The Problem with Sequels

While some of the most engaging stories of all time have been sequels, far more seem to be inferior to the original.

I love sequels. The appeal of them is clear - you get to return to a familiar story world, revisit characters that you already know and love, and the ability to explore new elements of the world, characters, and themes of a movie. Good sequels will build on what you know, using familiar characters, locations, and story elements to ground audiences as the world is explored or expanded in new ways.

This can be seen in movies like The Dark Knight, The Godfather Part II, and Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. Each of these followed an incredibly successful and well-received movie, and delivered on the promise to explore the world in characters in new and exciting ways. Sometimes this is done by adding new characters. Iconic characters from many franchises were introduced in sequels, such as Yoda in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back or Joker in The Dark Knight. Other times, sequels will flesh out existing characters, like Vito Corleone in The Godfather Part II or Ripley in Aliens.

Unfortunately, sequels like these are the exception, not the rule. More often than not, sequels feel lifeless and unnecessary. This problem even has a name - Sequelitis. When a standalone movie is met with financial success, studios will often greenlight a follow up, regardless if the story left off in a place that warrants continuation. Other times, the success of a standalone movie seems to be some kind of happy accident, like catching lightning in a bottle, that the creative team can’t recreate in further installations. The potential pitfalls of creating a sequel are just as numerous as the potential advantages.

---

The True Horror: Bad Sequels

Due to a loyal group of genre fans and a low production budget, horror movies are a particularly guilty offender of farming out bad sequels for profit. There are a whopping 12 Friday the 13th films, 11 Halloween films, 9 Nightmare on Elm Street films, 8 Texas Chainsaw Massacre films, and 8 Chucky movies. These sequels do not add to the overall value of the franchise or explore the world and character in new ways, but rather exist only as a lazy cash-grab attempt from the studios. They have no regard for narrative coherence, and will retcon events of past movies, break the established rules of their own universe, or regurgitate overdone plot points that other movies have long exhausted.

---

Laughably Bad Sequels

One step down from that is the comedy sequel. Standalone comedic movies are good family fare, often filled with clever writing and heart. They resolve the plot in a neat 2 hour film with no need for further exploration as the credits roll. However, just like horror movies, there is a built-in audience. While the fatal flaw of horror sequels is a complete disregard for the stories that came before it, the biggest hurdle that comedy sequels must overcome is finding a reason to justify their existence. Well-received movies like Paddyshack, The Mask, and The Hangover are given sequels that may have a few laughs, but ultimately feels unnecessary. These sequels aren’t exploring new story opportunities left open in the first movie, they simply exist for the sake of existing.

---

The Pitfall of Sequels: Denying the Need for Growth

While horror and comedy movies are known for creating uninspired sequels, they are far from the only genres that face this problem. Any narrative that wants to add another installment, regardless of medium or genre, needs to be careful to keep the spirit of the original movie while also telling a fresh story that doesn’t simply retread the narrative tracks of the first one. This can be challenging, and many stories

American author Donald Miller asserts that the purpose of story is change. In his novel A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, Miller writes, “In nearly every story, the protagonist is transformed. He's a jerk at the beginning and nice at the end, or a coward at the beginning and brave at the end. If the character doesn't change, the story hasn't happened yet.” Watching a character grow and develop as they advance through their arc is one of the most important pieces of story. If a character feels like they didn’t learn, grow, or change as a result of the narrative, they feel flat.

This is true across all mediums. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the pivotal moment is when Huck rejects what society has taught him about race, and chooses to help the escaped slave Jim get his freedom. In Stranger Things, viewers watch Steve transition from shallow popular bully to a kind, protective babysitter of the main kids. Even in the animated children’s show Avatar: The Last Airbender, Prince Zuko goes from a hotheaded and insecure villain to a passionate and caring teammate.

In theory, a sequel should allow for the further expansion and development of a character’s narrative arc. Many times, this is executed very well over several installments. Tony Stark goes from a selfish, playboy arms dealer in Iron Man to a compassionate family man who sacrifices himself for the greater good in Avengers: Endgame. Over the course of the Star Wars saga, Luke Skywalker goes from a whiny and selfish farm boy to a disciplined Jedi Knight. Sequel installments can present the opportunity to go into a deeper, more drawn-out arc for a character.

These two examples work because Kevin Feige and George Lucas both had an entire narrative in their mind when they created the first movie. For franchises that make movies one at a time with no thought given to future installments, they forfeit the ability to show a character’s development over multiple installments. Not only this, but they also often run out of arcs for the character to have. Oftentimes this results in old plot points being revisited, hoping to recapture the supposed magic that came with it. TV shows that go on for multiple seasons like 24, Supernatural, and Once Upon a Time all suffer from this revisiting of plot points and character arcs. Rather than tell one sweeping story over multiple installments, they focus on multiple self-contained narratives in each of their seasons, resulting in character arcs that feel repetitive and aimless.

While the story potential for sequels is incredibly high, the room for error is much higher. Not only does a sequel need to be a good story, it needs to be a good follow-up story. While this balancing act can be hard, sequels have given us some of the most memorable and exciting stories of all time. Because of this, I’m willing to wade through 10 mediocre and unnecessary sequels to get to a truly great continuation of a story that I love.