Prequels are tricky to get right. By virtue of the fact that the audience already knows where the story is going, the writers of prequels don’t have the element of surprise that makes most narratives engaging. 2022 has been a great year for prequels. Ti West introduced a terrifying new slasher villain inX, then explored her backstory and psychological quirks inPearl. Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould, and co. finally connected the dots betweenBetter Call SaulandBreaking Badin the spin-off’s final season. George R.R. Martin has takenGame of Thronesfans back nearly 200 years to examine an earlier generation of Targaryens. Tony Gilroy has taken a forgotten supporting character fromRogue Oneand turned him into one of theStar Warsuniverse’s most compelling antiheroes – all while depicting the Rebellion’s struggle against the Empire from the ground level – inAndor. There are a couple of hard-and-fast rules that prequels need to follow in order to be as successful as these.
Bring New Depth To Existing Characters
Prequels work best – and feel more necessary – when they focus on supporting characters who weren’t given much depth in the original story. A prequel is a great opportunity to round out an underdeveloped character from a beloved franchise.Solo: A Star Wars Storyfailedbecause everything that needed to be said about Han Solo’s hero’s journey was covered in the original trilogy.Andorsucceeded becauseRogue Onehad only scratched the surface of Cassian Andor’s dedication to the Rebellion; Tony Gilroy and his team of writers have expanded Cassian’s origins to tell the tale of every revolutionary in human history through the lens of a petty thief’s persecution under the Galactic Empire.
RELATED:What Future Star Wars Projects Can Learn From Andor
One of the greatest prequels ever made,Better Call Saul, tookWalter White’s zany, one-liner-spouting lawyer Saul Goodmanand turned him into a complex, tragic figure. Saul was just a one-note comic relief character inBreaking Bad, butBetter Call Saultold the story of Jimmy McGill, a wayward young attorney who is corrupted by his undermining brother and an unfair society until a broken heart turns him into Saul. TheBreaking Badprequel turned Saul into arguably an even more complicated and three-dimensional character than Walt himself, and managed to bring more humanity to Mike Ehrmantraut and Gus Fring along the way.
Use The Inevitability Of Fate As A Dramatic Tool
It’s often said that the drawback of prequels is that the audience knows where the story is going. Cassian Andor is going to be killed by the Death Star, Pearl is going to become a sexually frustrated serial killer, andcriminal lawyer Jimmy McGill is going to become criminal lawyer Saul Goodman. But the best prequels use this supposed drawback to their advantage and use the characters’ inevitable fate as a dramatic tool. Writers can use their audience’s familiarity with the unavoidable outcome of a character’s life to create a kind of tragic irony.Cassian Andor unwittingly helps to build the war machinethat will eventually kill him. Pearl dreams of leaving her humble farming life behind and becoming a Hollywood star, but viewers ofXknow that she’s doomed to live out the rest of her days on that farm. The writers ofBetter Call Saulused the absence of Kim Wexler and Nacho Varga inBreaking Badto keep audiences on the edge of their seats throughout their arcs inSaul.
TheStar Warsprequels use this technique brilliantly. InThe Phantom Menace, George Lucas introduced Anakin Skywalker –the boy who would be Darth Vader– as an adorable, bright-eyed nine-year-old podracer who wants to be a Jedi. No matter what, this sweet, naive, innocent kid will eventually turn to the dark side, slaughter his fellow Jedi, and rule the galaxy with an iron fist.
Tell A Story Worth Telling
Ultimately, the most important thing for any prequel is to tell a story that actually needs to be told. They can’t coast by on franchise recognition alone. There needs to be a story worth telling and character arcs worth investing in for audiences to really care.Monsters, Inc.is about the power of Mike and Sulley’s friendship; fans didn’t need to see how they met in college.Prometheusfilled in the biological backstory oftheAlienfranchise’s xenomorph creatures, but the xenomorphs didn’t need an origin story; the less the audience knows about them, the scarier they are.
The best prequels have strong enough narratives that they would work even if their predecessors didn’t exist. Without the larger context ofStar Wars,Andoris a gripping spy thrillerfull of compelling characters set in a galaxy far, far away. Without knowing how things turned out inX,Pearlis still a deeply disturbing psychological horror movie. Without having experienced the thrilling saga of Heisenberg,Better Call Saulis still a captivating crime drama about a lawyer gradually turning to the dark side.
