The Final Trailer for Teen Wolf: The Movie

MTV’s Teen Wolf was just supposed to be a cute television show about teenage werewolves. Instead, it turned into a six-year long journey that amassed a huge fan following—a pack, if you will. While the show officially ended in 2017, the fandom is still alive, going strong, and—well—howling for more content. Last year, fans finally received some good news: Teen Wolf was returning for a movie on Paramount Plus.

It’s been a long year of build up, but Teen Wolf: The Movie is finally set to premiere next month—January 26, 2023. In preparation for the final stretch, Paramount Plus released the official trailer yesterday for a deeper look at what’s to come.

Derek and Eli Hale

When it was first revealed that Derek Hale had a son, the Teen Wolf fanbase went absolutely wild. Social media was flooded with questions. Did Derek know he had a kid? Did he know during the show, but keep it a secret? Do they have a close relationship? And—most importantly—who’s the mother? During the run of Teen Wolf, Derek didn’t have a lot of luck with the ladies—dead high school sweetheart, then a murderer, then another murderer, then a mercenary…which is also a kind of murderer. Most of those aren’t great options.

At first, it seemed that those questions would be the point of Teen Wolf: The Movie. We would be discovering the answers along with the characters, and maybe even Derek himself. Early theories called Eli his estranged son because, mathematically, he’d have to be. Then again, math and timelines were never Teen Wolf‘s strong suit.

Supposedly Teen Wolf: The Movie takes place thirteen years after the end of the television series. That puts Scott in his early 30’s and Derek either his late 30’s or early 40’s, depending what details you choose to take from Teen Wolf. Regardless of Derek’s age, his son Eli appears to be in high school, which makes him anywhere between fourteen and nineteen. Subtract thirteen from either of those numbers, and you get the answer, “Eli was born before the original Teen Wolf ended.”

But in the latest trailer for Teen Wolf: The Movie, Derek doesn’t seem estranged from Eli at all. When he says, “you’re my son,” there’s not a hint of discomfort. Considering how closed off and broody Derek was in the early days, it probably took time to build a bond like that with his son. So who is Eli, where did he come from, and how long has Derek known him? Those are questions we’re still waiting to answer.

The Return of Allison Argent

One of the most shocking things about Teen Wolf: The Movie is that it shows the return of Crystal Reed as Allison Argent…maybe. While Reed gives a powerful performance in the trailer, it’s still unclear who she’ll really be playing.

As a brief refresher, Allison Argent was the female lead of the first three seasons of MTV’s Teen Wolf. A teenage girl from a family of supernatural hunters, her relationship with Scott McCall caused a fair few problems—seeing as he was a werewolf, and all. But Allison’s final demise came at the tail-end of Season 3B, where she was killed while trying to rescue her best friend Lydia. Aside from a few flashbacks and Reed’s one-episode appearance as Marie-Jeanne Valet, that was the last we saw of her.

The new trailer for Teen Wolf: The Movie sheds a bit more light on the situation. When Scott and Allison come face to face in the movie, she has absolutely no memory of him. If she doesn’t remember her first love, who’s to say she hasn’t forgotten her other friends and family? Her father, Chris Argent, says clearly, “Whoever or whatever is out there right now is not Allison.” Yet, later in the trailer, Scott’s mother instructs him, “You have to help her remember who she was.” So what’s the truth?

Almost Allison

On a show like Teen Wolf, there’s always a way to bring someone back from the dead. Just look at Peter Hale, Kate Argent, Theo Raeken. It’s possible that Allison was resurrected by some form of magic or, perhaps, by the Oni. The Japanese demon warriors will be featured heavily in Teen Wolf: The Movie. Could they have saved or trapped some part of Allison when they killed her in Season 3B? We’ve already seen that certain katanas have the power to expel demons from their hosts. It’s equally possible that an Oni’s katana could take some portion of their victim’s soul.

Something else to keep in mind: it seems that Allison is working with or being controlled by the Nogitsune, another 3B villain. In 3.21, “The Fox and the Wolf,” it’s established that the Nogitsune can possess a dead body, as he does with Corporal Rhys. However, we also know that it’s possible for a Nogitsune to make their own body. Later in the season, when the pack drives The Nogitsune out of Stiles, he fabricates a clone. This allows him to walk free while still wearing Stiles’s face, while the real Stiles returns to himself.

One more theory—a throwback for people who’ve been watching this show for a long time. Back when Season 3B was first airing, there was a very prevalent fan theory that Allison was also possessed by a Nogitsune. There were several strange details in her plot line, the most memorable of which is an episode where her phone was mysteriously turned off during a crisis—something she had no recollection of doing. If Allison was possessed by a Nogitsune when she was stabbed, then she never would have died at all. So maybe, just maybe, a second Nogitsune has been lying dormant all this time.

I’m not putting my money on that last one, but if the writers actually incorporate that into the plot? I’m sending flowers to Jeff Davis.

Why The Nogitsune?

Obviously, Teen Wolf: The Movie is pulling a ton of its material from Teen Wolf Season 3B. It was the first season of the show to take on a darker, more dramatic tone. I know I’m a drama queen, but I remember getting so anxious between episodes that I felt sick. That being said, Season 3B is also a fan favorite, largely because of the characters at its center.

Season 3B was Stiles Stilinski’s time to shine. Even more than that, it was a domino that led to Dylan O’Brien becoming a breakout star. In the first few seasons, Stiles was the typical, sarcastic sidekick with a heart of gold. Just that was enough to give him his own fan club, but when he was possessed in by the Nogitsune in Season 3B, Teen Wolf got to explore a whole new side of Stiles. O’Brien acted his heart out as both villain and victim, which made the Nogitsune one of the best villains in Teen Wolf.

The season also saw the introduction of Kira Yukimura, Scott’s second love interest and a powerful being in her own right. Portrayed by Arden Cho, Kira came from a family of kitsunes—something she didn’t discover until she came to Beacon Hills. In fact, it was only because of her family’s hidden past that the Nogitsune was unleashed in the first place. Kira’s mother, her knowledge, her katana—all of them were integral to stopping the Nogitsune and saving Stiles.

But in Teen Wolf: The Movie, neither Stiles nor Kira will be part of the pack. O’Brien and Cho each have their own reasons for not returning, busy schedules and lowball offers among them. The movie is attempting to recapture the magic of one of Teen Wolf‘s best seasons, but without two of the most important pieces, there’s no guarantee that it will work. We’ll just have to wait and see.

All six seasons of Teen Wolf are available on Paramount Plus. Teen Wolf: The Movie premieres on January 26, 2023.

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Brittney Wittmer considers herself a Professional Fangirl™. She is both an author and an editor for The Fan Room, focusing on fandom, film, television, and horror. Her greatest achievement to-date is binge-watching fourteen seasons of CW’s Supernatural in 40 days to prepare for the final season.