Showrunner Jeff Davis has his fingers and thumbs in all the wolf pies. His same-day, double release of Wolf Pack and Teen Wolf: The Movie is enough werewolf drama to keep fans entertained from now until the next full moon. Tyler Posey, Tyler Hoechlin, Holland Rhoden and Crystal Reed reprise the roles of Scott, Derek, Lydia and Allison respectively.
On the other side of the wolfy fence Buffy The Vampire Slayer legend Sarah Michelle Gellar stars as chief arson investigator Kristin Ramsey in her latest supernatural role in Wolf Pack.
She shares the screen with Armani Jackson and Bella Shepard who play the freshly-bitten wolf teens Everett Lang and Blake Navarro.
It's werewolf mania but as one door closes – with Teen Wolf: The Movie supposedly ending and leaving our characters (for the most part) in better places (*cough* Stiles and Lydia) – could another door be opening in a Wolf Pack. That is to say, is the latest Davis werewolf show expanding the world of Teen Wolf through Wolf Pack?
Here's what we know.
Is Wolf Pack a Teen Wolf spin off?
It seems only natural that Wolf Pack would be the sister show to the Teen Wolf franchise given the Davis link, the same release date and with both shows being streamed on Paramount+.
It's like the universe is literally begging viewers to see them as one but despite all the divine signs Wolf Pack is not a continuation in the Teen Wolf franchise.
Davis went to great lengths to make this crystal clear when, during an interview with SFX, he adamantly stated that there was no direct link between the shows adding:
"There can be two werewolf shows that exist in separate spaces."
Are Teen Wolf and Wolf Pack part of the same supernatural universe?
Okay, so Wolf Pack isn't a continuation of Teen Wolf but are they a part of the same universe?
It's tempting to think that isn't it? It's that darn divine connection again but no, the two aren't linked even on this basic level.
For one Teen Wolf is a reimagining of the 1985 film that goes by the same name, starring Michael J Fox as Scott Howard (not McCall). The show followed the same premise as the movie and followed the newly bitten Scott on his transformation journey into a werewolf, though it took a more comedic approach.
By contrast Wolf Pack is based on the 2004 book series written by Edo Van Belkom. Belkom's story centers around a pack of teen wolves but shares no connection with the 1985 Teen Wolf film or the show which followed.
"Nobody thinks Twilight is in the same universe as Interview With The Vampire," Davis said in the same interview with SFX, just in case his point hasn't firmly sunk in yet.
How are Teen Wolf and Wolf Pack different?
If you're wondering why on earth werewolf enthusiasts would need a werewolf film AND TV series debuting on the same day no less you're probably not the only one. Some may even worry that, with Davis at the helm, the two will follow much of the same vein but according to the showrunner you couldn't be more wrong.
When approached to work on Wolf Pack, Davis revealed that it wasn't the wolfy-supernatural element that was the draw but the wildfires which sparked the chain of events.
"They sent me the book and it actually does tie into something [I'd] been thinking about for a while, which was the California wildfires," Davis told Entertainment Weekly.
His interest was born from the infamous photo of a Los Angeles highway that was on fire, which he couldn't stop thinking about.
"[I thought] what if a school bus was stuck in traffic sitting right next to that fire," which he then went on to mirror in the opening scenes of Wolf Pack.
The showrunner was also determined not to ensure that Teen Wolf and Wolf Pack had a very different feel.
"I said, 'I don't want to do the same show. I want to do something more adult, a little bit extreme in places. Not necessarily darker, but a little bit more sophisticated in terms of themes', (via CBR )
He added: "Teen Wolf was very comic book. It had a real sense of humour… not that Wolf Pack doesn't have a sense of humour, but it's not as comedic as Teen Wolf."
Davis attempts to achieve this, in part, with his different approach to the teenage experience. This time around he was keen to explore more complex, emotional issues with this set of wolf pups.
"I found with teenagers these days, there are issues such as anxiety, disconnected youth trying to find each other, can they still find each other in a world like this where it's all technology, pandemics, and people are being separated," Davis explained to Entertainment Weekly.
"That's really what the story is about: these four kids finding each other, and finding their pack, and finding their people."
Wolf Pack and Teen Wolf: The Movie are streaming now on Paramount+ in the US, both the show and move premiere in the UK on Friday, January 27 with new episodes of Wolf Pack releasing weekly.
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