Here’s How ‘Teen Wolf’ Creator Made ‘Wolf Pack’ Different
TV often turns to tried-and-true genres to create an instant connection with viewers. But no one would expect teenage werewolves to occupy the same space as procedural dramas and workplace sitcoms. Yet, that seems to be the case with the new Paramount+ show, Wolf Pack. The series follows in the footsteps of MTV’s Teen Wolf series. But here’s how it’s different.
‘Wolf Pack’ has a connection to another werewolf series
While Teen Wolf and Wolf Pack might seem like they have loosely similar premises, and its true shows have the same mastermind behind them both: Producer Jeff Davis. In fact, his work on Teen Wolf nearly led him to reject Wolf Pack. Davis shed some light on his decision to join the new show during an interview with Entertainment Weekly at the 2022 New York Comic Con.
“I never thought I’d be the werewolf guy. … After 100 episodes of Teen Wolf, I thought I was done with werewolves … So they sent me the [2004 novel Wolf Pack, upon which the show is based], and I said, ‘Well, this actually does tie into something I’d been thinking about for a while, which was the California wildfires.”
Davis went on to say how the “indelible image of the 405 on fire” struck him. And he imagined a series that literally began with a school bus stuck in traffic amidst the chaos. That, as it turns out, is how Wolf Pack opens. And it sets a very different tone for what appears to be a very different series than Davis’ previous teenage werewolf drama.
How ‘Wolf Pack’ distinguishes itself from ‘Teen Wolf’
Teen Wolf — which ran on MTV from 2011 to 2017 — was loosely inspired by the 1985 comedy starring Michael J. Fox. So with the novel and Davis’ own ideas about Wolf Pack, the latter show already had a wildly different starting point than its predecessor. Still, in the same interview with EW, Davis opened up about how Wolf Pack approaches werewolf lore.
“With Teen Wolf, one of the first things we did was we said, ‘Okay, here’s the traditional werewolf myth. How do we spin it?’ This, I wanted to go back to more traditional myths.”
Of course, there are countless stories about werewolves, just as there are of vampires, zombies, and other supernatural creatures. So that’s a vital distinction Davis makes, between twisting what audiences expect and rooting Wolf Pack in a more traditional place that emphasizes the mythic over the modern.
‘Wolf Pack’ stars Sarah Michelle Gellar as 1 of its leads
While Teen Wolf made stars of many of its cast members, Wolf Pack has something it did not: a TV veteran anchoring the show from the start. Buffy the Vampire Slayer star Sarah Michelle Gellar leads a cast that also includes Rodrigo Santoro, Armani Jackson, Bella Shepard, Chloe Rose Robertson, and Tyler Lawrence Gray. It premiered on Paramount+ on January 26, 2023.
Teen Wolf fans can also look forward to a reunion movie based on the show hitting Paramount+ on the very same day. Most of the show’s original cast — including Tyler Posey, Crystal Reed, Tyler Hoechlin, Holland Roden, and Colton Haynes — reprise their roles. Davis wrote Teen Wolf: The Movie, which is directed by Russell Mulcahy (Highlander).
