‘Wildwood’ Ending, Explained
After six years in development—longer if you count pre-production—Laika’s latest film, Wildwood (2026), is finally out, and what a treat it is. It’s a stop-motion fantasy epic that has such a wide scale and scope that it’s frankly miraculous the team there was able to craft a digestible and cohesive 132-minute movie. There were so many moving parts to the film, like the numerous factions, the lore of the woods, and the hows and whys of how a world like that came to be, that the film deserves all of the critical praise that it has earned.
At times, it can be a bit hard to keep track, and the ending attempts to tie up many of the film’s loose threads from earlier scenes. It’s a lot at times, and some moments may take audiences by surprise if they weren’t paying attention, so let’s break down what happens in Wildwood’s ending. Is there a happy ending, and can Laika return to the wood for another adventure?
How Does ‘Wildwood’ End?
While the earlier scenes of Wildwood feel like we’re exploring and learning about a fantastical world alongside Prue as she searches for her baby brother Mac, the film eventually coalesces around one universal goal: Alexandra, the Dowager Governess, needs to be defeated.
In the film’s climax, she attempts to sacrifice Mac to gain control of the Ivy, a primordial force of the forest, in an effort to discover the location of her deceased son Alexei. Thanks to the combined efforts of numerous factions, most notably the bandits, the people of North Wood, and the Avian Principality, they’re able to rout Alexandra’s coyotes, and Prue confronts the Dowager Governess. It’s a brutal fight, and Prue is only able to save the day by gaining control of the Ivy herself and impaling Alexandra. People died in the battle, but the war was won.
There was some final business Prue needed to attend to before leaving the wood, though. Most notably, the leaders of South Wood, who presented themselves as isolationists and refused to involve themselves with either side, were overthrown, and the bandits, who had lost their ancestral home thanks to the Ivy, now rule the town. The bandits, alongside the Avians and the people of North Wood, all celebrated their newfound peace as Prue, Curtis, and Mac finally returned to Portland.
How Did Prue Gain Control of the Ivy?
The climax of Wildwood was, undeniably, a complete visual spectacle. While the war between the Alexandra and the bandits was fantastic, it was the Ivy sequence that stole the show. These magical plants were alluded to throughout the movie, and Alexandra wanted to control them more than anything else, so how was Prue able to control them instead?
According to the incantation Alexandra uses, she needs blood from “a child born of magic” to command the Ivy. Thanks to her seer, Alexandra made a deal with the McKeels: in exchange for magically impregnating Mrs. McKeel with Prue, they would offer Alexandra their second child, Mac, as a sacrifice to gain dominion over the Ivy. However, the spell in the movie didn’t specify that the blood had to be Mac’s. It just had to be a child born of magic, which Prue is as well, thanks to Alexandra’s spell.
Because of that, when Alexandra cuts Prue and she bleeds on the Ivy, it responds to Prue’s commands, and we learn that the Ivy isn’t inherently good or evil. It’s a force of nature, a tool to be used by whoever wields it. When the ancients attempted to control it, they failed, and it destroyed their civilization as a result. But Prue, thanks to her latent magical powers, was able to properly manipulate it, with the Ivy reacting to her emotional state. When fighting Alexandra, she was frantic, which caused the Ivy to lash out wildly, but once she was able to calm down thanks to the advice of Iphigenia, the Ivy too settled down, allowing her to take Mac home.
Does ‘Wildwood’ Set Up a Sequel?
All’s well that ends well. Prue was able to take Mac back home, the wood is at peace, so there’s no possibility for a sequel, right?
Well, the thing about Wildwood is that it’s actually based on a trilogy of novels, called The Wildwood Chronicles, with the film adapting the first book. There are some notable differences between the book and the film’s ending, like how Curtis stays in the woods to become a warrior in the book, while in the film he returns to Portland and goes back to his normal life, but the major beats are still kept intact. In fact, the film’s ending directly leads into the second novel’s beginning, where Prue returns to school as beings from the woods try to kill her.
However, the possibility of a sequel is very slim. Wildwood took over six years to make, with an intense amount of effort spent just to get a few seconds of workable footage, so asking the staff to do that again is a big ask. More importantly, while Laika does have significant financial backing, it only grossed $15 million in its opening weekend on a budget of $100 million, meaning that all signs are pointing to Wildwood being yet another flop for the studio. For as much as fans may love a sequel to Wildwood, unless positive word of mouth can directly translate to more butts in theaters, it seems like we may never see the wood again.
