Teen Wolf actor Orny Adams, who plays Coach Finstock, defends the movie’s decision to kill off Derek and explains why that might’ve happened.
Orny Adams, who plays Coach Finstock, defends Teen Wolf: The Movie’s decision to kill off Derek Hale. The revival film saw the return of many actors from the original series, including Adams and Tyler Hoechlin as Derek, but it was arguably more notable for the mixed response that it garnered with the fanbase. The choice to kill off Derek late in the third act sparked a lot of discussion about the purpose of the project and whether important characters were being discarded in order to set up a potential spinoff.
While being interviewed on the Howler Back Now podcast by Teen Wolf co-star Holland Roden, the Coach Finstock actor takes the opportunity to address the complaints surrounding Derek’s death. Early on, he discusses the negative response from viewers towards series creator Jeff Davis and offers his perspective on why popular characters are killed off. In the quote below, he explains these decisions are made not out of spite, but for more practical reasons:
My love for Derek is that the fans were outraged that he was [killed off], and they’re never gonna watch this show again, that they hate Jeff Davis. […] And what you don’t understand is, if certain characters don’t return to the show, it might be because they were unavailable, or they didn’t want to, or they couldn’t afford them. Or for whatever reason. It’s a business. It’s a business, and you can’t say: “Jeff Davis, I hate you for killing Derek,” or Crystal [Reed, who plays Allison] or whatever. Like, he’s not just killing out of spite.”
What’s Next For The Teen Wolf Universe?
Teen Wolf: The Movie concludes with a shot of Eli Hale (Vince Mattis), the son of Derek, looking determined. It’s set up and lingered on in a way that suggests the newcomer could lead the franchise movie forward. Derek dies, essentially sacrificing himself near the end of the movie, and there’s an easy follow-up in Scott (Tyler Posey) and Allison raising their young wolf in a potentially supporting capacity. The follow-up film is mostly self-contained otherwise, but it clearly leaves the door open for more stories set in the Teen Wolf world.
Ian Bohen, who plays Peter Hale, recently revealed that he’s pushing hard for a spinoff focused on Peter and Chris Argent (JR Bourne). Bohen mentions the project would involve flashbacks and history, and would thereby hopefully involve Derek. It would be an interesting choice, considering Peter and Chris have always been supporting players on Teen Wolf, though Bohen stressed he’s working with others to see if the idea can be built up into something more.
There’s also Wolf Pack. Although the Paramount+ series is not connected to Teen Wolf, it is also created by Davis and features a few of the same actors in different roles. It’s unlikely the two supernatural dramas will have a crossover. And yet, given the shared theme, location, and creative team, there remains a chance.
