Marvel Studio’s newest movie is a Special Presentation for Disney+. Finally stepping into the horror corner of their comics universe, Werewolf By Night is an amazing new TV movie that exceeds expectations. Being a kind of standalone movie that is (at least so far) seemingly separate from the rest of the MCU, means that there are a lot of new things here. New ideas, new characters, and brand-new objects may go on to have larger significance within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. One of those things is the sort of Macguffin of the Werewolf By Night movie, the Bloodstone. So read on as we explore what is the Bloodstone.
Please note: The following will contain lots of spoilers for Marvel Studios’ Werewolf By Night special presentation. If you don’t want spoilers, check out the trailer and our review here, then return for this discussion.
The Bloodstone In Werewolf By Night
Werewolf By Night begins with the funeral of a famous monster hunter, Ulysses Bloodstone. A group of renowned hunters gather to honor him, but also, to fight for the right to earn the coveted Bloodstone. While it would usually pass to his heir, his daughter Elsa Bloodstone is a disappointment. Hence, the monster hunting tournament.
Image via Disney+.
Throughout the movie, the Bloodstone is seen as a magical item that everyone desires. Reminds me of other glowing special items in the MCU. You know, the ones with the shiny jewels that they spent like 20 movies focusing on. Now, I’m not saying the Bloodstone could have the significance of the Infinity Stones in this new phase of the MCU. But I’m also, not, not saying that. So let’s look at its comic book origins to determine, what is the Bloodstone.
Marvel Comics Origin Of The Bloodstone Gem
The history of The Bloodstone in Marvel Comics is directly tied to the character of Ulysses Bloodstone. Now, it gets a little crazy here, so stay with me.
The Bloodstone gem is actually a piece of a meteorite that landed on Earth during the Hyborian Age in 8250 BC. Which is a fictional era of Earth’s history, the same era that the adventures of Conan The Barbarian are set in. The meteorite was controlled by an evil alien entity called the Hellfire Helix. Its goal was to conquer the world, the usual villain stuff. To do so, it sent its agent, the Ulluxy’l Kwan Tae Syn to Earth to find the Meteorite.
But before it could get it, a regular hunter/gatherer class of humans found it. The Ulluxy and this human fought over the meteorite, shattering it into many pieces during their battle. One such piece lodged within the human’s chest, causing an explosion that kills his whole tribe. But somehow, granting him immortality and other powers. The human vows revenge on Ulluxy for the death of his tribe. That piece of meteor is the Bloodstone, and yep! You guessed it! That human grows up to then become Ulysses Bloodstone.
Who Is Ulysses Bloodstone?
Image via Marvel Comics.
With the Bloodstone now a part of him, Ulysses goes on to become one of history’s most ruthless and resourceful warriors. Being immortal, Ulysses had time on his side, allowing to him become an expert fighter, weapons specialist, and linguist, also amassing a massive fortune. He used all of this to mostly hunt his sworn foe Ulluxy, to avenge his tribe. During their encounters, Ulluxy could summon monsters from different dimensions for Ulysses to fight.
Over time, dispatching all of the Ulluxy’s monsters, gained Ulysses a reputation as a monster hunter. And thus, the legacy grew. Ulysses’ comic book origins then get varied and muddled as he had other adventures, crossing paths with many other Marvel characters like Iron Man. But it’s this monster-hunting legacy of his comic book story that seems to be the basis of the character in Werewolf By Night.
What Will The Bloodstone Be In The MCU?
In the comic books, the Bloodstone in Ulysses’ chest gave off magical energy, giving him the usual barrage of superpowers: strength, stamina, speed, reflexes, and other superhuman senses. It also acted as a healing factor, healing wounds, creating immunity to disease, and even regrowing limbs, if required. There are possibly also psionic powers that come from it, but the comics aren’t clear on that.
In Werewolf By Night, we see the Bloodstone used in different ways. Firstly, the movie starts with the funeral of Ulysses Bloodstone. But it’s never explained how he died. And there doesn’t seem to be any accidental or foul play at work. So the MCU version of the Bloodstone might not grant immortality, or that strong of healing factors, if Ulysses can just, presumably, die of old age?
The Bloodstone also seems like it’s tuned into humans or non-monsters. The halfway twist of Werewolf By Night is when Jack (Gael Garcia Bernal) goes to pick it up, it blasts him away. The reaction of Ulysses’ wife Verusa (Harriet Sansom Harris) is that it only reacts like that with monsters. So the Bloodstone can sense monsters, and protect itself accordingly? Is the Bloodstone sentient? Could the MCU alter its comic book origin so as to have an entity trapped within the stone itself? All wild theories for now.
Verusa later uses the Bloodstone to accelerate Jack’s transformation into a Werewolf, even without the full moon. She also uses it to attack Jack, blasting energy beams from it to keep him at bay.
Conclusion
I’m not sure exactly how the Bloodstone will factor into the larger fabric of the MCU. Or if it will adhere to its comic book origins. But it’s definitely a very powerful object that many have, and will continue to want. If it’s anything like the Infinity Stones, the Ten Rings, Ms. Marvel’s Bangle, or the Darkhold, etc— then it’s not the last we’ve seen of this Bloodstone.
Werewolf By Night ends with the Bloodstone in the possession of Elsa Bloodstone (Laura Donnelly), Ulysses’ daughter. Making it almost a forgone conclusion that we will definitely see a lot more of Elsa. Oh, and Jack too. Not to mention more Man-Thing, please and thank you!
Werewolf By Night is now streaming on Disney+.
