Producer: Right, but then money happened.
Screenwriter: But then money happened.
Sequels are stories that take place after the original, often with most if not all of the same cast and frequently in the same setting if not the same location. If a work gets enough sequels, it becomes a Film Serial or Serial Novel. If they turn out to be bad, it's because of Sequelitis.
There are basically two kinds of sequels, planned and unplanned. An unplanned sequel is often the result of an author discovering, much to their delight, that the original did well and readers want more stories with their favorite dashing hero. In these cases the original is very likely a self contained stand alone story that does not require having read a Prequel to understand, often leaving no hints at what a sequel may have in store (or that there would even be one). This gives the author two choices for where to take the sequel: a simple rehash of the last adventure, with new locales and villains but with the same characters (plus a new Side Kick or Love Interest as an Audience Surrogate for those who didn't see the original), or try to go for a more epic arcing story. This is done by exploring the existing mythology and Backstory that the original establishes (or weaving one in wholecloth if the original didn't have one). As you can tell, these are foolproof choices.
If it's a planned sequel then the savvy author will have at least a rough draft or idea of what happens in the sequel(s), what happened in the prequel, and leave in various Sequel Hooks and Schrodingers Guns in the original to later link it with any following stories. These plot hooks will likely be vague enough that the sequel(s) aren't constrained to go in one specific direction. If you ever run into a film that has an unusual, niggling plot detail that is never solved, it may well be because the author hoped for a sequel that never happened.
The relationship between a sequel and Prequel is a close one. Like the sequel, the prequel is by definition made after the original has been released, but takes an earlier place chronologically inside the same story while the sequel takes place after. Essentially, all prequels are sequels of a sort.
For much the same reason Hollywood likes to make adaptations of existing works from other media or Remakes of older films, big film studios would love for every film they have to become a series and earn lots of cash. There are a lot of marketing advantages to this: a pre-existing fan base, is easier to write (especially if the film series is going on a novel-per-film rate) and the actors likely had a popularity boost from the original, bringing more viewers in.
See also Series Tropes.
Tropes related to sequels:
- Actionized Sequel: The sequel is more action-packed.
- Artifact Title: When a title relates to the first story, but not to the sequels.
- B-Team Sequel: A lesser team takes over production of the sequel.
- Breather Episode: An installment that goes Lighter and Softer or even Denser and Wackier, especially when following a Wham Episode.
- Capcom Sequel Stagnation: When a game gets released many times with small changes between versions.
- Canon Discontinuity: When an entry ignores the canon of at least one previous episode forming an Alternate Continuity or Timeline. Typically done to works that were poorly received.
- Changing of the Guard: A sequel which features or focuses on different characters from the original work.
- Cliffhanger Wall: Instead of moving forward in the timeline, a series/franchise spends a few entries doing interquels and prequels instead (usually disregarding a sequel hook in the process).
- Contested Sequel: When fans disagree among themselves about the quality and/or canon status of a sequel.
- Creator-Driven Successor
- Distant Sequel: A sequel that takes place decades, centuries, or even millennia after the original.
- Divided for Adaptation: A singular work is adapted into several planned installments (such as movies).
- Dolled-Up Installment: Practice of inserting a work into a franchise which it was not originally intended for.
- Even Better Sequel: When a sequel is widely considered superior to the original, or at least to the immediately preceding installment(s) which themselves were already beloved and considered good.
- Fan Sequel: When fans decide to make a sequel.
- First Installment Wins: A piece of media receives one or many sequels, but the original is the one everybody loves and remembers.
- Franchise-Driven Retitling: When an earlier installment in a series is given a new name based on what the overall franchise comes to be called through sequels.
- Franchise Zombie: Franchise lasts longer than the author intended for.
- Happy Ending Override: Sequel starts out with a previous victory negated and things much worse than when they began.
- Iconic Sequel Character: A character introduced in the sequel rises to become iconic to the franchise.
- Iconic Sequel Song: A song introduced in the sequel rises to become iconic to the franchise.
- Immediate Sequel: A sequel where the plot picks up immediately after the previous part.
- Improved Second Attempt: A sequel is perceived as handling certain plot developments, character arcs etc. better the second time around.
- Interquel: A sequel set between two previous installments; also sometimes used for a sequel that takes place during a previous installment.
- Legendary in the Sequel: When the main character from a prior work is made into an in-universe legend.
- Legend Fades to Myth: People having a skewed memory of a previous installment in the sequel.
- Meeting-the-Parents Sequel: A sequel where one of the protagonist's mommy and daddy are introduced.
- Meta Sequel: The sequel is set in a world where the original work is entirely fictional.
- Mission-Pack Sequel: Same game, different levels.
- More Diverse Sequel: A sequel is more inclusive than its predecessor.
- Named After First Installment: A series's title is based on that of its first installment.
- Non-Linear Sequel: The sequel doesn't take place after the first story.
- Numbered Sequels: When a sequel title has a number.
- Lettered Sequel: When a sequel title has a letter instead of number.
- N+1 Sequel Title: When the second title in a series doesn't include the number 2, but instead adds one to a number found in the first title.
- Sequel Number Snarl: When the numbering of sequels gets... odd.
- Oddball in the Series: An episode in franchise that noticeably deviates from the others thematically or tonally.
- Oddly Named Sequel 2: Electric Boogaloo: Weird sequel title or subtitle.
- Pandering to the Base: Doing what fans want instead of what the creators and executives want.
- P.O.V. Sequel: Same story as told by a different character.
- Prequel: Sequel chronologically set before the original.
- Prequel in the Lost Age: Sequel set in the time the original says has long passed.
- Prolonged Video Game Sequel: Sequel to a video game that is much longer than the previous game.
- Refitted for Sequel: Scene intended to be in the original is moved to the sequel.
- Refusal of the Second Call: The hero of the original is available to save the day again in the sequel but refuses to help.
- Ridiculous Future Sequelisation: In the future, fictional works have a lot of sequels.
- Running the Asylum: Hired fans turn fanon into canon.
- Same Plot Sequel: When a sequel is basically a retelling of the original
- Salvaged Gameplay Mechanic: When a video game sequel fixes a disliked mechanic in the previous entry.
- Saved for the Sequel: Plot element left to be developed in the sequel.
- Second Chapter Cliffhanger: The second installment of a trilogy ends on a cliffhanger with several Plot Threads still unresolved.
- Sequel Adaptation Iconic Villain: In an adapted work, an iconic villain from the source material is saved for the sequel.
- Sequel Displacement: When the original installment of a series is less known than the most popular one.
- Sequel Difficulty Drop: Sequel is easier than its predecessor.
- Sequel Difficulty Spike: Sequel is harder than its predecessor.
- Sequel Episode: The plot or resolution of a Standalone Episode in a series gets revisited in a later episode.
- Sequel Escalation: Attempts to make a sequel to have elements of the previous installment, but more of them.
- Sequel First: A sequel is released in a foreign market before the first installment.
- Sequel Gap: A fairly long time passes between when an installment comes out and when its sequel does.
- Sequel Goes Foreign: The sequel is set in a foreign country.
- Sequel Hook: A hint at a future installment. May or may not be fulfilled.
- Sequel in Another Medium: Sequels that continue in different media such as the story of a movie continuing in a television show or video game.
- Sequel Non-Entity: Hey, they reduced the Five-Man Band to a Power Trio! What happened to the other two characters?
- Sequel Reset: The resolution from the first story is undone for the sequel.
- Sequelitis: As the number of franchise installments goes up, the quality of them goes down.
- Sequel Series: A series that takes place after or before the original.
- Sequel Snark: A joke mocking the idea of a sequel.
- Soft Reboot: Both a sequel/prequel or some extension of canon and a partial reboot intended to jumpstart a series anew with maybe a retcon or two.
- Sophomore Slump: The first sequel sucks, but the next one makes up for it.
- Spin-Off: A subsequent installment that is set in the same universe of a work, but focuses on characters other than the protagonist(s) of the previous entry.
- From the Ashes: A fictional work's ending is the starting point of a Spin-Off.
- Spin-Off Babies: Characters being made into radically younger versions of themselves in a subsequent work. May or may not act as a prequel to the original.
- Spin-Offspring: A Spin-Off focusing on the descendant(s) of a character.
- Spiritual Successor: A sequel "in spirit" that is similar to a previous work.
- Standalone Episode: A sequel that is in itself its own self-contained story that doesn't require previous material for context nor is it a continuation of certain plot elements from a preceding entry.
- Stealth Sequel: It seems like a stand-alone work in the same universe, but it's actually a sequel or prequel.
- Stillborn Franchise: Sequels were planned but never made thanks to a commercial failure.
- Stopped Numbering Sequels: First, sequels of the series had numbers, but then not.
- Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome: People who survived the original don't make it through the sequel.
- Sudden Sequel Heel Syndrome: Someone who was good in the original suddenly becomes evil or antagonistic in the sequel.
- Surprisingly Improved Sequel: When Even Better Sequel happens in circumstances where it's even more unexpected than usual.
- Thematic Series: Sequels that don't necessarily follow the same continuity or characters.
- Thematic Sequel Logo Change: A sequel to a work changes the logo to match its plot and/or themes.
- Sequel Logo in Ruins: The logo for a future title is more ruined than the original to reflect its darker nature.
- Third Is 3D: The third installment in a series is filmed in 3D (films) or undergoes a Video Game 3D Leap (video games).
- Title 1: The first in the series has an indication in the title that it's the first, however, a sequel might not come.
- Tone Shift: When a sequel's tone changes from the first work.
- Un-Installment: A work that doesn't actually exist nevertheless has a sequel.
- Wham Episode: A series entry that takes a radically dramatic or Darker and Edgier turn that substantially affects the story arc.
- Word Sequel: The sequels follow this pattern: Name, Name II, Name III, Name: Word.
- Your Princess Is in Another Castle!: It looks like the story or arc has ended, then another world/villain/problem appears.
