Twelve years ago, Taika Waititi’s cult classic What We Do In the Shadows unveiled the hilarious supernatural underworld of vampires and werewolves (not swearwolves) in New Zealand. For a decade, there’s been talk of a sequel film focused on the latter group that has yet to materialize. Well, while promoting his recent stint on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, actor Rhys Darby confirmed it is finally happening.
Waititi’s and Darby’s frequent collaborate Jemaine Clement first announced forward momentum on We’re Wolves earlier this year at a film festival. In the original film, Darby and his pack of polite werewolves stole the show when they faced off against and then partied with their undead nemeses. Since that character was absent from the spinoff series on FX, this new film promises to deliver the kind of comedic sequel fans wanted since they first teased it in 2016.
What Rhys Darby Had To Say About His Involvement In We’re Wolves
In Strange New Worlds Season 3, Darby ventured into the final frontier as Trelane, a powerful alien troublemaker first introduced in The Original Series. This year he returned to the role in a hilarious soap opera parody, and Fandom Rising’s Joshua M. Patton spoke to him for CBR about his triumphant return and other ‘franchise’ revivals.
“Yeah, I know that [We’re Wolves is] happening. Jemaine told me, they’re writing it. So that will be revived. My werewolf character will return. I’m pretty confident about that. And the more I say it, the more it pressures those guys on continuing their work to get it done. Let’s get that out there next year or whenever it’s going to come out because, you know, that’s another cool universe that those guys have created that we need. It makes us laugh. Luckily, we got that spin-off, then we got the TV show for the vampires, but we really need to we need to the nerdy werewolves.”
He also explained why he didn’t show up in FX’s What We Do In the Shadows spinoff. His character, Anton, “was in New Zealand, you see? It didn’t make sense for him to be in America.” Though he went on to joke the character could have popped over to the States for a holiday or “tech conference.” For six seasons, the FX spinoff delved deeply into the world of vampires, making the werewolf community a perfect subject for a proper cinematic sequel.
This What We Do In The Shadows Sequel Is Perfect Despite Hollywood ‘Franchise Fatigue’
From the exponential improvements in visual effects to an ever-changing media landscape thanks to streaming, the “franchise” is the foundation of most modern for both studios and even creatives themselves. Even though he’s appeared in the new DC Universe from James Gunn and leads ABC’s nine-season hit series, The Rookie, Nathan Fillion is currently working to make an animated sequel to Firefly happen. Even though both of those are themselves franchises, the actor is leveraging his clout for his cult classic passion project.
Similarly, Clement and Waititi have each appeared in Marvel franchises — Legion and the Thor films, respectively — they are returning to What We Do In the Shadows which also enjoys the same kind of cult status as Firefly. Yet, after decades of plenty from interconnected shared storytelling universes, audiences are growing somewhat tired of them. The films don’t rack up the big box offices like they used to, and those that span movies and TV, like Star Trek, can feel like they are too big for new fans to dive into.
That’s what makes We’re Wolves so inspired. The vampire side of this world is well covered across the film and the series. This new project involves a familiar face and world, but it’s an entirely unexplored side of it. Similarly, those who have never seen What We Do In the Shadows before will likely be able to dive into this new mockumentary without feeling like they’ve not done their homework. Thanks to Darby’s “pressure” (which was a joke), it looks like the script will at least be written. But before fans can expect to see it in theaters, someone will have to agree to make it.
Darby’s episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is currently streaming on Paramount+, while What We Do In The Shadows is available to purchase on DVD, Blu-ray, and digital.
