Animation Domination: Wolf King

Drew Ferran (Ceallach Spellman) lives on a farm in the village of Motley in the land of Lyssia, along with his mother (Kate Fleetwood), father (Peter Serafinowicz) and brother, Trent (Louis Landau).  His life seems normal, until one night, under the Hunter moon, he begins to change.  His mother attempts to tell him what is happening, but they are attacked by a monster. With her final breath, Drew’s mother tells him he must find Bergan of Brackenholme.  Trent and his father believe Drew killed his mother and chase him out of town.  As he attempts to make it to Brackenholme, he meets Whitley (Nina Barker Francis) a young girl who also happens to be a “werelord” and specifically a werebear discovers that Drew is also a werelord but doesn’t know what type yet.  Whitley explains that once their lands were peacefully ruled by the werewolves, and all other werelords swore allegiance to them.  But then the werelions came and defeated the wolves and now ruled the land with tyranny.  The two, along with a wounded Hogan (Kobna Holdbrook-Smith), Whitley’s mentor, fight their way back to Brackenholme where it is revealed that Duke Bergan (Paterson Joseph) is Whitley’s father.  In the heat of battle, Drew finally fully transforms, and he is the last of the Wolf Lords and Lyssia’s last chance to defeat the Lions.  Bergan makes a show rejecting Drew and episode one ends with the Duke capturing him and putting him in a cell, but it is apparent, this is because the Lionguards are already in Brackenholme.

Wolf King is an epic fantasy adventure animated series based on the Wereworld novels by Curtis Jobling who also wrote six of the eight episodes produced. The Netflix series was released on March 20, 2025 and is generating mostly positive reviews.  The animation style and art is getting a lot of praise with most liking the story with its abundance of action and adventure.  There are some negative reviews who thought the series lacked character development which detracted from the audiences ability to connect.

I have only had time to watch the first episode and as a fan of all thing’s werewolves, I was really looking forward to this series.  I was not disappointed.  The story is interesting and exciting, although nothing groundbreaking that we haven’t seen before.   The acting is all well done and for the most part, the writing is good.  I did find some of the exposition felt a bit forced and could have been a bit more natural, but I also understand that there was a lot of information they needed to depart onto the audience in a seemingly short amount of time.  The thing that most reviewers are praising is the art and the animation, both of which are beautiful, incredibly detailed, and done very well.  That being said, I am not a fan of the over stylized hyper angular artwork which reminds me more of older video games than a modern animated series, but that is a personal preference and did not detract from the overall visual impact of the series.  In the end, this is an exciting and well-done show, and I look forward to watching the rest of the episodes.