"Teen Wolf" ran for several successful seasons on MTV. It was one of the exceedingly few series from the network to generally be considered of high quality. The series was directly inspired by the 'Buffyverse'. A franchise that began with a rather campy movie, but eventually continued with a legit overall great television show.
The decision to end the "Teen Wolf" series took some by surprise at the time. It was still popular and generally thought to be good. But series boss Jeff Davis thought it was time to call it. And the reception to its finale was decent.
But given the franchise's enduring popularity and the cast's open willingness, rumors quickly sprung up about a return. And eventually the news was official – a new movie was in the works. Not the full cinematic treatment that fans could've hoped for. But still a movie nonetheless, to be released via the streamer Paramount+. What would ensue would be a number of controversies, including but not limited to racial pay disparity. And the resulting project has not exactly been embraced by the masses. Beware of both movie and series spoilers ahead.
Most – but not all – of the core cast would be reunited
The movie picks up about 15 years after the series ended. Many of the characters have moved away from the show's main setting of Beacon Hills, California.
Including the title werewolf, Scott McCall. But he's called home on behalf of his deceased first flame, the justifiably popular Allison Argent. In the timeline of the movie's setting, Allison died about two decades earlier. Valiantly giving her life in battle.
Early in the movie, Scott learns that Allison's soul may have been trapped all that time.
Believing they can help her reach Heaven, Scott joins forces with two more old friends and fan favorites. Those being Lydia Martin and Malia Tate. To their shock, their journey results not in Allison's soul moving on, but her being brought back to life. But with a conveniently selective case of amnesia.
What follows is a callback to arguably the series' most iconic storyline that helped cement its solid reputation.
The plot draws from Japanese folklore. In the series, the characters – or 'The Pack' prevail, but at great cost. Allison dies and Scott's best friend Stiles nearly does also after being taken over by a dark trickster spirit.
The movie is missing key characters
Drawing on the kitsune and nogitsune plot makes sense if one is trying to resurrect Allison. But hers was not the only character so deeply tied with it. Fans became gripped by the turn of Stiles from comedic and hyper BFF to a villain. The performance by actor Dylan O'Brien would be widely praised. He quickly became sought after for high-profile cinematic roles. O'Brien would appear in a number of movies. But vowed he would never leave the series as long as it was on the air.
Things wouldn't entirely work out that way, though it was not O'Brien's intention. He suffered a near-fatal accident on a movie set that left him severely injured. As a result of his injuries and schedule re-shuffling, his presence in the final season was exceptionally limited. That is understandable, but one would've thought he'd be eager to come back to the franchise.
But he didn't, making the decision to sit out of "Teen Wolf: The Movie". Something that would've made the movie feel different for just about any story. But for one that refers to a plot so linked with his character makes it feel even more odd.
Also featured prominently in the story on the show and not at all in the film is Arden Cho's Kira Yukimura.
Whereas Stiles is at least talked about, Kira is not even mentioned in the movie. Cho opted not to return after apparently learning she would be paid significantly less than her castmates. She believed the reasoning was her race. Whether or not that's true, it would become an added controversy attached to the movie.
Makes several different questionable decisions about romantic pairings
As indicated by The Review Geek, "Teen Wolf: The Movie" is generally not kind to the series' endgame pairings. Some of that may not have been the filmmakers' first choice. And others are quite frankly befuddling and perplexing.
A great deal of the movie is geared toward bringing Scott and Allison back together romantically.
Even though that doesn't really work for the characters anymore. By the time of Allison's death, they had broken up, but remained friends. Allison was learning who she was outside of being Scott's girlfriend. And now that she's been given a second chance on Earth, her great ambition is to be...Scott's girlfriend.
And, as discussed by IGN, there is the age issue. Scott is supposed to be solidly into his 30s at this point. While the newly-returned Allison is still supposed to be in her teens. No, Allison wasn't getting older and more mature in her state of limbo. The movie makes a specific point to say she's still a teenager – physically, mentally and emotionally. Age differences are not new to the fantasy genre, featuring characters that are centuries-old.
But this feels different, uncomfortably so. And there's also the practicality of it all.
Scott and Allison are supposedly going to live happily ever after. We're left to believe that people not in the know about werewolves and the like will just accept it. Maybe it could be played off that if she and Scott aren't in Beacon Hills it won't matter that much. People who didn't know her won't wonder about how she's suddenly alive again after 20 or so years. But it could make visits home to visit his Mom kind of tricky. But accepting all of that, we've been told as an audience that Allison still has the literal body of a teenager. Which is also another issue. This is in no way meant to be an insult to actress Crystal Reed.
Reed is a very beautiful 37-year-old woman, but she does not much resemble a high school junior.
But, so, okay, you suspend your disbelief about the character's age. Imagining their future life together. Do we really think it'll all be smooth sailing for a man over 30 years old and his teenage lover? Highly doubtful. And while we're on the subject of age and disbelief, it's worth mentioning that lacrosse sequence towards the end. One where a man in his 30s ends up playing in a high school lacrosse game. And not much is made of it other than a brief mention by the opposing coach. I'm sorry, but that's getting perilously close to downright stupid territory. Yes, it's the fantasy genre, which tends to mean by definition it's not of the normal level of realism.
But that doesn't allow a movie to get away with something so ridiculous.
The drive to put Scott back with Allison also means that he's no longer with Malia. Them getting together surprised some viewers, but was generally well-received. Many enjoyed what felt like a natural progression from allies to close friends to falling in love. The final season made a point to emphasize their bond. One of the most climactic moments of the series finale was literally her kiss saving his life. A flash-forward showed them still apparently going strong a couple years later.
And now in the movie...nothing. Not only are they no longer together in a romantic sense, it seems they're hardly friends anymore. Which is very contradictory to how strong the Alpha-Beta bond they shared was supposed to be.
That was very emphatically made clear to the audience. It's nonsensical for that to disappear with no explanation. And, yes, for their romance to end so unceremoniously. The movie also fumbles by trying to say Malia wants to be on her own. But yet also wants to be with Jordan Parrish. A quite random matching that doesn't seem to settle well with just about anybody. Even the actor and actress who play the characters.
As a side note, their relationship also provided some bonding moments between Malia and her father, Peter. Peter, who began as an adversary of The Pack, but went through some personal growth and became a sort-of ally. Yeah, forget pretty much all of that. In "Teen Wolf: The Movie" that's just about erased in its entirety.
Again, with no explanation.
And then there's the matter of Lydia and Stiles. It might not have been this way if O'Brien had returned. But the movie has the much-beloved couple having gone their separate ways. This time there is an explanation given, one that tries to be noble about it. Lydia has a repeated dream that Stiles will die after a car crash that they're in together. She becomes convinced that this will really happen. And that if she removes herself from the equation, it will change things enough to save him.
Okay, points for trying to lessen the pain of the audience by saying Lydia was really trying to save him. And matters of the heart tend to override common sense. But for someone as seriously intelligent as Lydia, this is quite dumb.
Barring some key details, why would she or we think her not being there is the answer? We don't know if it was her or him that was driving. Or where they were going, or where they were when it would supposedly happen. And so on. As it stands, Stiles could just as easily die in a car crash, but alone. It's rather difficult to think that he's only ever in a moving vehicle if Lydia is there.
Again, the filmmakers didn't make the choice for Stiles not to appear in the movie. But it could've also explained why he wouldn't have shown up for the memorial service for Derek Hale. Whose death is also a sore spot for many fans. Without a reason given for why, it seems out of character for Stiles to bail on such an event.
Left open for a possible sequel
"Teen Wolf: The Movie" quite unmistakenly leaves the door open for more adventure with The Pack. And the early reports about viewership of the movie would seem to be a strong incentive for sequels. And if it does happen, hopefully there will be an improvement of fortunes. It might be a stretch to say that the movie ruined the series. But it did mar so much of it and the journey fans went on.
It's not the first franchise for this to happen. Something of an alarming trend seems to be occurring in television. Perhaps most noticeably with the much-loathed conclusion to "Game of Thrones". Which was so very contradictory to earlier events that it. Almost raising the question if it was ghost written by somebody who'd never actually watched the show. Similar patterns can be found in otherwise generally great seasons, such as the 2022 season for "Stranger Things". In which the writers re-introduced a certain love triangle, going against a number of character arcs. A blemish on what was by-and-large a fantastic season.
"Teen Wolf: The Movie" seems to be another case of a franchise apparently ignoring much of its own content. In the case of "Game of Thrones", there are calls from many for some way to fix the ending. For the, by context, smaller issues with "Stranger Things", it remains to be seen how the series plays out. And for "Teen Wolf", maybe one or more sequels can heal the problems. But for now, a lot of fans are left to wish they'd just left well enough alone.
