5 Reasons Killing Derek Off in Teen Wolf Movie Was a Massive Injustice to Fans Everywhere
Those who decry it are right.
Derek Hale was one of the most popular characters in the Teen Wolf series. Naturally, there was a lot of uproar in the fandom when the character got killed, even though this move was supposed to revive and continue the franchise.
People think that what happened to Derek was a massive injustice — and here are five reasons why.
Give the guy a break…
Derek sure had a hard life, even beyond what is usual for supporting characters who think that they are the stars of the story. The character has dated a record number of women who were later revealed to be supernatural equivalent of serial killers, and the very fact that one of them wiped out most of his family clearly indicates that the writers loved to torment him.
That's why staging Derek's death in the movie's finale just felt incredibly mean-spirited.
…And more of his own story, too
Killing off Derek was doubly mean-spirited because his death had nothing to do with the character's own story — he died in the course of events created to bring Scott back together with Alisson (a couple that's far from being the fan favorite). So Derek's role in the movie was largely subordinated to the needs of getting everything in place for that pairing.
Just when Derek finally got something good in his life…
In the movie, Derek was revealed to have a son, Eli Hale, and this relationship is the first positive thing that happened to him in a long time. Too bad that though Derek clearly was devoted to Eli, the father and son were given no time to really act like a family because the writers killed the character.
…That 'good thing' was meant for Scott
After Derek got killed, Eli got adopted by Scott and Alisson. Naturally, this raised suspicions about this whole development, prompting fans to think that the whole situation was designed for the main character to have his friend's child as his own.
'I don't like that Scott's pseudo-brother died so that Scott could have a kid of his own,' one of the viewers said on Reddit, and most fans tend to agree.
His death was just sloppily written
Questionable plot developments can win the hearts of viewers through good writing, but that certainly wasn't the case with Derek's death. He had no reason to sacrifice himself because, by that point in the movie, the Nogitsune's plans had been thwarted and his minions defeated.
There was an entire posse of good guys on the scene, and the plot offered no convincing reason why they couldn't have dogpiled the Nogitsune. The scene made it look like Parrish would have been able to deliver the killing blow on his own, and there was no need for Derek to join the grapple, exposing himself to Parrish's flames.