The 25 best movie and TV werewolves

By Jessica Wedemeyer 8:22am PDT, Oct 31, 2020

It's been 35 years since Michael J. Fox starred as Scott Howard, a high school basketball player who discovers he's a werewolf, in 1985's "Teen Wolf." In honor of the iconic fantasy rom-com's big anniversary in 2020, Wonderwall.com is taking a look back at more of our favorite movie and TV werewolves from over the years. Keep reading to see if your favorite made the list…

Jason Bateman made his feature film debut in the 1987 sequel to "Teen Wolf." He starred as college boxer Todd Howard — the cousin of Michael J. Fox's Scott Howard — in "Teen Wolf Too."

MTV brought "Teen Wolf" to the small screen in 2011. The cult TV series, which is loosely based on the 1985 movie, centered around Tyler Posey's Scott McCall, a high school lacrosse player who's turned into a werewolf and then becomes the alpha of his pack. It aired for six seasons until 2017.

The world fell in love with Joe Manganiello when he arrived in Bon Temps as werewolf packmaster Alcide Herveaux on the third season of "True Blood" in 2010. He starred on the HBO fantasy drama series until it came to an end after seven seasons in 2014.

Team Jacob! Taylor Lautner starred as teenage werewolf Jacob Black, a member of the Quileute Native American tribe, in all five films in the "Twilight" franchise, which kicked off in 2008.

Seth Green starred as guitarist and werewolf Daniel "Oz" Osbourne, Willow's boyfriend, on the first four seasons of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" between 1997 and 2000.

In the 2004 big-screen adaptation of "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban," Daniel Radcliffe's titular boy wizard discovers that Professor Remus Lupin (David Thewlis) is secretly a werewolf.

Michael Sheen scored his major Hollywood breakthrough when he starred as Lucian, the leader of the Lycans, an ancient species of werewolf, in 2003's "Underworld," which spawned a five-film franchise. He returned to the role in 2009's "Underworld: Rise of the Lycans," which traces the origins of the war between the Lycans and the vampires.

Butch Patrick starred as pint-sized werewolf Eddie Munster on the original iteration of "The Munsters," which aired on CBS between 1964 and 1966.

Though many werewolves popped up in Mystic Falls over the course of the eight seasons that "The Vampire Diaries" aired on The CW between 2009 and 2017, our favorite will always be Michael Trevino's Tyler Lockwood, who started out as a high school football player with an anger management problem but ultimately became a true hero.

"The Originals" — the first spinoff of "The Vampire Diaries" — featured countless werewolves over the course of its five seasons on The CW between 2013 and 2018. By far the best? That would be Phoebe Tonkin's Hayley Marshall, the Alpha of the Crescent pack who actually made her debut on the fourth season of "The Vampire Diaries." She becomes a werewolf-vampire hybrid after she welcomes a daughter, Hope, with Klaus Mikaelson on the spinoff's first season finale.

When it comes to the second spinoff of "The Vampire Diaries" — "Legacies," which follows the adventures of Klaus and Hayley's teen daughter, Hope — it's not even a contest. Our favorite wolf is Peyton Alex Smith's Rafael Waithe, an orphan who discovers his werewolf heritage while in foster care. "Legacies" debuted on The CW in 2018 and is currently in the midst of its second season with a third season on the horizon.

David Naughton starred as American backpacker David Kessler, who wreaks havoc on London after he's turned into a werewolf, in the 1981 horror-comedy "An American Werewolf in London."

In "An American Werewolf in Paris" — the 1997 sequel to "An American Werewolf in London" — Tom Everett Scott starred as American tourist Andy McDermott, who's turned after encountering a werewolf, Julie Delpy's Serafine Pigot, during a vacation in Paris. (Serafine is the daughter of David Kessler and the British nurse with whom he falls in love in "An American Werewolf in London.")

Isaiah Mustafa starred as NYPD cop Luke Garroway — a Shadowhunter-turned-werewolf who serves as Clary's father figure — on Freeform's "Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments," an adaptation of the "Mortal Instruments" book series. It aired for three seasons between 2016 and 2019.

In the 2010 version of "The Wolfman" — a remake of the 1941 film of the same name — Benicio del Toro starred as Shakespearean actor Lawrence Talbot, who's turned into a werewolf while investigating his brother's mysterious death.

The British series "Being Human" centered around three supernatural roommates attempting to live normal lives in England. Russell Tovey starred as werewolf George Sands on the first three seasons of the BBC series, which aired for five seasons between 2008 and 2018.

In 2011, the Canadian-American remake of "Being Human" debuted on Syfy in the U.S. and on Space in Canada. This time, Sam Huntington starred as Josh Levison — hospital orderly by day and werewolf by night! The cult series aired for four seasons until 2014.

A year after "True Blood" debuted, Anna Paquin starred as Laurie — a pretty but shy young woman looking to experience her "first time" during a Halloween party — in the 2009 horror anthology flick "Trick 'r Treat." She dresses up as Little Red Riding Hood and lures her "date" into the woods, where it's revealed she and her friends are actually werewolves.

Two years after she portrayed a child vampire in "Let Me In," Chloe Grace Moretz starred as teen werewolf Carolyn Stoddard in 2012's "Dark Shadows." Johnny Depp starred as vampire Barnabas Collins in the Tim Burton-directed horror-comedy based on the late '60s and early '70s gothic soap opera of the same name.

Hugh Jackman starred as the titular monster hunter in 2004's "Van Helsing." The period action flick is so bad, it's good! Just how bad is the monster mashup? After tracking Mr. Hyde — as in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde — Van Helsing becomes a werewolf on his mission to slay Dracula, who's using Frankenstein's monster to breathe life into his devilish spawn. (Oh, and Van Helsing is also the Archangel Gabriel, but that's neither here nor there.)

Amanda Seyfried and Shiloh Fernandez starred as young lovers whose village is plagued by a murderous werewolf in 2011's "Red Riding Hood," which is extremely loosely based on the fairytale of the same name. One or both of them — or someone else entirely! — may be to blame, but we won't spoil the ending here. After all, unraveling the mystery is half the fun in this romantic horror film!

Another Canadian Syfy series that centered around a werewolf? "Bitten," which is based on the "Women of the Otherworld" book series. Laura Vandervoort starred as werewolf Elena Michaels, who's torn between her normal life and her responsibilities to her pack, on three seasons between 2014 and 2016.

As far as adaptations go, they don't get more off-base than the 2007 big-screen adaptation of the 1997 young adult novel "Blood and Chocolate." Still, the fantasy-horror flick is worth a watch. Agnes Bruckner starred as werewolf Vivian Gandillon, who finds herself at odds with her pack when she falls in love with a human boy, Aiden, played by Hugh Dancy .

Landon Liboiron starred as teen werewolf Peter Rumancek, who attempts to solve a murder, in the short-lived cult Netflix series "Hemlock Grove," which is based on a 2012 novel of the same name. The show aired for three seasons between 2013 and 2015.