Our beloved characters from the Teen Wolf universe are back, but they aren’t quite how we remembered them. The core cast is now in their 30s, and Derek Hale (Tyler Hoechlin) has a 15-year-old son. A lot has changed since we last saw them. Monroe is no longer hunting them. However, there is no explanation of what happened to that storyline.
The movie is a lot of fun diving back into the world again, but despite the 140 run time, it’s still not enough time to sufficiently serve all the characters. Mason (Khylin Rhambo) hardly gets any screen time and doesn’t get any type of storyline. It is such a shame with how integral he was in the last season.
The movie was primarily focused on Scott McCall (Tyler Posey), Lydia Martin (Holland Roden), Malia Tate (Shelley Hennig), Derek and his son and Allison Argent (Crystal Reed). It’s clear Malia has been close with Derek and his son, Eli (Vince Mattis), but the rest of them haven’t been in touch for years. That’s typical of high school friends who move away from their hometown. Scott is the closest to the characters we remember. Lydia is bitter, with good reason. Malia is rougher around the edges than she was in high school. That probably makes sense without Scott and Stiles around to help her adapt to social situations. It’s never mentioned how Scott and Malia broke up. There are a lot of plot holes, unfortunately.
The opening of the movie felt forced without much explanation. But it was all to get the plot in motion and everyone back to Beacon Hills. The Nogitsune and Oni are brought back, and the pack has to defeat them again. It makes sense that Jeff Davis went back to this villain because it was the favorite in its six-season run. But he could have come up with a completely different villain. And seeing as Void Stiles was one of the best parts of that season, it’s strange to go back to a storyline that relied so much on a character that wasn’t there. (Though I am satisfied with how they explained his absence. And season six already helped them set this up because they didn’t want to call him for help then, either.)
While Stiles (Dylan O’Brien) was nowhere to be seen, he was there in spirit. Derek’s son Eli had many of Stiles’ qualities from when he was a teen. It was pretty cute to see all the similarities, especially when Derek wasn’t exactly the biggest fan of Stiles. So while Stiles was there in spirit, where was his bat? It’s such a big symbol of Stiles and the show, and it seems like it would be pretty easy to throw a bat in there somewhere.
Teen Wolf: The Movie was made for fans through and through. It doesn’t feel like new fans would find the franchise through this. It’s all callbacks to the original show. And it would have been done better if it had been a season seven, mainly because a movie wasn’t enough time to dive into the storyline or give all the characters enough screen time.
Despite the plot holes and lack of screen time for some characters, the movie is still good. It won’t win any awards, but die-hard fans should enjoy the film and want to rewatch it again pretty soon. The final battle is pretty epic, and there’s part of the ending that will touch fans’ hearts.
But if Jeff Davis decides to continue the Teen Wolf story, he should do another season, even if it’s shorter than what the original seasons were. It’s the only way to do justice to the characters and story. And that way, he could clear up some of the plot holes. We may never get Stiles back, but Jeff can bring back Kira Yukimura and pay Arden Cho what she’s worth.
Teen Wolf: The Movie is now streaming on Paramount +. The Teen Wolf series is streaming on Prime Video and Hulu.
