Willem Dafoe has all but confirmed that his character in Werwulf is based on a real-life wolf hunter, Peter Corbet.
Without revealing the historical figure’s name, Dafoe told The Playlist, “He’s the only character in the movie that’s based on a real-life person. A man that was, and I don’t think this gives anything away, but it was a man that was selected by the king to eliminate all the wolves from England.”
With Werwulf being set close to the year 1300, the time period is close to when King Edward I employed Peter Corbet to destroy all wolves.
Neither Willem Dafoe nor Robert Eggers have said who Dafoe’s character is based on. They may want to leave it as a mystery, since Dafoe’s character probably isn’t supposed to literally be a fictional version of the real person, but rather a character that takes inspiration from the historical figure.
But their hints point to Peter Corbet. He was hired by King Edward I in the late 13th century to eliminate all the wolves in his kingdom. Corbet was apparently very good at his job, and performed it with a high degree of enthusiasm. And I can totally see Willem Dafoe playing a wolf-hunter with a high degree of enthusiasm.
Werwulf stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson as a farmer in medieval England who suffers from a curse. He’s trying to do the best for his family (including his wife, played by Lily-Rose Depp), but when a hunting party tasked with culling the land of wolves arrives, the farmer’s fate may be sealed.
Werwulf is directed by Robert Eggers, who co-wrote the film with Sjón. Werwulf is in theaters December 25, 2026.
