Movies that could actually be improved with a good prequel

I know that movie prequels in general tend to get a lot of sneers nowadays, partly because of exasperation with "reboot fever", and partly because of the many recent disappointing prequels to already-classic films (Oz the Great and Powerful, Ridley Scott's Robin Hood prequel, and the Star Wars prequel trilogy being the standouts).

But, like all things, prequels do have a lot of potential for good if they're handled right, and if they're applied to that rare story that could actually benefit from a more detailed backstory (Batman Begins and X-Men: First Class being a few of the more successful recent examples).

So...are there any movies out there (or books, or video-games, or comics, or any stories) without prequels that you think could actually be improved with a decent prequel? If they did get prequels, how would you like to see them done? What questions would you like to have answered? What previously unseen moments would you like to get a look at?

edited 19th May '13 8:27:10 PM by TheMightyHeptagon

How is Batman Begins a prequel?

Prequel in the Lost Age is the way to go, if you've got an expansive speculative fiction setting. Prevents Foregone Conclusion and the universe of the series seeming too small (the Star Wars prequels were guilty of both, and were not set far enough before the originals).

edited 19th May '13 9:31:25 PM by CrimsonZephyr

Batman Begins is a remake. I don't know of any popular prequels.

Begins is a reboot.

What's the difference? They're both doing the same story over again.

If a Metroid film is ever made, I want it to be a prequel to the games detailing Samus's upbringing and training by the Chozo. And what caused said Chozo to seemingly disappear. In a better way than the manga, which I did not like.

edited 19th May '13 10:31:50 PM by Tuckerscreator

I like the lore texts from metroid prime. The Chozo ghosts were also epic. And no Megan Fox pinup girl for playing samus either.

It goes without sayoing that Other M did it very, VERY wrong.

Ahhh! Wish Bone avatar!

Young Samus I'd want played by AnnaSophia Robb. She's proven she can do some really impressive acting in a variety of genres. As for grownup Samus, I really want to say Maria Sharapova, since she's can demonstrate the athleticism, height, and awe towards her well, but she doesn't have any acting experience so casting her would probably be quite a gamble.

And for the third act, she'd be played by a stuntman in a costume, of course.

And THAT is where voice acting comes in. Unless the actress is feeling adventurous.

The fact that they're doing a completely different story. They're throwing out the continuity to this point and starting over fresh, with no ties or associations to the previous films, to which the only thing the two have in common is that they both are adaptations of the Batman story.

A remake is where you retell the same story but update it. A reboot is where you ignore the story established to this point and start over fresh from the beginning. Was the Scarecrow in the original Jack Nicholson Batman film? How about Ra's al Ghul? Lucius Fox? What about Batman's ninja training, or the young, up and coming version of Jim Gordon? Do they even share a love interest? No? The two films have absolutely nothing in common. It is not a remake.

edited 20th May '13 9:30:16 AM by TobiasDrake

I don't know if it would actually make the original series retroactively better per se, but I wouldn't mind a prequel to Back To The Future to see what kind of shit Doc's non-time-travel-related inventions caused for him and Marty.

I'd like to see a Back to the Future film from Doc's perspective, moving chronologically forward. Seriously, his entire life is basically a long string of time-displaced Marty McFlys popping up randomly.

edited 20th May '13 9:54:59 AM by TobiasDrake

Given the discrepancy between Samus' normal size and the size of her Power Suit, I think a stuntman would be the logical way to go. That, or mocap.

I'd be up for a POTC prequel, showing how the first Brethren Court trapped Calypso in her human form and made the sea free for mankind.

Starring Keith Richards as Captain Teague.

As long as it includes young Jack Sparrow. Who's still just as awesome and odd as a kid.

Batman Begins wasn't a prequel to an existing movie, but it devoted an entire movie to explaining Batman's origin story (with Bruce going through the whole first half without ever putting on the Batsuit) in more detail than any movie or comic before it ever had. In my mind, that makes it just as much a prequel as a reboot.

Just like JJ Abrams' Star Trek, while taking place in a different continuity than the original movies and TV show, spends far more time explaining the Enterprise crew's backgrounds and their first meeting than any previous material in the Trek universe ever did, thus making it both a prequel and a reboot.

edited 20th May '13 12:59:01 PM by TheMightyHeptagon

But that isn't the Enterprise crew, it's their alternate-reality doppelgangers.

Prequels are by definition in continuity with the previously established canon. An origin story (no matter how expansive) is not interchangeable with a prequel, cause otherwise the majority of movies would be their own prequel. The Abrams Trek is an anomaly because of the logistics of the alternate continuity, it's not a true prequel because it says straight up that things are not what originally happened.

It really depends on how rich the mythology is to begin with and what room they have to expand on. If the primary story hinges on some great piece of character development then showing the past of that person pre-character development doesn't feel like a story that needs to be told. But if this is clearly just one story among many others it can be fun to see what happened before.

edited 20th May '13 3:54:12 PM by KJMackley

I'm genuinely struggling to think of any good prequels.

Robert De Niro's half of The Godfather, Part II.

The Magician's Nephew and The Horse and His Boy.

That reminds me. Seeing the artwork by Julvett causes me to also wish for a Harry Potter prequel with the Marauders. If not them, then at least the Hogwarts founders.

No, Harry Potter prequel starring Alastor Moody hunting the forces of evil in the First Wizarding War.

MAD-EYE CHRONICLES, EVIL HAS A NAME TO FEAR!