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A prequel is a literary, dramatic or cinematic work whose story precedes that of a previous work, by focusing on events that occur before the original narrative. A prequel is a work that forms part of a backstory to the preceding work. The term "prequel" is a 20th-century
neologism A neologism Ancient_Greek.html"_;"title="_from_Ancient_Greek">Greek_νέο-_''néo''(="new")_and_λόγος_/''lógos''_meaning_"speech,_utterance"is_a_relatively_recent_or_isolated_term,_word,_or_phrase_that_may_be_in_the_process_of_entering_com ...
from the prefix "pre-" (from
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
''prae'', "before") and " sequel". Like sequels, prequels may or may not concern the same plot as the work from which they are derived. More often they explain the background that led to the events in the original, but sometimes the connections are not completely explicit. Sometimes prequels play on the audience's knowledge of what will happen next, using deliberate references to create
dramatic irony Irony (), in its broadest sense, is the juxtaposition of what on the surface appears to be the case and what is actually the case or to be expected; it is an important rhetorical device and literary technique. Irony can be categorized int ...
.


History

Though the word "prequel" is of recent origin, works fitting this concept existed long before. The '' Cypria'', presupposing hearers' acquaintance with the events of the Homeric epic, confined itself to what preceded the ''
Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Ody ...
'', and thus formed a kind of introduction. According to the ''
Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a c ...
'', the word "prequel" first appeared in print in 1958 in an article by Anthony Boucher in ''
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House, a subsidiary of Lawrence Spivak's Mercury Press. Editors Anthony Boucher ...
'', used to describe James Blish's 1956 story '' They Shall Have Stars,'' which expanded on the story introduced in his earlier 1955 work, ''Earthman Come Home''. However, Christopher Tolkien, writing about the history of ''
The Silmarillion ''The Silmarillion'' () is a collection of myths and stories in varying styles by the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien. It was edited and published posthumously by his son Christopher Tolkien in 1977, assisted by the fantasy author Guy Gavri ...
'' in 1977, claims that his father, J. R. R. Tolkien, "coined the highly uncharacteristic word 'prequel'" when badgered for a definition of the relationship between ''
The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's bo ...
'' and ''The Silmarillion'' sometime after 1955. The term came into general usage in the 1970s and 1980s. '' Butch and Sundance: The Early Days'' (1979) may have introduced the term "prequel" into the mainstream. The term has since been popularized by the Star Wars prequel trilogy (1999–2005). An example of a prequel would be
C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge Univer ...
's children's book, ''
The Magician's Nephew ''The Magician's Nephew'' is a fantasy children's novel by C. S. Lewis, published in 1955 by The Bodley Head. It is the sixth published of seven novels in ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' (1950–1956). In recent editions, which sequence the books ...
'', published in 1955, that explained the creation of Narnia - the subject of Lewis's seven-book series ''
The Chronicles of Narnia ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' is a series of seven high fantasy novels by British author C. S. Lewis. Illustrated by Pauline Baynes and originally published between 1950 and 1956, ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' has been Adaptations of The Chron ...
'', which began with ''The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'', published in 1950. ''The Adventures of Ben Gunn'', a 1956 novel by
R. F. Delderfield Ronald Frederick Delderfield (12 February 1912 – 24 June 1972) was an English novelist and dramatist, some of whose works have been adapted for television and film. Biography Childhood in London and Surrey Ronald Frederick Delderfield ...
was written as a prequel to the novel ''Treasure Island''.


Usage

Rather than being a concept distinct from that of a ''sequel'', a ''prequel'' still adheres to the general principle of serialization, defined only by its internal chronology and publication order. For example, ''
Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace ''Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace'' is a 1999 American Epic film, epic space opera film written and directed by George Lucas. It stars Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Jake Lloyd, Ahmed Best, Ian McDiarmid, Anthony Dan ...
'' (1999) is a prequel to '' Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi'' (1983) but is only a ''predecessor'' of '' Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones'' (2002) because of the release order. Likewise, 1984's ''
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom ''Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom'' is a 1984 American action- adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg. It is the second installment in the ''Indiana Jones'' franchise, and a prequel to the 1981 film '' Raiders of the Lost Ark'', ...
'' is a prequel to 1981's ''
Raiders of the Lost Ark ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' is a 1981 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Lawrence Kasdan, based on a story by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman. It stars Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, Ro ...
,'' in that it is set in 1935, one year before the first film.


Complications

Sometimes "prequel" describes followups where it is not always possible to apply a label defined solely in terms of intertextuality. In the case of '' The Godfather Part II'', the narrative combines elements of a prequel with those of a more generalized sequel by having two intercut narrative strands, one continuing from the first film (the mafia family story under the leadership of Michael Corleone), and one, completely separate, detailing events that precede it (the story of his father Vito Corleone in his youth). In this sense the film can be regarded as both a "prequel and a sequel" (i.e., both a prior and a continuing story), and is often referred to in this manner. Time-travel often results in a work being considered both a prequel and a sequel, or both a prequel and a "soft" reboot, depending on how drastically history is altered. Examples of arguable soft-reboot prequels include ''
Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...
'', '' X-Men: Days of Future Past'', and ''
Terminator Genisys ''Terminator Genisys'' is a 2015 American science fiction action film directed by Alan Taylor and written by Laeta Kalogridis and Patrick Lussier. Produced by Skydance Productions and distributed by Paramount Pictures, the film is a reboot ...
''. Time-travel sequel-prequels can be found in the original ''
Planet of the Apes ''Planet of the Apes'' is an American science fiction media franchise consisting of films, books, television series, comics, and other media about a world in which humans and intelligent apes clash for control. The franchise is based on Frenc ...
'' series. Even though the latter three films depict world events chronologically prior to those of the first two films, the narrative itself is continuous for the main characters, as three apes from the first two films go back in time. The later installment '' Escape from the Planet of the Apes'' served as both a sequel and prequel to the first film. ''
Transformers: Beast Wars ''Transformers: Beast Wars'' is an entertainment franchise from Hasbro, and is part of the larger '' Transformers'' franchise. The franchise directly follows the '' Transformers: Generation 1'' continuity established by the 1984 series and an ...
'' is an example of a TV series that uses time-travel to serve as both a sequel and prequel to another series (in this case, the original Transformers cartoon). The term "prequel" has also been applied, sometimes incorrectly, to origin-story reboots, such as '' Rise of the Planet of the Apes'', '' Batman Begins'', and '' Casino Royale''. The creators of both ''Batman Begins'' and ''Rise of the Planet of the Apes'' also stated their intent to dispense with the continuity of the previous films so they would exist as separate pieces of work, with Christopher Nolan—director of ''Batman Begins''—explicitly stating he does not consider it a prequel. Here, "prequel" denotes status as a "franchise-renewing original" that depicts events earlier in the (internally inconsistent) narrative cycle than those of a previous installment. Most reviewers require that a prequel must lead up to the beginning of its original work, which is inconsistent with works that dispense with the narrative of previous work and are not significantly within the same continuity. At times, the term has been used to refer to a work that was released, as well as chronologically set, before any other work. However, that usage conflicts with the fact that a prequel is a type of sequel.


See also

*
List of prequels This is a list of prequels. Works with darker gray background shading have been primarily described as a sequel, remake, or reboot, but have also been regarded as prequels in a broad sense of the word. Literature Plays Films Channel an ...
* Chronologically related terms to Sequel


References

{{Reflist Film and video terminology Television_terminology