Review: “Wolf King” Season One: A Thrilling Book Adaptation

These days it’s difficult to know who to root for when it comes to acquiring certain IP. For good or for ill, Curtis Jobling’s Wereworld young adult book series has gone to Netflix. The TV series, which is called Wolf King, debuted its first season with eight half-hour episodes. Season One of Wolf King serves as an adaptation of Wereworld: Rise of the Wolf (2010), the first book in the series. Jobling himself is one of the show’s producers and wrote all eight episodes, so it’s likely that these episodes were faithful to the book. I wasn’t familiar with the series going into the show, but I nevertheless found it highly engaging.

The show centers on Drew Ferran, a 16 year-old boy that discovers he’s a werelord, someone who can turn into a man/animal hybrid. Specifically, he can turn into a wolf and is actually the long lost son of a deposed king. The premise of “the rightful heir to the throne living as a farm boy who discovers his magical destiny” is a solid one. In the premiere episode, Drew’s powers kick in, but his mother is killed by an assailant only Drew sees. Thus, he gets blamed by his father and brother for the murder of his mother. He must flee home to seek help from the man his mother named with her dying breath, and on his journey, he ends up hunted by even more people.

Not only is the premise good, but so’s the worldbuilding. We learn that the previous king was a werewolf named Wergar, but a werelion named Leopold has taken over. There are other were-animals in this fantasy world such as bears, stags, and even rats and sharks. So we have a realm named Westland taken over by an evil lion-themed royal family that has us sympathizing for the less powerful wolf-themed character while there are stag families and bear families too. Plus it’s got a predominantly British cast. If that sounds familiar, you’re bound to notice other comparisons to A Song of Ice and Fire, which was adapted on HBO as Game of Thrones. Hector, the least athletic of the group who makes up for it with his intelligence and book smarts, is similar to Samwell Tarly. The arranged marriage between Prince Lucas and Lady Gretchen has shades of Joffrey/Sansa. The world of Wolf King is definitely its own thing and goes in its own direction, but given the cultural phenomenon Game of Thrones became, it’s hard not to think about the similarities.

However, Wolf King isn’t a live action adaptation for an adult audience. This is animated and skews younger. It doesn’t hesitate to go full magical world with animal transformations, magic, and even talking to the dead. There are plenty of sword fights, animal fights, and chase sequences for action lovers. It’s thrilling and animated well, but the show does have a couple shortcomings. I love the idea of so many man/animal hybrids and how powerful they appear, but they aren’t distinctive enough in power, skill, and strength level. The wererat can climb walls and stick to shadows while the wereshark is, obviously, built to work well in water, but many opponents come across as too evenly matched. Lions, wolves, bears, etc. are all pretty much the same size with enhanced strength/durability, but they are kind of interchangeable. Drew often has to fight his inner wolf nature while Vega’s wereshark form retains much of his personality. Does this indicate that there’s a difference between animal natures or is it reflective of the characters themselves?

There are some brutal fights, but the show is obviously operating under certain restrictions. A few significant characters are actually killed, but because they stay away from anything too graphic, it’s hard to tell when someone dies. Granted, this show is rated TV-Y7 for “fantasy violence” and “fear”, but seeing some blood would have helped. When someone is stabbed with a sword or a knife and there’s no blood or even visible wounds, so it’s hard to even tell that they have been killed.

Wolf King balances character and plot very well. We stick with Drew during most of it, but even when he’s off with Gretchen and Hector, we check back in with Whitley and her father, Duke Bergan, often enough. As Drew meets more people and goes to different places, we learn more about the world and its rules. Drew’s father and brother disappear early on, but they return in a big way. The world is expansive, and its easy to get lost and disoriented, especially considering they take a sea voyage at one point, but the plot moves along fast enough that it’s not distracting.

The cast of characters is strong, but I was expecting more romance, especially since many of them are teenagers. The closest we get is Gretchen’s betrothal to Lucas, but she quickly finds herself less and less enamored of him. Drew may have a lot to deal with, but him learning to get a handle on his wolf powers seems like it would be the perfect metaphor for a teenager battling raging hormones. Drew butts heads with Whitley and Gretchen when he meets them. Both girls grow to respect and care for him, so it seems like there would be a romantic spark with one of them. Maybe it’s just the bonds of friendship forming, but it wouldn’t surprise me if something more happened down the line.

I really enjoyed the score of this series. Thomas Haines is credited as composer, and his music makes the chase scenes more exciting. Drew’s leitmotif when he’s in the process of transforming, in particular, is awesome. There’s this sharp, electric sound to it that heightens the power and danger.

A lot happens across this season’s eight episodes. It tells a complete story of Drew leaving home, discovering who he is, and making allies and enemies. It culminates in confrontations with both his father, the wererat who killed his mother, and King Leopold, who wants him executed. And yet, they still manage to leave us wanting more. Without spoiling too much, there are a lot of plot threads that are set up in the finale. Motivations change, fates are left up in the air, and new challenges present themselves.

I can’t say that watching this show has made me want to go out and read every book in the Wereworld series, but it has made me curious about how many books there are and where the characters go from here. If Netflix decides to adapt one book per season, that’ll be a good run for an animated series. That is, if the show comes back. With six books in the series, and the author heavily involved in the production of the show, it’s going to take a lot of commitment on Netflix’s part to allow Wolf King to tell the full story of Wereworld. And if they do, I’ll be back for more.

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