The big third-act twist in the new Wolf Man reboot is not only completely predictable; it was already done by a different, better werewolf movie 15 years ago. Wolf Man is Leigh Whannell’s retooling of the classic 1941 Universal monster movie The Wolf Man. While it retains all the core elements of the original movie — a protagonist attacked by a werewolf, a gradual transformation, a doomed love story, and an estranged father-son relationship — it takes the story in a very different direction.

Although Wolf Man has a chilling opening scene, it falls apart shortly after that. It quickly devolves into a generic creature feature full of clichés, gimmicks, and unscary jump scares. Wolf Man has a love story that doesn’t work, two lead actors with zero on-screen chemistry, and a final twist that can be seen coming from a mile away. And that twist isn’t just predictable; it was already done in a much better Wolf Man remake more than a decade ago.

2010’s The Wolfman Did The Werewolf Dad Twist Long Before Wolf Man

The Twist In Wolf Man 2025 Is Both Predictable & Derivative

2025’s Wolf Man begins by establishing Blake’s father’s werewolf obsession in a flashback. The inciting incident of the present-day story is Blake’s father being declared legally ᴅᴇᴀᴅ. As soon as Blake and his family get to his dad’s farm, they’re attacked by a werewolf. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that the werewolf is Blake’s dad long before the movie reveals it as a supposedly shocking plot twist. But not only is that twist predictable; it’s also derivative of an earlier Wolf Man movie.

Whereas the 2025 movie tells a totally different story with newly named characters, 2010’s The Wolfman was a much more faithful remake. Benicio del Toro inherits the role of Lawrence Talbot from Lon Chaney, Jr., while Anthony Hopkins replaces Claude Rains as his estranged father, Sir John. The biggest difference in the 2010 movie is that Sir John is infected by a werewolf before his son is. Larry is shocked to discover that Sir John is a werewolf (and he likes being a werewolf).

Wolf Man & The Wolfman Handle The Werewolf Dad Twist Very Differently

The Wolfman Builds A Real Relationship Between Father & Son

Wolf Man and The Wolfman have the same werewolf dad twist, but they handle that twist very differently. In Wolf Man, after the opening flashback, Blake’s father is a werewolf terrorizing the family for the whole movie, identified only by his tattoo. But in The Wolfman, Larry and his father have a real relationship on-screen. In between transformations, Larry gets a chance to discuss lycanthropy with his dad. It’s a much more interesting dynamic than the standard monster movie thrills of Wolf Man.