Starz's New Romantasy Series Is the Perfect 'Outlander' Replacement

1 week ago 24

Caitriona Balfe as Claire standing closely and talking to Sam Heughan as Jamie in Outlander Season 8

Published Oct 31, 2026, 2:27 PM EDT

Lacy Baugher Milas is an entertainment and culture writer whose bylines have appeared in Paste Magazine, The A.V. Club, Den of Geek, Jezebel, Digital Spy, Telly Visions, and more. A lover of Time Lords, fantasy stories, period dramas, and tumultuous 90s rock bands, you can find her on social media pretty much everywhere as @LacyMB.

After eight blockbuster seasons, the popular historical romance series Outlander wrapped up its run earlier this year with a heart-wrenching, if somewhat divisive, finale. But no matter how you felt about the show’s final season, the love story of Jamie (Sam Heughan) and Claire Fraser (Caitríona Balfe) was a defining part of Starz's network identity for the better part of a decade, so it makes sense that they’re looking for something to fill that particular void as soon as possible.

Thankfully, we haven’t been kicked out of the world of Outlander entirely. Prequel series Outlander: Blood of My Blood offers an equally timey-wimey origin story for both Jamie and Claire's parents and spins intriguing new bits of franchise lore for longtime fans to enjoy. (Spoiler alert: It’s excellent.) But one Scottish-set love story is apparently not enough for Starz, which already has plans in motion for its next big historical romance hit.

Starz Will Adapt Lauren Palphreyman’s ‘The Wolf King’

The recent romantasy boom in the world of publishing has led many networks to snap up the rights to some of the genre’s most popular titles. Prime Video is working on a Fourth Wing series. Hulu’s developing an adaptation of The Poison Daughter. But Starz’s decision to bring Lauren Palphreyman’s The Wolf King to the screen feels like a perfect match between streamer and subject matter. Like Outlander before it, The Wolf King has a little bit of everything romance and fantasy fans might want: A feisty heroine. A pair of star-crossed lovers, A brewing brutal political conflict. Incredibly rich atmosphere and beautiful scenery. (Get ready for a lot of gorgeous shots of the Scottish Highlands, is all I’m saying.) Steamy sex. Also, there are werewolves. (Yes, really!)

But Outlander also always had a slightly magical vibe—especially in later seasons when Claire began to manifest a supernatural healing ability that caused her hair to turn white. The show was never all that clear when it came to nailing down what this power actually was, but it definitely came in handy (a.k.a. it saved Jamie’s life) more than once.

What Is ‘The Wolf King’ About?

A massive hit on BookTok and among romantasy fans, The Wolf King follows the story of Aurora, a princess who is betrothed to a cruel man in the hopes of shoring up one of her father’s political alliances. The night before their arranged marriage is to take place, the wedding couple is gifted the dubious “entertainment” of watching captured werewolves fight to the death for sport. But when Aurora saves a young wolf named Ryan from certain death after he is chosen to face a vicious alpha in the ring, she unknowingly changes her fate forever.

Her decision catches the attention of Callum, the alpha slated to fight Ryan, and when he escapes the castle later that evening, he kidnaps Aurora and takes her to the lands north of the border, where wolf clans are beginning to get organized into something that feels an awful lot like an army. As Aurora finds herself caught in the middle of a supernatural war, she must fight her growing attraction to both the alpha who insists he wants to help her earn her freedom and a cunning, morally gray wolf named Blake whose motivations are a whole lot murkier.

The Wolf King has serious A Court of Thorns and Roses vibes, right down to the unexpected love triangle that develops after Aurora’s kidnapping. But it’s also insanely bingeable, with a fast-paced plot, multiple steamy interludes, and complicated political worldbuilding that deftly weaves werewolf lore with stories of the historical clans of Scotland. And whether you end up Team Callum or Team Blake, there are plenty of possessive, enemies-to-lovers, and forced proximity vibes to enjoy.

‘The Wolf King’ Has the Potential to Run for Several Seasons

Like Outlander, The Wolf King is a multi-book series, which means Starz and showrunner Tanya Saracho (Vida) have plenty of material to work with. It also means that there’s every chance this show will be made with an eye to multiple seasons from the very beginning. Sequel The Night Prince was released in 2025, and the final installment, The Wolf Queen, is slated to hit shelves next year.

While the series is structured as a trilogy, there’s honestly so much going on that it wouldn’t be surprising to see a TV adaptation run for as long as five seasons. Plus, there are plenty of secondary characters and subplots that could easily fuel interconnected spin-offs and/or prequels should the show’s creatives desire to expand the series’ world beyond the pages of Palphreyman’s novels. (To be fair, there’s more to work with here than Matthew B. Roberts had when he created Blood of My Blood!)

A blend of Sarah J. Maas and Outlander with a dash of Underworld for good measure, The Wolf King has all the signs of being a big hit when it finally arrives on Starz. We’ll definitely be seated for it.

Read Entire Article