Sequel
A sequel is a work of literature, film, theater, television, music, or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same fictional universe as an earlier work, usually chronologically following the events of that work.[1]
For other uses, see Sequel (disambiguation).
In many cases, the sequel continues elements of the original story, often with the same characters and settings. A sequel can lead to a series, in which key elements appear repeatedly. Although the difference between more than one sequel and a series is somewhat arbitrary, it is clear that some media franchises have enough sequels to become a series, whether originally planned as such or not.
Sequels are attractive to creators and publishers because there is less risk involved in returning to a story with known popularity rather than developing new and untested characters and settings. Audiences are sometimes eager for more stories about popular characters or settings, making the production of sequels financially appealing.[2]
In film, sequels are very common. There are many name formats for sequels. Sometimes, they either have unrelated titles or have a letter added to the end. More commonly, they have numbers at the end or have added words at the end. It is also common for a sequel to have a variation of the original title or a subtitle. In the 1930s, many musical sequels had the year included in the title. Sometimes sequels are released with different titles in different countries, because of the perceived brand recognition. There are several ways that subsequent works can be related to the chronology of the original. Various neologisms have been coined to describe them.
Classifications[edit]
The most common approach is for the events of the second work to directly follow the events of the first one, either resolving the remaining plot threads or introducing a new conflict to drive the events of the second story. This is often called a direct sequel. Examples include Toy Story 2 and The Empire Strikes Back.
A prequel is an installment that is made following the original product which portrays events occurring chronologically before those of the original work.[3] Although its name is based on the word sequel, not all prequels are true prequels that are part of a main series. Prequels that are not part of a main series are called spin-off prequels, while prequels that are part of a main series are called true prequels. An example of a true prequel is Tremors 4: The Legend Begins which took place chronologically before the events of the previous Tremors films. Another example of a true prequel would be Better Call Saul, taking place mainly before Breaking Bad but also having some scenes after and during it.
Midquel is a term used to refer to works which take place between events. Types include interquels and intraquels.[4] An interquel is a story that takes place in between two previously published or released stories. For example, if 'movie C' is an interquel of 'movies A' and 'B', the events of 'movie C' take place after the events of 'movie A', but before the events of 'movie B'. Examples can include Rogue One: A Star Wars Story of Star Wars, some films of the Fast & Furious franchise, and Saw X. An intraquel, on the other hand, is a work which focuses on events within a previous work. Examples include Bambi 2 and Black Widow.[5][6][7]
A legacy sequel is a work that follows the continuity of the original work(s), but takes place further along the timeline, often focusing on new characters with the original ones still present in the plot.[8][9][10] Legacy sequels are sometimes also direct sequels that ignore previous installments entirely, effectively retconning preceding events. Superman Returns, Halloween (2018), Candyman (2021), Cobra Kai, Blade Runner 2049, the Star Wars sequel trilogy, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Terminator: Dark Fate, Tron: Legacy, Top Gun: Maverick, Doctor Sleep, Rocky Balboa, Mary Poppins Returns, The Matrix Resurrections, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and the Jurassic World Trilogy are examples of legacy sequels. Another term for these types of movies is requel, meaning reboot sequel. Film journalist Pamela McClintock describes a requel as something that "exploits goodwill toward the past while launching a new generation of actors and stories".[11] The term was popularized by the film Scream (2022).
A standalone sequel is a work set in the same universe, yet has little or no narrative connection to its predecessor, and can stand on its own without a thorough understanding of the series. A Shot in the Dark, Big Top Pee-wee, Home Alone 3, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Species - The Awakening, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, Mad Max: Fury Road, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, Wonder Woman 1984, Spirit Untamed, Space Jam: A New Legacy, The Suicide Squad and Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery are examples of standalone sequels.[12][13]
A spiritual sequel is a work inspired by its predecessor. It shares the same styles, genres and elements as its predecessor, but has no direct connection to it at all. Most spiritual sequels are also set in different universes from their predecessors, and some spiritual sequels aren't even a part of their predecessor's franchise, making them non-franchise sequels. Spiritual sequels can sometimes be repurposed from material originally intended to be direct sequels. An example of this is Mute, a spiritual sequel to the film Moon.
Parallels, paraquels, or sidequels are stories that run at the same point in time as the original story.[14][15] For instance, three different novels by John Morressy — Starbrat (1972), Stardrift (1973; also known as Nail Down the Stars), and Under a Calculating Star (1975) — involve different lead characters, mostly in different places, but overlap at one dramatic event to which each novel provides a different perspective.[16] Kirill Eskov's novel The Last Ringbearer (1999) retells the events of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings (1955) from the viewpoint of good Mordorians fighting the evil West. Likewise, Alice Randall's novel The Wind Done Gone (2001), contemporary to Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind (1936), tells the life story of a mulatto woman born enslaved on the O'Hara plantation. One major film example is Saw IV (2007), where the events of that film are revealed to overlap with the events of Saw III (2006). Another notable example is The Lion King 1½ (2004), which tells the origin story of the characters Timon and Pumbaa while taking place simultaneously with the events of the original 1994 film.
Relatives[edit]
Alongside sequels, there are also other types of continuation or inspiration of a previous work.
A spin-off is a work that is not a sequel to any previous works, but is set in the same universe. It is a separate work-on-its-own in the same franchise as the series of other works. Spin-offs are often focused on one or more of the minor characters from the other work or new characters in the same universe as the other work. The Scorpion King, Planes, Minions, Hobbs & Shaw and Lightyear are examples of spin-off movies while Star Trek: The Next Generation and CSI: NY are examples of spin-off television series.
A crossover is a work where two previous works from different franchises are meeting in the same universe. Alien vs. Predator, Freddy vs. Jason, Boa vs. Python and Lake Placid vs. Anaconda are examples of a crossover film.
A reboot is a start over from a previous work. It could either be a film set in a new universe resembling the old one or it could be a regular spin-off film that starts a new film series. Reboots are usually a part of the same media franchise as the previous work(s), but not always. Batman Begins, Casino Royale, Star Trek, Børning, Man of Steel and Terminator: Genisys are examples of reboot films. Kathleen Loock has written that traditional reboots tended to stray away from depicting direct narrative or stylistic correlations to the previous versions of the franchise. Contemporary reboots lean into the nostalgia factor and create new stories that simultaneously revel in the aspects of the original franchise that made it notable in the first place.[17]