Teen Wolf The Movie: Who is Eli’s mother? Derek’s son explained

Lucy-Jo Finnighan
teen wolf derek and eli

In Teen Wolf: The Movie, Derek is a dad, but he seems to be a single parent – so, this leaves the question: who is Eli Hale’s mother?

Teen Wolf, the hit supernatural YA series from the early 2010s, went out with somewhat of a whimper in the late 2010s with its 100th episode. However, fans still remember the show fondly, namely for its fun characters, and the endless wars of who would end up with who.

Derek was one of these characters caught up in relationship drama. But while he appears to be single in the new Teen Wolf movie, there is an extra addition to his family: his son, Eli Hale.

As we wrote in our review of the movie, Derek having a son is “certainly a surprising plotline” but it opens up the question: who is Eli’s mother, and how is Derek as a parent?

Who is Eli’s mother in Teen Wolf The Movie?

Frustratingly, Eli’s mother isn’t mentioned in the Teen Wolf Movie. His parent, and Derek’s potential partner, seemingly doesn’t exist.

Now, Eli is high school age by the time of the movie, and the movie is set 15 years after Allison’s death in the show, meaning that Derek must have had Eli pretty much as soon as the show ended. Which makes guessing who Eli’s mother is a lot more interesting.

Some fans may assume that Eli’s mother is Braeden, who was a recurring character in the show. For those who don’t remember, she was the mercenary that saved Isaac from the Alpha pack, and she ended up together with Derek in Season 4.

However, Braeden doesn’t appear in the movie, and she and Derek may have long broken up, as they were two characters with a lot of baggage. Also, Braeden is a Black woman, and while this could just be a case of poor casting continuity, Eli appears to be fully white, making the logistics of Braeden being his mother slightly messy.

Perhaps it was Jennifer Blake, aka the Darach from Season 3, as she and Derek did have a rather turbulent relationship too. Jennifer did die in the show, but as seen by Allison and a twist villain in the movie, it seems like anyone can come back from the dead.

But, most likely, Eli’s mother is someone we’ve never met, hence her never being mentioned in the film.

If you’re wanting to find out how other pairings end up in the movie, such as Stiles and Lydia, click here.

How is Derek as a parent?

Since Derek is a single parent, fans may be wondering how the Sour Wolf handles a child. Well, his relationship with Eli certainly has its ups and downs.

The pair seem to get along okay, Derek even encouraging Eli to play sports at school, but there is clearly some issues over their werewolf heritage.

Due to a traumatic incident when Eli was younger, he is having issues accessing his wolf powers. This naturally causes a rift between him and his father. Not only that, but Eli is somewhat of a delinquent, constantly hot-wiring and stealing Stile’s jeep from the police just so he can annoy his father.

To get an idea of their father-son dynamic, you can watch the pair interact in this clip below:

While Derek is somewhat struggling as a single parent, he’s obviously doing some things right. They’ve got a nice house, and Derek as a whole is much less angry in his teaching techniques, much better than he was as an Alpha in Season 2 of the show.

Throughout the film, you really feel his growth from the past decade, probably so he can be more like Scott, who also helps guide Eli through the werewolf process in the movie. We won’t spoil what happens with this trio by the end of the film in this article, but if you’re curious you can read about it here.

Teen Wolf: The Movie is currently available to stream on Paramount+. You can also check out more of our coverage of the film here.

Related Topics

About The Author

Lucy-Jo is a Movies and TV Writer at Dexerto, and has previously written for Screen Rant and Girls on Tops. After earning a Master's Degree in Film and Literature, Lucy-Jo now loves covering films, TV shows, and anime, especially if it's something by Mike Flanagan, or anything drenched in camp. You can contact her at lucyjo.finnighan@dexerto.com