The cast and producer of Teen Wolf visited London as guests of the MCM Expo Comic-Con this weekend, and took to the stage for a fan Q&A ahead of the show’s third season, set to premiere on June 3rd. As Tyler Hoechlin (Derek Hale), Crystal Reed (Alison Argent), Holland Roden (Lydia Martin), Daniel Sharman (Isaac Lahey) and Executive Producer Christian Taylor took to the stage, the crowd reaction was ear-splitting before the ever-loyal fanbase were given their chance to quiz the panel.  Hit the jump for our recap of the panel as well as a full transcription of the Q&A.

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In addition to the Q&A, we were also treated to an extended trailer for season three, featuring some intense-looking horror elements. The new alpha pack is a very real threat, with some physical fight scenes glimpsed along with snippets of dialogue discussing the grisly murders that have been taking place. The assembled fans certainly made their approval clear, nearly taking off the roof as the trailer ended. We were then shown a clip from the season, which had a genuinely surprising jump as some supernatural nastiness interrupted a classroom situation. Again, the clip was greeted with a very loud scream as the lights came back up.

Season three seems to be set for a darker tone, and the enthusiastic fans in the audience set the stage for a fun and energetic Q&A.

Photos courtesy of Andy Edwards of Paranoid Android.

Highlights of the panel included:

  • Crystal Reed mentioning on more than one occasion how she would love to play a werewolf. This led to Christian Taylor joking that he’d better take the hint.
  • A big, heartfelt thank you from the whole panel to the fans for making the show so successful.
  • While there will be more "Sterek" in season 3, both characters will meet new people that the writers hope the fans respond to.
  • Lydia goes into full-on detective mode at times in season 3, and Alison’s desire to act like a normal teenager will be key for that character.
  • As the characters have matured, so the show has become darker. We will see a lot more of the show’s horror elements this time out.
  • The two female characters on the panel are "growing into womanhood" and becoming even more "empowered," which was good fun for the writing staff.
  • Season 3 includes some ambitious water-based stunts, including the flooding of an entire set.
  • The second half of season 3 is underway, with hopes high for more seasons to come beyond that.
Below is the transcription of the panel Q&A:

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Question: If you could change the storyline for one character, who would it be and why?

Holland Roden: I already have an answer for that. I’ve always said Lydia should start selling blue meth, like Breaking Bad. [general laughter]

Christian Taylor: I think we like the characters because it’s always changing. With every creator, every writer and these wonderful actors it comes to life, so you learn and they grow.

Crystal Reed: I think Alison should have the bite. She’d be a great werewolf, so give her the bite!

Tyler Hoechlin: You guys like it how it is though right?

[Screams from crowd]

How do you feel about the rabid fangirls following the series?

Roden: I don’t know are there any here?

[Enormous scream goes up from the crowd]

Hoechlin: It’s flattering, you guys are what make the show work. We’re flattered and want to keep making the show for you guys as long as you want to keep watching it.

Taylor: It’s pretty amazing – I worked on Lost and on Clone Wars, which had huge fan followings that I’d never experienced. I came into this show in season two and now I’ve done season three, and the fan following is so dedicated, so committed, so creative. You really are a great set of people. We’re very happy and very grateful.

One of the best things about Teen Wolf is how the girls are portrayed – they’re strong but they’re still allowed to be girls. Will we see more of this in season 3?

Reed: Well I think that Alison – something massive happened in her life, then she tried to kill Isaac… but in season three we’ll see her do some kick-ass stuff.

Roden: Lydia and Stiles do a lot of conniving together in season three. You’ll have to see what happens! Sort of fighting crime in Beacon Hills, that is the new Alpha Pack. Sort of a Scooby Doo aspect, it’s fun. She certainly doesn’t get away without a few screams though.

Taylor: The thing with Jeff Davis is that he creates this world where sexual orientation and gender aren’t an issue. He didn’t want to create an issue show, it’s kind of an ideal world – and I think for both these female characters, they’re coming into their womanhood, finding their strength and becoming empowered, which is really fun to do as a writer.

Will we be seeing more of Sterek in season 3?

Hoechlin: What’s Sterek? [loud screams from crowd] Derek and Stiles still hang out yeah.

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Taylor: As actors they have this great chemistry, so it’s a lot of fun to write these moments, but those two characters will meet other people who are important in their world. They will hopefully be exciting for the viewers.

If you could be any other character in the show, who would that be and why?

Hoechlin: I would say Stiles, as he makes me laugh…

Reed: It’s constantly changing – but I really want to play a werewolf, I think that’d be fun.

Taylor: I think I’d better take the hint… I think I’d play the principal. Oh wait, I did play the principal.

Roden: I would say… yeah Stiles, and the coach. He always has something to say about someone, somewhere.

You guys know tonight is a full moon?

Taylor: I have to go soon, to tie these guys up.

What are the hardest scenes to shoot?

Hoechlin: I would say anything that involves water. When you see a scene where people get soaking wet for like two seconds – remember that lasted like eight hours.

Taylor: There’s a lot of really cool stuff that we do with water – I don’t want to give it away but it’s all really cool. It is hard for the actors and the crew. The thing that Jeff does, and the writers, actors and crew, we want to make little movies. Jeff especially, more so than most shows on television I think we pull it off with our budget. We had a brand new set, we flooded it and it was a really cool sequence.

Do you actually want Sterek to happen?

Hoechlin: I like Derek and Stiles where they’re at, it’s a good love/hate thing.

Taylor: It’s like that classic kind of screwball comedy, you don’t want them to actually get together because then there’d be no tension.

Daniel Sharman: I do, I want them to get together. [laughter from panel and crowd]

How do your characters develop in season three and how do you feel about it.

Sharman: A lot changes, he goes through a bit of development of what was happening at the end of season two, deciding which side to ally himself with, which set of morals. It’s some great writing so thanks Christian Taylor and Jeff Davis.

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Roden: I would say Lydia ended season two on a bit of a high note where her boyfriend has been saved, and in season three she thinks she’s over her boyfriend, you know how you think you’re over a guy and convince yourself you are. I would also say that she’s a true detective this year. She gets to have more interaction with Stiles and Alison, and just sort of brings down the walls, becomes a bit more of a normal girl.

Reed: Well let’s see, at the end of season two, Alison and Scott broke up, so she takes a summer away with her dad, sort of figures everything out and comes back. They decide that she should just try and be a normal teenager. Of course, Alison can’t help herself when she knows something bad’s going on, so she kind of gets involved again without anybody knowing. She’s trying to be a normal teenager on top of all that.

Hoechlin: In the first season Derek was pretty focused on revenge, then in season two he thought he was really cool for some reason, being the alpha. Season three is a little humility for Derek – season two didn’t wind up too well for him, he’s in a lot of trouble. There are a lot of problems that Derek’s going to have to face going into season three, and he may just end up digging his hole deeper and deeper. The relationship with Scott is a little different this season too, it’s much more of a kind of brotherly, mutual admiration type thing, he’s found a respect for Scott so there’s a big difference in that relationship.

Will there be any more seasons?

Taylor: We are in the middle of three, we’ve shot 12 episodes and have been picked up for 24 so have 12 more to go. What Jeff loves to do is that each 12 is structured like a film, so it’s a big story in each group. So we’ll do the next one in July then we hope MTV will pick us up for another season.

This season seems a lot darker, could you tell us a little about that?

Reed: I think it seems like a natural progression really, dealing with growing up and things.

Sharman: Yeah a natural progression, there’s a maturity this season that comes with the darkness of growing up, angst and that sort of thing. It’s more mature. It feels natural as we explore things that we haven’t before.

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Roden: I feel like over the three years, it’s almost the Harry Potter effect, where we’ve kind of grown up with you guys, and you’ve grown up with us, so what are you guys doing now that you weren’t three years ago.

Taylor:  We talked about this in the writer’s room, how as these characters are approaching adulthood it’s a way for us to deal with these issues. Also the aspect that is becoming interesting to us is the horror aspect, the thriller aspect. It’s a lot of fun.

What is it like seeing yourselves turn into monsters?

Hoechlin: It’s a bit strange, but I had kind of a funny example this year. I have a friend on set who was going through something of a rough time, and I had the wolf makeup on. You try having a serious conversation with someone with all that on, and you kind of feel ridiculous. You feel like you’re not allowed to give advice.

Sharman: Tyler Hoechlin and I went out to a coffee place, when we were reshooting something. He was in full wolf makup, but in L.A. they didn’t even notice, like that’s normal in L.A.!

Taylor: We shoot a lot of nights, and we have lots of characters, and stuntmen that look like Tyler of Daniel, and we have a alpha pack this season which means a lot more werewolves. So you’d be walking through the trailers and night and be like “Whoa what the…” 

 

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