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At 17:20, you mention "the Hobbit" book as a prequel. Actually, although the Hobbit movies are a prequel to lotr, the book was written and published before the lotr books. The Hobbit book isn't a prequel to lord of the ring, it's lord of the ring that is a sequel to the Hobbit.

Nick Fury lost his eye to a cat? Boring. Nick Fury lost his eye fighting his brother who became a traitor and joined Hydra? Cool.

My biggest issue with most prequels is the absence of danger for the main characters that are in both the prequels and the original film(s). You knew Obi-wan and Anakin weren't going to die no matter how precarious the situation for example. I'd rather see "prequels" like Rogue One, where you had no idea who was going to live or die... plus the ending was amazing.

Bumblebee is good because it could become a reboot instead of a prequel, which I think they're already planning

The Hobbit book is not a prequel. The Lord of the Rings series is a sequel.

I don't know about you guys, but I love Revenge of the Sith. It's probably my favorite prequel, and close to my favorite film.

Basically, prequels fail for the same reasons as sequels. Need to keep original, but still in touch. Loved this video 👌

I would add clone wars to the exception of good prequel shows. Spoiler alert for clone wars season 7 and Rebels. Siege of mandolore was released after rebels and we wanted to see how ashoka, rex, and maul survive the events of revenge of the sith. It adds weight to the Vader ashoka duel. We saw the final goodbye between ashoka and anakin. We knew ashoka let her views on the jedi cloud her friendship of anakin. We know that if ahsoka knew anakin was going to turn she would have swapped places with obiwan.

The Fantastic Beasts franchise could have been this really fun series that just happened to be in the Harry Potter universe. The only reference to HP in the first movie is that Scamander was expelled from Hogwarts. Then, they went and shoehorned the HP story into it and messed up the timeline for the sake of fan service. The worst example is McGonagall showing up as a teacher in 1927...eight years prior to her birth.

"Nothing is going to compare to that people have imagined in their minds" turns out that goes for sequels as well.

I'll be honest. The eye reveal from Captain Marvel is my favourite example of "prequel answers a question you never had." It takes a badass line from Winter Soldier and delivers an anti-climax. I love a good anti-climax.

To everyone telling him that “The Hobbit” is not a prequel, that is only half true. The book DID come out before the “Lord of The Rings” books, but the movies did not. So while the source material is not a prequel, every change and addition the filmmakers made falls into the camp of a cinematic prequel quite nicely.

I'm really happy you mentioned Red Dead Redemptation 2. I went into that game never having played the first one and it works incredibly well. The few references they make to the original game are actually done expectionally and it leads into RDD1 without feeling forced. I'm not against the idea of prequels as long as there's a story that's worth telling.

Rdr2's story was such a good prequel to red dead redemption

I think it's a false problem to say that doing a prequel is limiting your creativity. There are a lot of way to tell a great story with a prequel. The way I see it, there are 2 main problem that are linked. The biggest one is the "everything at once" problem. Solo is the best exemple of this. They took all the iconic aspects of the caracter and tried to put them all in one movie. As if every major event from his past happened in a very short time and then, nothing until the original movie. The second problem is lazy writing. Instead of working to make a new original story, they copy-paste from the original or rely on tropes that are way too comon.

Some prequels, I don’t think, are supposed to be watched before the original work, ie. Rogue One

I was so hyped for fantastic beasts when I first heard of it. I was never big on Harry Potter, always felt in deferent to it. But the world and creatures always fascinated me. So when I first heard they were making it I always pictured a taika waititi/ what we do in the shadows esc mocumentary about newt documenting these creatures and constantly getting into near death experiences. The first film did have some of this. But by the second one they had completely left it behind. It's as though they forgot its based on a book called "fantastic BEASTS and where to find them". But yeah I think your point about making a spinoff is honestly a really good one and something I wish more of these blockbusters would do.

I think the Dark Crystal tv show is a bit of an exception, where knowing the ending actually adds to the experience. It’s like watching a Jewish community in 1930s Germany. Hindsight hangs heavily over the whole thing.

Anikan's wasn't exactly one movie. In the dreaded Phantom Menace, Yoda says the path to the dark side is fear, anger, hate. The first movie showed his fear. In cannon, his anger festered during his training a lot. Then in Attack of the Clones, he showed his anger turning into hate against the sand people. The actor was really good, acting like how someone wood if they were constantly angry but had to keep it inside themselves. In the third movie, Palpatine heightened his fear, directed his anger, and lead him to his hate. I'm not saying the Phantom Menace was any good, just that the trilogy was thought out. I can't deny him being a whiny teen, but I think that's what lead him to the dark side.

The problem with prequels is that they are often only made to cash in on the success of a property. The Hobbit is also not a prequel to The Lord of The Rings. They are just 2 separate stories that so happen to exist in the same universe

Great video! Just, you mention the original Hobbit book as a good prequel, but it's not a prequel. It was written and published before the saga of the rings of power. :)

Previously mentioned MGS3 is one of the greatest prequels but I'd also like to add Yakuza 0. It was made between the 5th and 6th entry but most if not all players recommend it to the newcomers. Pretty much all callback are strictly shown in side quests and it retroactively makes the first game's plot better e.g. in the first game main character's friend becomes the villain in the 1st hour so you didn't have much of a connection to him but in Zero you interact with him half of the time so his decisions feel more natural.

The Star Wars prequels are...weird. See, the story they tell is amazing and beautiful and tragic-it’s just not told well. That’s why the Clone Wars series is so popular. It’s about the story of the prequels, it’s just actually told well (most of the time). The story they tell is great BECAUSE we know what’s coming. But Clone Wars takes advantage of that better, because it does it through foreshadowing instead of fan service. It’s weird, because in retrospect, I feel like the prequels absolutely should exist, because they give context to the original story, and I believe that a prequel that provides extra context to the story of the original is worth telling. But despite telling a story that deserved to be told, they fell into the traps you mention in this video, because they weren’t executed well. For instance, I think Solo could have been really interesting-if it was written well and was about how an idealistic hotshot became the jaded pilot we met in A New Hope. Instead, we got what we got. So I don’t want to discount prequels, because they have their place and when done well can enhance the story we know. They’re just....not usually done well, and the Star Wars prequels and clone wars are the perfect examples of how poor execution is just as important as story, and without solid execution your movie/book/whatever will come off just as much of a waste of time as Crimes of Grindelwald.

The Problem With Prequels: We all know how everything ends.

I disagree with 8:00. Attack of the Clones clearly shows Anakin's temptations with the dark side. His (at times) disobedient and reckless nature, falling in love but having to keep it a secret, losing his mother, slaughtering a village... all important steps in his tragic descent to the dark side.

There's probably a reason First Class and Bumblebee ignored established canon

20:11 and this is why The Clone Wars works so well-it focuses not on establishing the OT, but developing Anakin and his relationships, and showing the start of his gradual fall. It takes the liberties that it can to establish itself as fresh even as a prequel series

I love the second _Star Wars_ trilogy, in a warts and all sense. Yes, the pacing is off, some of the dialogue and acting is hokey, but as you said, they added a lot of now beloved lore and characters to the universe, above all... they’re salvageable. With some light rewrites, reshoots and tighter editing, I could see us getting something legitimately brilliant out of them. The third trilogy... isn’t salvageable. I’d toss the entire thing in the trash and start again from the drawing board.

I laughed out loud when you said not to create a prequel over an image of Katniss. “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” cares not for your wishes. Haha.

Xmen first class is my favourite prequel ever and my 3rd favourite film of all time. it ignores most tropes and as you said in the video, it uses your knowledge of charles’ and erik’s splitting up to add to the emotion and tragedy. the ups and downs the film takes you even though you know the ending, are apsolutely incredible. not only do i think this is a great prequel, i think it is a magnificent film as a whole. thank you for coming to my ted talk.

The Hobbit isn't exactly a prequel because it came out first. It's just the first in the series.

It helps if a prequel is many many years in the past so that all the characters who were in the original are not born yet. Warrior Cats Dawn of the Clans does this well and I find it very satisfying and interesting.

Response to part 1: fully agree!! And response to part 2: I hate blind consumerism! People need to stop consuming bad products!

6:43 I know you probably didn't know this but Hasbro has confirmed that bumblebee is in fact a reboot. They announced it I believe a little over a year ago.

I think the “we know how the story ends” thing can work if done correctly. Going back to The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, while the story obviously isn’t going to have a happy ending, the anticipation of what leads to that sad ending is an effective driving force. The story also currently has some good world building, giving us insight into the citizens of the Capitol, seeing that before Katniss’ time the tributes were treated like prisoners of war instead of honored guests, there is prejudice amongst the Capitol and the career districts, etc. We might not have had these questions, but the answers are intriguing.

6:52 on the Bumblebee thing, it's been reclassified as a Reboot since before the film was released. That's why Optimus even shows up on Earth and they omitted a scene of Megatron on ice.

Man, now I gotta watch Saul lol

The best prequels I’ve ever seen were in the recent Planet of the Apes trilogy. They enhanced the original so well and Caesar is totally awesome. They’re honestly some of my favorite movies of all time. Although you make some fantastic points about why prequels are generally gross.

Nice to see your channel grow. Fantastic video essays, eye opening, and beautifully pace.

One thing I liked about the first Fantastic Beasts movie was that it didn’t really try to tie its plot with the og Harry Potter films so it was more of a side story in the same universe that adds lore rather than something that adds “plot” to the HP movies like FB2

At least bumblebee went from "prequel" to "soft reboot"

Watching this gets me worried about the Sopranos prequel, “The Many Saints of Newark”. I’m worried because the original series balanced humor and drama so perfectly. This prequel looks too serious.

I love your videos dude!!! Make them more often pleaseee

It was the nagini one that I found unforgivable.

I acutally think that while they call Bumblebee a reboot because of Hasbro's reclamation of the rights to the movies. I think they are rebooting the franchise. And it serves as a soft reboot.

I’d say temple of doom is a pretty great prequel. The thing is it doesn’t really matter that it’s a prequel. You could just say it takes place after ROTLA and it would be fine.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is probably the quintessential prequel story. A story that can stand on its own based on writing yet enhances its predecessors story

Epic video! Keep up the amazing work

If you want another good "prequel" watch Black Sails. It more or a less a prequel to Treasure Island, (although you really don't need to have read TI to watch it.) It blends many of the most memorable characters from treasure island with historical pirates and figures of the age, into a genuinely amazing and well written show. be aware though, the first season is a bit of a slog, after that each season get exponentially better, and in my opinion, season 3 is one of the best seasons in TV history, write up there with season 5 of Breaking Bad and season 2/4 of Game of Thrones.

This makes me think of a genius prequel idea. Have a crazy plot twist where a character is revealed as a bad guy. The OG is in a whole perspective and you can make a sequel where its revealed to the characters and maybe it could maybe be done really well

I don't understand how knowing a character's fate can ruin a prequel. Nobody reads a Shakespearan tragedy to be surprised that the titular character died, do they? It's all down to the quality of the work.

Insightful essay. My epic will have a prequel, but I'm planning it in advance as part of the larger story. But I mainly decided to add it when I realized how cool it'll be to show a form of magic that faded before the era of Book 1.

very few prequels actually know to incorporate that the audience knows where the stories go. why I love revenge of the sith is that it relishes on the doom and gloom because it knows where it has to end...so it doesnt pull its punches with the visuals, music, and tone in that 2and half.

8:10 most of it was smushed in the final film. You forget about Anakin’s rampage through a whole village? In Attack of the Clones? Midichlorians don’t control the force, they create it.

Hasbro confirmed that Bumblebee is a full REBOOT for the Transformers movies ignoring all the Bay films even though it was originally planned as a prequel (The film went through a huge course correction in both writing the script and the editing room) And I personally feel this was the smarter call since now they can take it in any direction they want. Now we just have to hope they don’t completely fuck it up again.

Such a good point about how "fan service" strips away the integrity of a film. When a film is being propped up by the viewer's knowledge of a property or previous piece of media, it no longer can stand on it's own merits. As for those saying The Hobbit isn't a prequel: yes, the book was written first, but the movies were direct prequels to the films!

Unpopular opinion, but I love The Hobbit trilogy just as much as the TLOR trilogy. Even if you were disappointed of it, there's no denying that no other fantasy movies, at least the recent ones, can match the epicness of both trilogy combined.

Wonder Woman (2017) is a Prequel and it's good!

I was glad to hear someone else bring up the stepping down of tech in the Alien series.. That really bugged me about those prequels. At 6:29

The Hobbit was written before the Lord of the Rings.

The one I hate the most is prometheus/alien covenant The aliens are no longer even really aliens Smh that choice is so convoluted and just does nothing but destroy the mystery and premise

Thank you for putting this so well. Your explanations make all my own frustrations with many of these movies just slot neatly into place.

One thing that drove me absolutely insane in this video that the pop up ads and title text for each chapter came up at the same time, so I would have to close the ad and then rewind the video to read the text. I would suggest staggering them next time

Actually I just finished the new prequel for the Dark Crystal on Netflix and I was blown away... the prequel is better than the original movie... no joke.

The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance is one of my favorite shows even though I saw the movie before it, I read that the show is like several years before the events of the movie. And Season 1 doesn´t end where the movie begins. The Garthim War that happens after the ending of Season 1 isn´t shown outside of the books. So personally this doesn´t really affect me when it comes to The Dark Crystal show.

What an amazing essay!!! Great video

Star Wars prequels are underrated. They say how Anakin fall to the dark side perfectly and if you pay attention you'll see that each prequel movie has a part of his fall. TPM : fear AOTC : anger ROTS : hate (and at the end came the suffering) While it's true that The Clone Wars added many things, you can still enjoy the prequel even without this (also amazing) show and understand the story. Now if you want each movie to deliver everything in a dish then just don't watch movies that have more hidden and in some extent realistic approach. For example many fans dislike how Anakin flirted with Padme, that he was cringy etc, but just remember that it was his first time trying to flirt and that she was the woman he loved for almost 10 years, of course he was going to be like that. I mean most people when they first try to flirt can't withstand the pressure of speaking to your crush. That part of the movie is executed very well because someone could relate himself to Anakin. And I can say many things that people mistake in many prequels and not just Star Wars

One of my favorite prequels is the game five nights at freddy’s 2. What makes it so good is that it being a prequel is a plot twist, and you don’t know until night 6.

i disagree when you say that knowing how it ends ruins the experience watching the prequel for me, what i enjoyed the most while watching the star wars prequel, was exactly knowing hot it ends, because it gives a sense of tragedy that wouldnt be possible otherwise. so for me, watching anakin grow up, be friends with obi wan, etc, while knowing that he would eventually become darth vader was much more heartbreaking that would be if i just watched it with no clue to what was going to happen. i think that in those cases the point is not the suspense of not knowing whats coming, but the journey and the inevitability of it its the same with x-men. i know how it ends, so seeing xavier and erik having their friendship and seeing it crumbling apart to become enemies we know is tragic so i think that the real issue with prequels is indeed the overuse of nostalgia and fanservice in such a way that it becomes what drives the whole movie, putting the story itself on the background. i also find really annoying when literally everything that happens in the world happens to or because of the same bunch of characters, or these characters families, because they are the ones the audience knows from the original

For whatever reason I read the thumbnail as The Problem with Problems. It's like my brain replaced Prequel with Problem

Really good video!! Immensely balanced and rational arguments not just bashing. Love it

Another thing that needs to be mentioned when good prequels are brought up is Metal Gear Solid 3, which is often considered the pinnacle of the franchise. Unlike a lot of prequels, MGS3 took the opportunity of being set in the past to lower the amount of baggage and necessary knowledge to understand it. And it focused its story around a character who was very important but who we hadn’t actually seen a whole lot of in person, especially if you didn’t play the original Metal Gears.

Center Row, if you manage to see this, what do you think should change to make Rogue One a prequel you like much more...??? Me personally; it serves as one of, if not the best, Disney Star Wars films that morally complicates the Rebellion, which gets expanded on in other areas such as Clone Wars and Rebels, provides a great war film, with Disney's best done space battles rivalling The Battle of Endor and the best modern use of Darth Vader which has only been replicated by a fan made redux of Vader and Obi-Wan's fight called Scene 38 Reimagined. Personally, even how uneven the pacing of the beginning is with planet hopping demonstrates how fractured the Rebellion is and how they come together on Scarify near the end.

I think the main problem with every prequel is we know what's going to happen and that the characters that we already know won't die< it would be very hard to some how make this factor irrlevant when writting a prequel and I think Star Wars did a decent job.

I’m pretty sure they were very clear about Bumblebee not being a prequel to the Bay version

Coming soon! 'The problem with Disney Sequels!'

Just a few prequels I enjoy: Red Dead Redemption 2 Star Wars Revenge of the Sith Better Call Saul Halo The Fall of Reach and Halo Reach Solo But das jus me do

I knew that order 66 was coming in the clone wars but that didn’t stop the siege of mandalore arc from being fucking amazing and bringing me to tears.

Then how do you feel about prequels that’s take place long before the events of the originals, such as the old republic games?

I feel like I’m the only one that like the hobbit films. Everyone says it didn’t need to be 3 movies but I love middle earth so I’m not complaining that we got to spend more time in this world. Another complaint people have with it is it’s not as good as lord of the ring and I don’t understand what people went into the theater think that this 300 page kids book was going to be just as good as the great fantasy epic ever told.

Yes, please. More new stories and less overexplaining old movies. ^^

Great video mate. I have often had these thoughts but you explained it so well. Spot on.

I have a point that i disagree with you in Solo. The Solo movie shows how Han Solo is really a good guy but due to his living situations is forced to join this life of smuggling when he was a young kid. Han deep inside is a good person but his proffesion and his job keeps him away from truly being himself. He grew smuggling left his correlia to get his own ship but is forced to join this crew and this world of criminals and bounty hunters in order to survive and provide for himself doing something he is good at which is piloting. The ending where he shoots first shows how he molded into this person that whats to do right but knows whats at stake and does what he need to do in order to stay alive

The hobbit was written before the lord of the rings.

Oz The Great & Powerful God, I didn't need to be reminded about that movie -_-

Bumblebee was originally conceived as as a prequel but it eventually ended up as a complete reboot

I didn't grew up with 'Star Wars', either the Prequels or the Original Trilogy, so the worst example for me 'Captain Marvel'. And I wouldn't even call myself the biggest MCU fan but when I remember sinking into the cinema seat in disappointment. The franchise used to be a universe filled with various stories. Then, that movie came and hogtied everything into a single story, and just to favor its titular character. Sure, it was always aiming for an ultimate crossover but there used to be, I guess, a sense of spontanity to it. The kicker is that the character is designed specifically to be over-powered that it creates a dissonance to the established universe. I'm gonna paraphrase Jenny Nicholson, but the worst thing you could do [on an ending], is make you feel silly to have been so invested at the start. I still enjoy a good chunk of the MCU, but only because I try; I apply major head-canon to it.

I never thought the star wars or Hobbit prequels were bad. But unfortunately sometimes the majority opinion is taken as the absolute truth

The hobbit isn’t a prequel the hobbit was written well before lord of the rings it didn’t suck cause it was a prequel it sucked cause it was a bad adaptation

I love your videos. Excellent work!!

Great video! I love pretty much all of your videos. I think this the only time I disagreed with you on something, well at least the first prequelitis where you mention knowing how something is going to end. I agree that it lessens the stakes, but maybe it's just the way I watch movies/shows but I'm more of "journey" person than "ending" person. You can be both of course, and most people would consider themselves such, as I am. But it sometimes baffles me how people will say things like, "I can't even revisit a movie/show because that disaster ending ruined everything for me." The most glaring example I can think of is Game of Thrones - I couldn't count how many times I heard people say Season 8 ruined everything for them and that they will never revisit the show, or recommend anyone else watch the show EVER! And I'm just confused by that. I understand payoffs and conclusions and wanting to see how an amazing show like that will end only to be disappointed when it doesn't have a satisfactory conclusion, and all that time seems wasted. But, and again this just might be me, is all that time really wasted? It might cheapen it a little, but does it really make everything else in the series unwatchable, even the great moments? I didn't like the ending, in fact I hated it, but I can STILL go back and appreciate the amazing characters and moments that happened in the earlier seasons due to the amazing writing (thanks much to GRRM's writing) in spite of the where they end up in the end. Again, the journey being just as important and impactful as the ending. In spite of the conclusion, I will always remember and praise moments like the Red Wedding, Ned's death, Arya's list, Danny marching out of Astapor with her army and again in Season 6, the politics of King's Landing, the entire Lannister family as complicated characters, the bravery and loyalty of the Starks, the betrayals, the moments that made me cheer, the moments that made me cry, there's so much still there. Then people might say, well that's not real ASOIAF like GRRM is writing, you can find all of that in the books and that ending will be way better. Then I'll ask, well what if the same thing happens with the books (if he ever finishes them)? What if the GRRM's conclusion is just as bad, maybe even worse than the show? Are people still going to have the same reaction? Will we write the story off as horrible just because it didn't have a satisfactory ending in spite of the fact that his worldbuilding is so well thought out and how he created memorable characters that were/are still a huge part of culture today? People can still revisit OT Star Wars and enjoy it in spite of the disappointment of the prequel and sequel trilogies, people still love HP in spite of the prequel series, people still love ATLA in spite of that horrible live-action remake and even though TLOK didn't live up to the original. I'm not saying endings don't matter, actually seeing examples of bad endings makes me appreciate it more when things have good journeys and good conclusions. All I'm saying is let's not forget about the journey even though it didn't end well or the way you envisioned. I don't think the concept of making a prequel is bad, in fact, it makes the director get more creative with writing within certain plot constraints that must be in line with the original source material. (That is not to say that a prequel concept can't inherently be a bad idea - like a President Snow Hunger Games prequel? Like why?? No one asked for that). Also what you criticize about prequels can also apply to sequels (i.e. Star Wars sequel series), so I do not believe it is a prequel issue insomuch as a WRITING and SCRIPT issue. My disdain for prequels/sequels especially today has more to do with studios playing it safe and banking off people's nostalgia, as you touched upon here. Whew, okay long comment.

You must absolutely, positively send this video to every Hollywood producer. Please and thank you.

Honestly i love the star wars prequels 🤷🏻‍♂️ also the disney star wars prequels are aweful because the EU already had better stories written decades earlier (and also the disney sequels the EU trilogy for thrawn was infinitely better)

My favorite sort of prequels are the ones that do continue the story. This is very, very hard to do, but when done well allow for some very dynamic stories. My favorite example is Kingdom Hearts, which has twice had a prequel introduce new plot elements, twists and mysteries that make you question how it ends up getting to where to original started, and then the conclusions set the scene for new sequels to come after the originals. This is very easy to create plot holes or unfulfilling retcons, but when done well it is incredibly compelling to me.

Great video, and great seeing some appreciation for BCS! On the issue of the audience already knowing the ending, I would argue that it's not a problem in and of itself but rather a CHALLENGE that the storytellers need to take into account as a premise for their story, one that closes some useful doors but opens a lot of interesting windows. As @V_for_Vinícius wrote in another thread, there are tons of stories that not only overcome this challenge successfully but even use its premise to tell great stories that wouldn't be near as effective otherwise. It only turns into a problem when it's ignored (like when Solo tries to build tension by putting destined-to-live characters in dangerous situations) or clumsily counteracted (like when the Fantastic Beasts movies keep aiming for shocking twist endings that all have to be relatively irrelevant in order to maintain continuity with the main HP story).

I really don’t think the Star Wars prequels are that bad, revenge of the Sith is GOD, rouge one, and solo I enjoyed very much. Bumblebee was great, loved first class and Star Wars episodes 1 and 2 are good in my opinion. Oh and the clone wars is INCREDIBLE

Half-Life Alex was a damn good prequel but that was a game.

One show that made me see the potential in prequels is The Assassination of Gianni Versace where every episode takes place before the last one. Learning how we got to a certain point can be a great payoff for a mystery previously established.

6:46 the film Bumblebee is said to be a reboot of The transformers series after the box office disaster that was The last knight,So Dreamworks had hired Travis Knight to re-write the confusing mess that was the Michael Bay trilogy