Puss in Boots: The Last Wish‘s terrifying wolf villain has been explained by the film’s director. The film, which premiered in theaters on December 21, 2022, follows the Shrek universe character Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) after the events of the 2011 spinoff Puss in Boots. The film sees the cat finding out he only has one of his nine lives left and chasing down a fallen star that can grant a wish for more lives while an intimidating wolf bounty hunter with two sickles (voiced by Wagner Moura) chases him down, eventually being revealed to be the physical manifestation of Death itself.
Total Film recently sat down with Puss in Boots: The Last Wish director Joel Crawford to discuss the hit film. He explained that the villain needed to be so scary because the crux of the film is about the cavalier hero experiencing true fear for the first time. This was entirely intentional, so the audience can feel “something they didn’t expect, just like Puss in Boots.” Read his full quote below:
I realized early on that Puss is such a big, fun hero, that to really ground the story, we needed Puss to feel fear. Going from the idea of Puss being cavalier with his lives and [having] an immortal point of view, like “I’m going to live forever” – Puss has been knocked down a notch. He brags about never being touched by a blade, he’s got this ego to him. As we reworked the scene where Puss feels fear for the first time, we kept saying, “We’ve got to be more real with this, we’ve got to be more genuine.”
And that’s where we arrived with the Wolf actually being played very straight, very honest. It introduces a new tone to the story when that comes up, that you’re like, “Oh, this feels scary. I haven’t experienced this in the Shrek or Puss in Boots world up to this point.” And I think that’s interesting. The audience is feeling something they didn’t expect, just like Puss in Boots is feeling something he’d never felt before: fear.
How The Wolf Helped Puss In Boots: The Last Wish Become So Acclaimed
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish has received an astounding number of accolades for a sequel to a spinoff in a long-running franchise. In addition to its outstanding worldwide box office of $340 million, the film has earned a stellar Rotten Tomatoes score of 95 percent. It was even nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 2023 Academy Awards.
One major reason for this achievement is the dazzling and stylish animation featured in the film. However, The Wolf is representative of the other reason critics and audiences are loving Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. The film’s plot has a much deeper meaning than would likely have been expected from a film in the greater Shrek universe.
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is at its core a film about forming a relationship with death and becoming comfortable with one’s own mortality. This unexpected message from a children’s animated film has resonated with viewers across the globe. It is a deeply heartfelt and emotionally profound story that is reminiscent of the Golden Age of Pixar animation.
