Say what you will about Chris Pratt, but the man knows how to spot a lucrative franchise. On top of starring in the multi-billion Jurassic World trilogy and Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy saga, not to mention 2023 breakout The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Pratt made a bold move when he switched from cinema to streaming TV for 2022’s The Terminal List, one which proved to enormously pay off.
Although the action-thriller series received mixed reviews, it proved to be an ratings smash. So much so that Prime Video has not only greenlit a second season but also commissioned a spinoff. With author Jack Carr already having written seven of the book series this TV universe is based on, this is surely yet another franchise starring Pratt that can run and run, even if some scoffed at the idea of it becoming a success at first. Dark Wolf? More like Dark Horse.
For those eager to see what’s next for Lt. Commander James Reece and his crack squad of Navy SEALs, here’s all you need to know.
What is The Terminal List: Dark Wolf about?
Fans can expect a slightly different flavor from Dark Wolf when compared to The Terminal List as the spinoff is being pitched as an “elevated espionage thriller.” Set five years prior to the events of its parent series, Dark Wolf will focus on Special Operator Ben Edwards, who was a major supporting character in the first season, as he ascends from Navy SEAL to CIA paramilitary operator. Along the way, Edwards will come face to face with the darker side of warfare and witness the human cost that comes with it.
Although not directly based on one of the novels, Jack Carr co-created Dark Wolf alongside The Terminal List creator and showrunner David DiGilio. Series stars Taylor Kitsch and Chris Pratt are also on board as executive producers, so even if it has a different tone and approach to its story, you can be sure that Dark Wolf will scratch the same itch for viewers thanks to the same talent working behind the camera. And in front of it too, as it happens.
Who is in The Terminal List: Dark Wolf?
With Edwards being bumped up to main character, Taylor Kitsch is of course the lead of this series, reprising his role from The Terminal List. Kitsch himself is almost the anti-Pratt, as she’s been searching for a franchise to call his own for years now, after a one-off appearance in the X-Men universe as Gambit and Disney’s John Carter going down as one of the most infamous box office flops of all time. So it’s about high time he got his own vehicle.
Surprisingly, Pratt will also be back as James Reece in Dark Wolf, just not as a lead this time. Other series regulars set to join the franchise include The Umbrella Academy alum Tom Hopper as fellow SEAL Raife Hastings and Luke Hemsworth (Westworld) as CIA contractor Jules Landry. Hemsworth might just be the villain of the piece, as Landry’s described as hiding “a dangerously volatile personality beneath his muscled veneer.”
When will The Terminal List: Dark Wolf release on Prime Video?
No official release date has been provided for Dark Wolf as of yet, but it sadly it seems we’ll have to wait a while for it. With filming just beginning as of February 2024, the likelihood is that it won’t hit Prime Video until early 2025. This is going by the way things played out with The Terminal List season 1, which began production in March 2021 and didn’t hit streaming until July 2022.
The good news is that work on The Terminal List season 2 — which will adapt Carr’s second novel, True Believer — is due to begin soon after Dark Wolf completes filming. So a bit of patience will go a long way here as, while we’re lacking for new content for the moment, pretty soon a bonafide James Reece Cinematic Universe will be available to binge on Prime Video — proof that Chris Pratt is just gonna keep on Chris Pratting.
