Fans react as Remus the Dire Wolf's comeback grabs the TIME magazine spotlight

In a plot twist straight out of Game of Thrones meets Jurassic Park, a dire wolf named Remus—yes, the once-extinct ice age predator—is now gracing the cover of TIME like he just got scouted by elite modeling agencies. Thanks to next-level science (and what we can only assume is some ancient wolf magic), the creature was brought back from extinction by researchers using gene editing, cloning, and probably a little audacity.

The internet, naturally, went feral. One netizen, @virgemmariaX captured the moment perfectly under a viral tweet:

"Reincarnated just to make the cover."

Same, Remus. Same. Welcome to 2025, where cassette tapes and prehistoric wolves roam once again.

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Game of Clones? Fans lose it as Remus the dire wolf returns from extinction to step straight into the spotlight

The internet has erupted with reactions ranging from awe to amusement. One user shared a meme of a surprised woman, captioned:

"That is just a big wolf." One user wrote.

A netizen, @obvio_yuh quipped,

"like if you have NO idea who this is…im trying to see something."

The crossover of science and pop culture left many bemused, with comments like,

"Pop Crave giving us science news is so fire 😭" @ladidaix added

"Dire wolves and cassette tapes both existing in 2025 is blowing my mind." @MaxellCorp stated bluntly.

Some drew parallels to fantasy realms, noting,

"he issekayed in the future?" @abecker_cos asked.

"I'll just enjoy those GOT vibes from this. The Starks were onto something," @StacieATyler mentioned.

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From extinct to “It” Girl

Remus’s glow-up from ancient Ice Age predator to full-blown magazine cover star is straight-up wild (literally). Behind the scenes of this prehistoric comeback is a team of scientists using science that feels one CRISPR away from sci-fi. Researchers started by digging into DNA from dire wolf remains—think a 13,000-year-old tooth and a 72,000-year-old skull. From that, they figured out around 20 genetic differences that make dire wolves different from their modern cousins, gray wolves.

Then came the real magic trick: using special cells from gray wolves, scientists gene-edited them to look and act more like dire wolves. These souped-up cells were then placed into dog surrogates, and voilà—three not-so-little pups were born: Romulus, Remus, and (of course) Khaleesi. Yes, someone’s definitely a Thrones fan in that lab.

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Dire Wolves and their Stark legacy

Speaking of Game of Thrones—if you hear “dire wolf” and don’t immediately picture Jon Snow brooding next to a white furry beast, we need to talk. In the series, direwolves are basically the Stark family’s official mascots: big, loyal, mysterious, and prone to saving the day. Each Stark kid gets their own direwolf, and fans got pretty attached. So now that real-life dire wolves are a thing again? Yeah, the crossover potential is off the charts.

Remus may not be battling White Walkers, but his existence has fans (and probably HBO execs) doing double takes. Fictional fantasy animal → actual living creature? Nature said, “Plot twist.”

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How you actually bring back an extinct animal

So how do you resurrect a species that’s been dead for thousands of years? It’s called de-extinction, and no, it’s not just sci-fi anymore. Scientists combine gene editing (hello, CRISPR) with cloning techniques to basically reverse-engineer an animal. In Remus’s case, they mapped out ancient dire wolf DNA, picked out the unique bits that made it dire, and then added those genes into a gray wolf’s DNA blueprint.

Once the edited embryos were ready, they were placed into surrogate moms—basically regular dogs—with the hope that they’d carry the babies to term. Spoiler alert: it worked. The result? Animals that look and behave like dire wolves, even though their family tree includes a few domesticated detours.

It’s a massive flex for genetic science, but it’s also got people asking, "Should we be doing this?" and "What happens when you reintroduce extinct predators into a world that’s very different from the one they left behind?" For now, the questions are swirling—but so is the hype.