The Wolf Man is ahorrorfilm series centered onLarry Talbot, a man who upon being bitten by awerewolf becomes one himself, and his subsequent attempts to cure himself of his murderous condition. The film series was created byCurt Siodmak.

The original series of films consisted of five installments, all of which starred iconic horror actorLon Chaney Jr. asLarry Talbot. The series of films is part of the largerUniversal Classic Monsters series.

• The Wolf Man (1941)
  When his brother dies, Larry Talbot (Lon Chaney Jr.) returns to Wales and reconciles with his father (Claude Rains). While there, he visits an antique shop and, hoping to impress Gwen (Evelyn Ankers), the attractive shopkeeper, buys a silver walking cane. That same night he kills a wolf with it, only to later learn that he actually killed a man (Bela Lugosi). Agypsy (Maria Ouspenskaya) explains that it was her son, awerewolf, that he killed, and that Larry is now one himself.
• Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943)
  Lawrence Stewart Talbot (Lon Chaney Jr.) is plagued by a physical oddity that turns him into a crazed werewolf after sundown. His desire to rid himself of this ailment leads him to the castle owned by mad scientist Dr. Frankenstein. Frankenstein, it turns out, is now dead, yet Talbot believes that the scientist's daughter, Baroness Elsa Frankenstein (Ilona Massey), can help him. However, his quest to right himself puts him on a collision course with Frankenstein's monster (Bela Lugosi).
• House of Frankenstein (1944)
  After escaping from prison, the evil Dr. Niemann (Boris Karloff) and his hunchbacked assistant, Daniel (J. Carrol Naish), plot their revenge against those who imprisoned them. For this, they recruit the powerful Wolf Man (Lon Chaney Jr.), Frankenstein's monster (Glenn Strange) and even Dracula himself (John Carradine). Niemann pursues those who wrong him, sending each monster out to do his dirty work. But his control on the monsters is weak at best and may prove to be his downfall.
• House of Dracula (1945)
  This monster movie focuses on the iconic vampire, Count Dracula (John Carradine), and Lawrence Talbot (Lon Chaney), better known as the Wolf Man. Both beings of the night are tired of their supernatural afflictions, so they seek out Dr. Franz Edelmann (Onslow Stevens) for cures for their respective curses. While trying to aid the imposing creatures, Edelmann himself develops a transformative condition, adding to the many ghouls lurking around the foreboding landscape.
• Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
  In the first of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello's horror vehicles for Universal Pictures, the inimitable comic duo star as railway baggage handlers in northern Florida. When a pair of crates belonging to a house of horrors museum are mishandled by Wilbur (Lou Costello), the museum's director, Mr. MacDougal (Frank Ferguson), demands that they deliver them personally so that they can be inspected for insurance purposes, but Lou's friend Chick (Bud Abbott) has grave suspicions, after receiving a phone call from Lawrence Talbot (Lon Chaney Jr.) warning him of their contents (Bela Lugosi andGlenn Strange).

In March 2006,Universal Pictures announced the remake ofThe Wolf Man withPuerto Rican actorBenicio del Toro, a huge fan of the original and collector ofWolf Man memorabilia, in the lead role, who was "cast for his resemblance to Lon Chaney Jr., with his clouded, thick features and his air of suffering". Lawrence is depicted as an "Anglo-Indian, which explains his complexion, and the film notes that he was educated in America, to explain his accent".^[1][2][3] ScreenwriterAndrew Kevin Walker was attached to the screenplay, developing the original film's story to include additional characters as well as plot points that would take advantage of modern visual effects.^[4] Del Toro also looked towardsWerewolf of London andThe Curse of the Werewolf for inspiration.^[5]

In February 2007, directorMark Romanek was attached to helmThe Wolfman.^[4] Romanek's original vision was to "infuse a balance of cinema in a popcorn movie scenario": "When there’s a certain amount of money involved, these things make studios and producers a little nervous. They don’t necessarily understand it or they feel that the balance will swing too far to something esoteric, and we could never come to an agreement on the right balance for that type of thing. Ultimately it made more sense for them to find a director that was gonna fulfill their idea of the film that they wanted, and we just sort of parted ways".^[6] In January 2008, Romanek left the project because of creative differences.^[7]Brett Ratner emerged as a frontrunner to replace Romanek, but the studio also met withFrank Darabont,James Mangold andJoe Johnston. They were also interested inBill Condon, andMartin Campbell was interested.^[8] Johnston was hired to direct on in February, and the film's shooting schedule and budget remained as intended.^[9] Johnston hiredDavid Self to rewrite the script.^[10]

Following the financial and critical disappointment of the 2010 remake,Universal Pictures announced its plan to reboot theUniversal Classic Monsters in July 2014 as part of ashared universe known as theDark Universe.^[11][12] In November 2014,Aaron Guzikowski was confirmed to be writing the reboot of Universal'sThe Wolf Man (1941).^[13][14] In June 2016,Deadline Hollywood reported on rumors that Universal wanted to castDwayne Johnson in the title role.^[15] By October, development on the film began moving forward, andDavid Callaham was hired to rewrite the screenplay.^[16] In 2017,The Mummy was released as the first film in theDark Universe; its launch was both a critical and commercial failure, and resulted in Universal deciding to shift its focus on individual storytelling and move away from the shared universe concept with the cancelation ofThe Wolf Man and other films in development.^[17]

Following the success ofLeigh Whannell'sThe Invisible Man in 2020, Universal Pictures "scrap[ped] the universe concept" and loosened restrictions for the talent in front and behind the camera, allowing them to decide how they wanted to execute their films and inviting "big name talent" to pitch their ideas.^[18] By early 2020, Universal had been hearing project ideas for a year and a half from a variety of filmmakers seeking to develop other characters in the franchise. This includedRyan Gosling's pitch to remakeThe Wolf Man, in the vein ofNightcrawler, with Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo writing the screenplay. Several filmmakers were considered to direct, includingCory Finley and Whannell, who initially demurred and was advised by producerJason Blum to reconsider. In July, Whannell entered negotiations to both write afilm treatment and direct.^[19]Derek Cianfrance briefly took over directing and writing responsibilities in October 2021, before both Gosling and Cianfrance were reported to have exited the project in December 2023. Whannell returned to direct, along with writing the screenplay alongside Corbett Tuck, Schuker Blum, and Angelo.Christopher Abbott was also announced to be replacing Gosling in the lead role.^[20]

• The Wolfman (2010)
  Though absent from his ancestral home of Blackmoor for many years, aristocrat Lawrence Talbot (Benicio Del Toro) returns to find his missing brother at the request of the latter's fiancée, Gwen (Emily Blunt). He learns that a creature has links to an ancient curse turning people into werewolves when the moon is full. To save the village and protect Gwen, he must slay the bloodthirsty beast, but he contends with a horrifying family legacy.
• Wolf Man (2025)
  A man seeks to protect himself and his family from a dangerous werewolf at night during a full moon.

List indicators

• A dark grey cell indicates the character was not in the film.
• A^P indicates the character was shown in a photograph and/or mentioned.
• A^U indicates an uncredited role.
• A^V indicates a voice-only role.
• A^C indicates acameo appearance.
• A^L indicates an appearance wherein an actor's facial features were digitally imprinted upon another actor's face.
• A^Y indicates an appearance as a younger version of a pre-existing character.
• An^A indicates an appearance through archival footage, audio or stills.

• In Jeff Rovin's 1998 novelReturn of the Wolf Man it is revealed Talbot and Dracula had survived the fall they took at the end ofAbbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. Talbot subsequently kills Charles Stevens and, upon reverting to human form, has Joan Raymond kill him and perform a specific burial so Talbot could never be revived. Talbot is inadvertently revived and befriends Raymond's niece Caroline Cooke, and Talbot turns his attention from being killed once and for all to stopping the also returning Dracula and Frankenstein's monster. In the end, Talbot, in his werewolf form, kills Dracula only to be beaten to death by Caroline with a silver candelabrum.
• In Frank Dello Stritto's 2017 novelA Werewolf Remembers – The Testament of Lawrence Stewart Talbot, Talbot's diaries are discovered in a storage room in La Mirada, Florida (where Talbot was last seen inAbbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein). In the diaries, Talbot tells of his youth, his years of exile in America, the adventures recounted in his Universal films, and the return of his curse after his cure by Dr. Edelmann (inHouse of Dracula).

• Universal Classic Monsters
  • Dracula (Universal film series)
  • Frankenstein (Universal film series)
  • The Invisible Man (film series)
  • The Mummy (franchise)

• The Wolf Man (franchise)
• Film series introduced in 1941
• Horror film franchises
• Universal Pictures franchises
• American black-and-white films
• Horror mass media franchises
• Universal Monsters film series
• American werewolf films

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Pages using infobox film with missing date