Taylor Kitsch talks 'Terminal List' betrayal, 'Dark Wolf' prequel with Chris Pratt

USA Today

3 days ago

Taylor Kitsch talks 'Terminal List' betrayal, 'Dark Wolf' prequel with Chris Pratt
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Watch 'The Terminal List' trailer with Chris Pratt, before 'Dark Wolf'
Chris Pratt in the hit 2022 series "The Terminal List." The prequel "The Terminal List: Dark Wolf" begins Aug. 27, with Taylor Kitsch's Ben Edwards.
Fans of the hit 2022 series "The Terminal List" ruefully recall Ben Edwards (Taylor Kitsch), the former Navy SEAL turned CIA operative, who joins SEAL commander James Reece (Chris Pratt) in uncovering a nefarious plot.
The Butch and Sundance partnership ended in heartbreak in the Season 1 finale, when Reece confronted Edwards on his sailboat with the unthinkable: Edwards, his Navy SEAL brother, was part of the conspiracy that sabotaged Reece's operation. Reece kills his best friend in the off-camera sailboat shot heard around the world.
Yet Edwards is alive in Amazon Prime Video's prequel series "The Terminal List: Dark Wolf" (premiering Aug. 27) to explain the betrayal from beyond the grave. As seen in these exclusive first-look images, Edwards and Reece are still paired as SEAL brothers seven years before the dark turn.
"This is the origin story," Kitsch tells USA TODAY, vowing to reveal the road to Edwards' betrayal. "This is the story that gets us to that point. There was so much heat around Edwards with that twist and all these questions about how. You're going to learn a heck of a lot more about who Ben really is and these twists and turns that led to that decision."
Taylor Kitsch made Ben Edwards beloved in 'Terminal List'
In author and former Navy SEAL Jack Carr's bestselling 2018 novel "The Terminal List," Edwards was portrayed as more conniving and less nuanced. In the TV adaptation that Carr created with David DiGilio, Edwards saw new life. "Lone Survivor" star Kitsch was given the license to bring his "Friday Night Lights" likability to the complicated, floral shirt-loving character.
"My Ben is not the Ben that Jack Carr wrote," says Kitsch. "I said that 'If you let me make him my own, then I'll take a swing with you.' And they were all for it."
Many of the memorable Reece and Edwards moments were ad-libbed in the original series, including Reece's line to Edwards – "You're not going to the golf tournament dressed like Big Lebowski, are you?"– before a golf course military operation: Carr loved the realistic banter and vibe that made the eventual treachery and death all the more tragic.
Edwards "was done much better in the series than I did in the novel," says Carr. "These guys elevated it to the level that fans wanted a prequel origin story on this character."
Pratt came up with the concept of the Edwards-centered "Dark Wolf," pushing to shoot and release the prequel before the Reece-led Season 2 of "Terminal List," which has just started filming. Executive producers Carr, DiGilio, and Antoine Fuqua enthusiastically agreed, and Kitsch was re-drafted. "It was all systems go," says Pratt.
"Dark Wolf" revisits Reece and Edwards training troops in Iraq, along with Earnest "Boozer" Vickers (former SEAL Jared Shaw), a "Terminal List" casualty. In the prequel, wildcard Edwards is discharged from the SEALs after an operation, and his coveted trident insignia is removed from his uniform. "One split-second decision changed the course of his life," says Kitsch. "You're not only stripping the bird off his chest, you're stripping away a piece of who this guy is and his purpose."
It's just the beginning. Edwards heads to Europe with departing SEAL Raife Hastings (Tom Hopper), and the duo become entangled in the shadowy world of CIA Special Operations and a lethally explosive spy conspiracy.
"Dark Wolf" provides an action-filled introduction to pivotal characters from Carr's 2019 novel "True Believer," who will loom large in "Terminal List" Season 2 – like Hastings, former Iraqi Special Operations Forces officer Mo Farooq (Dar Salim) and the crass, self-obsessed CIA contractor Jules Landry (Luke Hemsworth).
"'Dark Wolf' really gives the history and the backstory of all these key characters we will also see later," says Pratt.
The battle shifts to European cities as the series transitions from SEAL operations to international spy espionage, featuring a team that includes Mossad agent Eliza Perash (Rona-Lee Shimon).
"We get feedback from very tough critics, guys who do not mince words," says DiGilio. The new series relies on former CIA employees as technical advisors, along with former SEALs like Shaw, as well as second-unit directors Max Adams (a former Army Ranger) and Ray Mendoza ("Warfare" director). "You need that 20% Hollywood hot sauce. But we really do make that effort to get it right."
For Kitsch, it's an opportunity to tell a story that could lead to more prequel seasons for his deceased character. "I just think it came out really strong. I wish I could tell you where we're taking him," says Kitsch. "If we're lucky to get a second season of 'Dark Wolf', it would be even darker than this season, no pun intended. This really dives into the story of a man fighting for the greater good. and not winning."