2012 New York Comic-Con: Teen Wolf Panel

by Merrill Barr:

For the first time ever, MTV brought its critically acclaimed horror series to the New York Comic-Con, and it was by far one of the best panels I have attended today. It was clear from the outset that show runner/creator Jeff Davis and star Tyler Posey truly love their jobs, and their fans that come along with it.

There are many ways to describe the fandom surrounding MTV’s Teen Wolf. But unless you’re in a room with the fandom, in person, it’s impossible to truly appreciate how insanely passionate it is. To put my experience with this panel into context, I added over two hundred new Twitter followers as I was live tweeting it.

When the panel began, the duo showed a newly cut gag reel of season 2 from the soon to be released DVD. After this, the moderator immediately jumped to addressing the biggest issue of the day, the very recent and sudden departure of cast member Colton Haynes (Jackson) from the show. Davis stated that he spoke with Colton the night before the panel to confirm his departure, and that his character would be written out smoothly and in such a way as to allow for his return at a later date.

It was after this that the moderator began discussing the way relationships of the characters were going to change next season. One of the more newsworthy shifts is that Lydia will be made a part of Scott’s “pack”, and Stiles was going to move past his crush for Lydia and begin to view her more as a friend. This shift for Stiles was something Davis emphasized, saying that in high school you have to eventually move past your crushes and see people for who they really are. Davis also said that Lydia’s abilities and immunity would be expanded upon in the upcoming season: “This season is about women finding their power.”

Along those same lines, Davis also stated that Scott at the start of season 3 (set four months later in the show’s world at the start of the kids’ junior year) has moved past Allison and has begun growing into a leader. Posey posed to the crowd the possibility of Scott beginning to embrace his powers, and possibly even using them for the purpose of good. Davis also promised that Derek’s line from the pilot to Scott, “we’re brothers now”, will come into play in season three.

As for Allison, who went full on bad-ass in season two, Davis stated that he liked to describe both her and her father as gunslingers who have hung up their guns at the beginning of season three. The premiere will see Allison moving back to Beacon Hills with her father under the condition that both of them stop hunting for good.

In another more newsworthy announcement, Davis said there was a plan to do a flashback episode in the upcoming season that would show a young Derek Hale, and possibly expand upon the relationships between the adults in Beacon Hills. The flashback episode would also explain the blue-eyed werewolf Jackson transformed into at the end of season two. When asked if Davis would get into more of the genetics of families in the show, he said he wasn’t a fan of straying too far out of the supernatural territory, and that he didn’t want to get into a Twilight explanation, citing the example of imprinting.

Fans were also curious about what would happen with some of the side characters this season — namely Issac, Boyd and Erica. According to Davis, the mystery of what happened to Boyd and Erica would encompass the arc of the first few episodes, and he said Issac would become a trainee of sorts to Scott as he develops his werewolf powers.

And while he was in a giving mood, Davis finally confirmed and expanded on the rumor that season three would include a female alpha. The character, according to Davis, would be named Kali and would walk around barefoot almost all the time. The reason for this? Why it’s so she can attack people with her feet-claws, of course.

In one of the final conversations before the panel ended, Davis discussed moving the show’s shooting location from Atlanta to Los Angeles. The move was done to make it easier on the actors’ and writers’ lives, and also so there would be a new pool of actors to choose from. Davis stated that the move would not affect the look of the show in any way, and that the production team was working on building virtual sets so the actors can shoot certain scenes on green screen (I personally am not 100% sold on all of that).

The Teen Wolf panel was by far the most spirited event I’ve attended at the convention this weekend. Its fans are incredible and not nearly as snobby as Twilight’s. Jeff Davis and Tyler Posey could not have been more perfect showmen at their panel, and I wholeheartedly welcome the 24 episodes season three has to offer come next year.

Stay tuned to DarkMedia for more coverage from the NYCC throughout the weekend.  And be sure to check out the coverage on Opening Day, The Art of Composing For Film & Television and the Legendary Comics Panel with Guillermo del Toro.