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Warning: This story contains spoilers for Teen Wolf: The Movie.
Did this werewolf story lose its bite? Teen Wolf’s return to Beacon Hills was meant to provide answers — but left fans asking more questions.
The MTV series, which premiered in June 2011, followed Scott McCall (Tyler Posey) as a young werewolf who had to band together with his fellow misfits to protect his small California town from supernatural creatures and dangerous threats. The show, which ran for six seasons and concluded in September 2017, was an instant cult classic, leaving viewers wanting more from their favorite wolfpack.
In September 2021, Paramount Plus revealed that a reunion film, directed by Russell Mulcahy and written by series creator Jeff Davis, was in the works. The supernatural thriller, which debuted on January 26, 2023, features Scott and his pack back in their hometown 15 years later to face an old nemesis — and protect Beacon Hills from a familiar threat.
When news of the revival first broke, fans were instantly curious which characters would show up in the project — especially Arden Cho’s Kira (who mysteriously disappeared during season 5) and fan-favorite Stiles Stilinski, played by Dylan O’Brien.
In February 2022, Deadline reported that Cho declined to return for the Teen Wolf revival after she was offered half the per-episode salary of her three fellow actresses: Shelley Hennig, Holland Roden and Crystal Reed. (Reed, for her part, was returning as Allison Argent after exiting the show in season 3.)
“I think I was actually offered even less,” Cho said when asked about her salary during an interview with The Cut at the time. “I probably would’ve never shared it. … I could probably, off the top of my head, think of over 10 Asian American actors I know who were paid significantly less than their counterparts. Sometimes you don’t have a choice to say ‘no.’ Sometimes you just need it. You’ve got bills to pay. I wasn’t saying ‘no’ necessarily for me or because I was angry. I was saying ‘no’ because I hope that there will be more equality in the future.”
While Cho initially became a series regular on the supernatural series in season 4, she was abruptly cut from the story, telling The Cut that “there wasn’t room for Kira.”
After the film premiered, however, eagle-eyed fans quickly realized that the Partner Track alum’s place had been filled by another character, Hikari, played by Amy L. Workman. Though the character of Hikari is also Asian American, Kitsune and kind like Kira, there is no explanation of who she is or how she became a part of Scott’s pack. The character simply appears, leaving audiences to wonder if she is a stand-in for what should have been Cho.
Following Cho’s statement on her decision not to return, O’Brien took to social media to show his support for his former costar by “liking” a fan comment via Twitter in February 2022. “Arden said, ’nah,’” the tweet read, alongside an excerpt from her interview with The Cut.
One month later, the Not Okay star revealed that he made the “difficult” decision not to reprise his role as Stiles.
“A lot went into it,” the Love and Monsters star explained to Variety in March 2022. “The show couldn’t be more dear to me. It was the first thing I ever did I and so many people there are extremely dear to me. It was something I was trying to make work but it all happened very fast. We didn’t really know that it was happening and they kind of just threw it at us a little bit, which is fine because we all love the show. We were trying to figure it out.”
O’Brien explained that he ultimately felt like his character was “left in a really good place” and he wanted to “still leave it there,” but “wished them well” and would be watching “the first night [the movie] comes out.”
“I hope it f—king kicks ass, but I’m not going to be in it,” he quipped.
Davis, for his part, told Collider in August 2022 that the movie would “reference” the First Time star’s absence. “I think we can’t do the movie without paying tribute to the character Stiles. So he comes up in more than one situation,” he shared.
The Wolf Pack creator also noted that Stiles’ love interest, Lydia (Roden), would be given a “big storyline” about their relationship that fans could “look forward” to watching unfold.
However, when Lydia returns to Beacon Hills in the film, she reveals that she and Stiles have called it quits when a dream about a fatal car accident left her worried for his safety. After breaking up with him in order to hopefully save his life, she finds herself heartbroken and unable to access her supernatural powers. While she eventually finds her voice, the twosome’s split leaves questions in its wake: Was it a dream or a premonition? Is Stiles still destined to die either way? Will they ever reconcile?
Scroll down to find out what questions were answered — and what we still need answers to — following the Teen Wolf movie.
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