By Ray Liu
[This article contains spoilers of Teen Wolf, the series, and Teen Wolf: The Movie.]
Let sleeping canines lie—or on this case, wolves. What began out as a extremely anticipated fan-dedication venture shortly grew to become the fandom’s worst nightmare. Showrunner Jeff Davis’s arguably most profitable tv collection Teen Wolf returned after the unique collection wrapped it up six years in the past—this time, in a film. Teen Wolf originated from Jeff Davis, who wrote the screenplay, and shortly grew to become the bread and butter for MTV’s prime-time, cable tv slot, working from 2011 by way of 2017. Davis simply debuted a brand new present with wolf-appeal, Wolf Pack for Paramount+, and is engaged on a reboot of Aeon Flux.
The appeal about Teen Wolf, the collection, was the way in which it targeted on strong storytelling, paired with sizzling individuals. Each season follows our beloved teenage banshee Lydia (performed by Holland Roden), kitsune Kira (Arden Cho), werecoyote Malia (Shelley Hennig), and werewolves Scott (Tyler Posey) and Derek (Tyler Hoechlin), and human youngsters Allison (Crystal Reed) and Stiles (Dylan O’Brien), as they face new threats in opposition to their small city of Beacon Hills, fictionally set in California. Some of one of the best villains that our essential heroes Scott and Stiles face within the present are the pack of werewolves, made up of all alphas (leaders of a werewolf pack), and the kanima (technically, a lizard creature who was only a pawn to evil and grumpy Gerard Argent, Allison’s grandfather). This teen-thriller collection stored viewers on the fringe of their seats for six seasons, with mysterious and new creatures being launched every season.
By the collection finale, every main character, except Arden Cho’s bad-ass kitsune character, Kira, obtained a passable ending. (If anybody is aware of the place Kira is, please let me know. I hope she’s doing okay in that desert with the bone individuals.)
Ultimately, the collection ended with nearly all of the followers being content material. We bought to see our favourite TV besties graduate highschool. Unfortunately, for Davis, he determined to undo the ribbon that completely wrapped up the collection by making this movie a actuality. Imagine getting out of a wolf’s den alive after which having the good thought of going again in—like, please don’t.
The film was introduced in 2021, ten years after the collection’ premiere, as a approach to commemorate the present’s success and thank followers for his or her long-standing dedication. Unfortunately, I used to be one among their followers. To say I wasn’t barely excited for the movie when the information was introduced would make me a liar.
Teen Wolf was most likely the one American tv collection that I tuned in each week because it aired. But by no means would I have thought that the movie would progressively worsen as I watched it. After over two, lengthy hours of torture, I used to be shattered and left with no phrases to say. I assumed I used to be the one one feeling this manner, nevertheless it looks like Davis had woken up some sad wolves.
Did followers ask for this film? As far as I do know, we didn’t. Quite frankly, nearly all of the Wolf Pack (Teen Wolf fandom title, semi-official) was content material with the forged posting little reminiscences of the present on their social media platforms often. In reality, Teen Wolf star Dylan O’Brien didn’t know in regards to the present’s return in film format, which led him to say no the venture. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter O’Brien shared why he wouldn’t be reprising his function as Stiles: “[Teen Wolf] was already left in a really nice place, you know? So I didn’t want to touch it. I didn’t want to fuck with it.” This is why we love him, and I consider his sentiment is shared amongst many followers, together with myself.
It’s okay to make a fan-service movie for a big fandom that loved the collection. Most occasions, it’s the best transfer. But Teen Wolf: The Movie lacks a narrative that’s contemporary and value watching. Our hero Scott returns to his hometown with no vital change, and the pacing of the movie feels dated within the early 2010s, .counting on each overdone and underdone flashbacks to the collection. On prime of that, a few of the present’s most coveted forged members, O’Brien and Arden Cho, declined to seem within the movie, thus making it tougher for Davis and his group to maintain the story organized, and it reveals.
The solely measurement of time we have in Teen Wolf: The Movie, if we’re evaluating it to the unique collection, is that the gang reunites fifteen years after their highschool commencement, however plenty of plot holes come up on this one-off. The man identified for his jawline, Jackson, immediately returns from London with out his boyfriend. Kira remains to be MIA, and nobody is actively on the lookout for her (makes me query simply how loyal of pals these Beacon Hills alumni are).
Derek Hale immediately reveals up along with his fifteen-year-old son, and nobody asks or talks about who the mom may be. And after all, the fandom’s favourite character, Stiles, is outwardly a sheriff in one other city, metropolis, state (we don’t know), and he’s simply too busy to return to his hometown regardless of literal darkness approaching. While it’s because O’Brien didn’t return – and nobody blames him (we actually didn’t ask for this movie) – there are a lot of methods to work round forged member scheduling battle and different stuff. The rationalization that Davis offers us by way of Stiles’s father Sheriff Stilinksi’s mouth was lazy and borderline disrespectful to the followers.
Allison’s Return is a Recipe for Destruction
The most unforgettable season of all was the one the place our anti-heroine Allison (performed by Crystal Reed) dies on the sword of an oni after determining the key weapon that would kill an oni: silver. Dying in protagonist Scott McCall’s arms, followers had been pressured to say goodbye to a personality that had plenty of potential. At the 2015 Paleyfest panel, showrunner Davis shared how painful it was for him to rewatch Allison’s loss of life. Though it got here as a shocker for followers on the time, Allison’s loss of life finally launched the present into a brand new horizon. Davis did properly to honor Reed’s pivotal arrow-shooting character.
Since the start of the collection, Allison’s character has been swept right into a Romeo & Juliet-like storyline: a werewolf hunter who falls in love with a werewolf. For three seasons, followers witnessed the ups and downs and heartbreaks between these two star-crossed lovers. Allison’s loss of life was pivotal to subsequent seasons. Just how do you progress on after dropping somebody who’s a daughter, a primary love, and a sort pal?
Resurrection was not one thing that Davis dipped his toes in—no less than not with this collection. So it felt off and complicated to see Allison return from the useless. After three seasons of an Allison-less story, and a few years post-finale, Allison Argent magically rises from the useless, mendacity there bare on the floor of that damned tree stump, the Nemeton. All hell breaks unfastened when Allison reunites with the pack.
The Nogitsune Just Isn’t Scary Anymore
Davis depends closely on the proven-successful nogitsune plot and villain from the third season, which gave viewers and followers the collection’s first impactful loss of life of a essential character. The nogitsune plot additionally launched O’Brien’s performing chops into one other degree, as we bought to witness Dark Stiles (the nogitsune possess Stiles) and O’Brien’s haunting efficiency. It appears that Davis selected to capitalize on this plot and villain’s recognition to make sure the present’s followers’ satisfaction. This was a mistake. The success of the nogitsune lore and arc got here from Davis’s analysis and introduction of this Japanese demon of darkness at a time when nobody else had carried out it. Seeing this creature once more attracts little to no response from me as a viewer who sat by way of your complete season in 2013, ten years in the past. Simply put, the nogitsune isn’t scary anymore.
The Many “WTF is Going On?” in Teen Wolf: The Movie
Much of the movie includes flashbacks of Allison and Scott’s pet love period, which is truthful, in order that new viewers can perceive why Allison’s resurrection means a lot to Scott. In this movie, we see a number of flashbacks of the identical scene the place Allison will get a samurai sword plunged by way of her torso (we actually didn’t want all these reminders). If we didn’t resurrect Allison again then, why are we bringing her again 15+ years later?
We see romantic relationships type and break aside with none viable rationalization. Sure, Teen Wolf star Dylan O’Brien declined to reclaim his function because the fan-favorite, Stiles, however the reasoning behind Lydia’s breakup with Stiles leaves followers perplexed. Apparently, Lydia foresees her future with Stiles, during which Stiles finally ends up dying in a ugly automotive accident. It’s a weak cause for his or her breakup, as a result of Lydia would have certainly seen that imaginative and prescient years in the past. This breakup felt lazy. Then, there’s the sucker-punched romance between Malia (the werecoyote) and Jordan Parrish (the hellhound). Where, when, why, and the way did these characters hyperlink up? In the collection, these two characters barely work together, and by some means they’re now fornicating within the sheriff’s station, whereas your complete city is tormented by the nogitsune’s return.
What about our favourite kanima-werewolf hybrid? Jackson, the snarky jock whose ambiguous supernatural identification is continually questioned all through the collection, returns as the one comedic aid. Dylan O’Brien’s footwear are fairly huge to fill, however I’ll hand it to Colton Haynes for giving it his greatest. Problem is, Jackson’s jokes allude to data (inside jokes) that solely the loyalest of followers would perceive. Again, Davis fails to offer context in these crucial moments within the movie. But extra importantly, Jackson’s character has no story and no cause for being on this film.
Derek Hale all the way in which bak in S1.Ep2
Derek Hale: The Death that Didn’t Need to Be
The final dagger that Jeff Davis drove into followers’ hearts is how he fully obliterated the character the followers love: Derek Hale. Derek is a personality who’s virtuous and the one grownup whom the pack can belief. A fancy character, as we study in season 3, episode 8, of the collection, Derek struggles to stay as a werewolf who was born into a protracted lineage of wolves (he was born a wolf, not bitten). At fifteen, he was put able the place he’d take the lifetime of his old flame, Paige, after his household turned her right into a werewolf. Not all people who find themselves bitten by a werewolf can easily transition—some, like Paige, can not endure the transformation and are left in deep ache. At Paige’s request, Derek helps finish her struggling. In return, he has blood on his palms, thus triggering the wolf code within the Teen Wolf lore: A beta wolf who’s by no means taken a life stays having amber-yellow eyes; a beta wolf who’s taken the life will have blue eyes that resemble the chilly nature of the beast inside them.
The Derek we see within the collection turns into a protector and nurturer, seeing how he takes Scott beneath his wings and denounces the methods of his household’s poisonous traditions. Played by Tyler Hoechlin, the present Superman within the CW’s Superman & Lois, Derek Hale was one of many characters I appeared ahead to most, when the collection initially ran. The blue-eyed wolf that shields his soft-hearted character with a tough exterior resonated with many youngsters and younger grownup viewers of this supernatural tv collection. In hindsight, maybe Derek’s character and wealthy backstory make him too developed for Teen Wolf: The Movie.
Derek was handled the worst all through the collection. From taking bullets for our heroes and getting hunted by the Argent household (werewolf hunters) to getting stabbed by practically each single villain of every season, Derek is at all times beneath some type of torture within the canon.
Hoechlin’s lowkey and charismatic character added to Derek’s awesomeness. I don’t know, I don’t make the foundations. On prime of that, Derek’s one and solely romance arc concerned his lover being a gory-faced demonic druid. That didn’t prove so properly; yikes. Seriously, Derek can by no means catch a break. So when Davis determined to write down into this movie a son for Derek, I knew one thing was off.
Who is that this little one’s mom? We have no idea. The movie is ready fifteen years after the teenage heroes graduate from highschool, and Derek’s son, Eli, is coincidentally fifteen years previous. There isn’t any proof of Derek having a romantic accomplice on the finish of the collection, let alone a fling who would bear his little one. The solely acceptable reasoning behind including Eli to the combo is to keep up the validity of this collection and film title. Eli is the token to the “teen” in Teen Wolf.
The movie struggles to keep up the principle plot of the story, as Eli’s character provides plenty of weight to make him the principle character at occasions, surpassing Scott’s story in saving Beacon Hills from Allison, the nogitsune, and the onis. Naturally, born to a werewolf father, Eli has werewolf blood in his veins.
Eli has a worry of werewolves and turning into one himself, after he noticed his father shapeshift one evening to guard him from a pack of untamed coyotes that broke into their home when Eli was a pre-schooler. The movie focuses on this facet of the coming-of-age werewolf – an arc was probably the most promising on this complete film, because it doesn’t depend on previous arcs to make it convincing or entertaining.
At the ultimate act of the movie, the nogitsune drags all our heroes to a parallel aircraft that sits beneath—oddly—the lacrosse subject (bizarre alternative, however okay). Derek and Eli are sucked into this netherworld, and after a number of pointless struggle sequences, the nogitsune is lastly contained by our heroes Scott, Derek, and Eli. Since the nogitsune can’t be killed, he can solely be despatched again to hell by way of the flames of the hellhound’s hell hearth. In the method, Derek sacrifices himself in order that Scott and Eli wouldn’t have to be taken by the hell hearth together with the nogitsune. Debate all you need, however Jordan Parrish—the hellhound—is a giant man, and he can simply maintain down the nogitsune (it’s actually his job). So spare us the Titanic floating-door complicated. That door had sufficient room for each Rose and Jack, and this hellhound can very a lot ship the demon again to hell, single-handedly, along with his hell hearth.
When Derek holds down the nogitsune because the hell hearth consumes him, his eyes flip purple—the identical shade as Scott McCall’s—making him a real alpha werewolf. This is the explanation why Davis writes the loss of life of Derek Hale within the movie. It was one other approach to painting the supernatural guidelines of the true alpha: Scott achieved this standing with out having killed anybody and solely by his good-natured, selfless spirit.
However, I don’t consider this reasoning is sufficient to shatter the right story of Derek Hale for followers of this character. At this level of the movie, I used to be caught between a rock and a tough place: Do I end the final 5 minutes of this movie, or do I lower my losses and faux this movie by no means occurred? The placement of Derek’s loss of life within the movie is pointless. We barely get to see Eli grieve, and there actually is just not sufficient time left of the movie for viewers to see Eli’s character change after his father’s loss of life.
A Movie that Left Fans Howling and Roaring for the Wrong Reasons
What began out as a fan-appreciation venture by the creators of this mega-successful MTV collection ended up turning into these followers’ nightmare. From the disconnection to the canon, to the refusal to clarify unsolicited relationship fumbles, to the loss of life of one among TV’s greatest characters, Teen Wolf: The Movie broke the fandom’s coronary heart. Was this heartbreak definitely worth the fifteen-years-too-late resurrection of Allison Argent? It appears, after studying different critiques and seeing followers’ reactions, it was a lot too excessive a value. Nothing is sensible on this movie, the plots are untimely and predictable, and the forged may simply have given followers their appreciation through a reunion tour and left it at that.
In an interview with Screen Rant, Jeff Davis shares that “Paramount+ is interested in doing more features [of the Teen Wolf franchise], with the decision ultimately boiling down to the reviews for Teen Wolf: The Movie.” Davis is looking forward to a sequel movie that would come with Dylan O’Brien’s return, however having suffered by way of this movie, I’d reasonably lock the door and throw away the important thing to the Teen Wolf universe. In my opinion, I consider the collection managed to provide us—between 2011 and 2017—six seasons of a masterfully crafted story that exceeded MTV’s requirements. As for the film, followers have spoken on social media. As a fan of the collection, I feel it’s time to let sleeping wolves lie.
About the writer
Ray Liu is a New York-based Chinese-American author who enjoys escaping to the world of Japanese anime movies and Korean dramas collection. With a grasp’s diploma in English, he focuses on Asian American literature and narratives with a give attention to close-reading that connects works of fiction to actual, human points. His YouTube channel, “rayliur,” focuses on skincare and comfortable dwelling.
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