Marvel fans can expect to see Man-Thing and the Werewolf again, for now, this story stands on its own.

For fans of classic campy horror or Marvel or any cinema in general, this will be of interest. Since it's still self-contained, you don't need to see anything else to understand this. This is a unique piece of entertainment that proves Marvel isn't at its low point.