What the Show Changes From the Books

TV

'Wolf Pack' is based on books by Edo van Belkom, but 'Teen Wolf' series creator Jeff Davis changed a few things when he adapted 'Wolf Pack' for streaming.

Published on January 27, 2023

Horror television has been dominated by vampire shows based on books like True Blood, The Vampire Diaries, and Vampire Academy to name a few. Werewolves appeared on some, and also got their own show in Teen Wolf, based on the comedy movies. But Wolf Pack is based on the books by Edo van Belkom, but the Wolf Pack series changes a few things.

Wolf Pack creator Jeff Davis was on a Television Critics Association Zoom panel for Wolf Pack on Sept. 21. He explained where he was faithful to van Belkom’s books, but also where he took the show in new directions. New episodes of Wolf Pack stream Thursdays on Paramount+.

‘Wolf Pack’ changes the audience for the books

Davis acknowledged that the Wolf Pack books were perhaps more for the audience of the Teen Wolf series, or maybe even younger. Instead, Davis made an explicit streaming show.

“Well, I would say the books written by Edo van Belkom, they are great,” Davis said. “They were definitely for a younger audience. One of the biggest things we have done is to edge things up. This is a far more edgier adult story, which is one thing I wanted to do after Teen Wolf. Teen Wolf was very much within a comic book world. Wolf Pack is not a spin off. It is an entirely new universe, entirely new feel, and tone. There are all new rules, all new mythology.”

‘Wolf Pack’ begins where the books begin, and then changes the plot

Both the Wolf Pack book and show begin the same way. Then Davis jumped off from there. He also changed the characters’ names.

I have to say, I had an initial idea for a show, and Edo’s book had a very similar opening. So there was sort of a synchronicity when I read the opening to the book. He starts out with a park ranger, who finds these cubs in the woods. We had all seen those pictures of the wildfires and the cars driving up the 405. That was an absolutely indelible image to me. I couldn’t get it out of my head. What if those cars are stuck on that road, what if we are backed up, what if they are in the middle of them is a high school bus, what would happen? Run for their lives? And that’s how it started. Certain days when you see ash coming down, and you get in your car and it looks like it’s been snowed on, so it is a big concern for me, the environment in California. There’s also a big inspiration.

The park ranger is a single father now

Rodrigo Santoro plays the park ranger, Garrett Briggs. Briggs teams up with arson investigator Kristin Ramsey (Sarah Michelle Gellar), but Davis omitted Briggs’ wife for the Wolf Pack series.

“He is married [in the book],” Davis said. “I have this idea of the single father raising two kids and finding that he is really good at it. I love writing stories about families and about broken families put together.”

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