# Best and worst prequels? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 8, 2012, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-prequels/630873 "2012-08-08T15:59:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-prequels/630873/1 "2012-08-08T15:59:02Z")
What are the best and worst prequels? This question covers novels, narrative poetry, TV shows, movies, comic books, and any other narrative fiction works. For the purpose of this question, a prequel is a prequel regardless of whether or not the author intended all along that the prequel would be made eventually or if they were convinced to write the prequel later based on feedback from fans or publishers or for some other reason, as long as the prequel was completed after the original work. If the prequel was created by a different author or (for works with multiple authors) by a significantly different group of people, it counts if the prequel was authorized by the relevant copyright or trademark authors. A prequel created by a completely different person or group without any connection with the original author or the owner of the franchise doesn’t count, such as the prequel to Macbeth that your little sister wrote while drunk, or an unauthorized film of the life of Harry Potter’s grandparents that some fraternity did. ---
**Author:** ![CyclopticXander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@CyclopticXander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CyclopticXander)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-prequels/630873/2 "2012-08-08T16:19:17Z")
In terms of movies I can’t think of a better prequel than X-Men: First Class. It added backstory that enhanced the original films all while being an enteraining stand alone story, you can’t get much better than that. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-prequels/630873/3 "2012-08-08T16:21:51Z")
Is Temple of Doom a prequel except in the most technical sense? ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-prequels/630873/4 "2012-08-08T17:01:18Z")
> [@CyclopticXander](#): > > In terms of movies I can’t think of a better prequel than X-Men: First Class. It added backstory that enhanced the original films all while being an enteraining stand alone story, you can’t get much better than that. I’m pretty sure First Class is a reboot, not a prequel. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-prequels/630873/5 "2012-08-08T17:21:14Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Is Temple of Doom a prequel except in the most technical sense? It is, but it sucks. Which makes sense if you’re nominating it for the worst, but I don’t think it’s bad enough to be the worst, given the Star Wars prequels. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-prequels/630873/6 "2012-08-08T17:27:02Z")
C.S. Forester started out his Horatio Hornblower novels with a trilogy set in his mid-career. He later went back and wrote about his earlier career, starting as Midshipman, and his later career, going to Commodore, Lord, Admiral, and Admiral of the Fleet. If he had enough time, I’m sure he would have taken him all the way to God. Both the prequels and the sequels feature a much more thought-out and better-written set of books than the original three. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-prequels/630873/7 "2012-08-08T17:39:21Z")
> [@Ephemera](#): > > I’m pretty sure First Class is a reboot, not a prequel. It’s a little bit of both. They changed the continuity around, but it features elements of the originals (Magnetos origin, Logan). I think “Re-quel” is the best way to describe it. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-prequels/630873/8 "2012-08-08T17:46:49Z")
> [@CyclopticXander](#): > > In terms of movies I can’t think of a better prequel than X-Men: First Class. It added backstory that enhanced the original films all while being an enteraining stand alone story, you can’t get much better than that. It also introduced a considerable number of major inconsistencies with the other films, and I’d disqualify it on that basis, personally. Arguably, about half of _Godfather 2_ might qualify, i.e. all the material showing the early life of Vito. ---
**Author:** ![Rubixcube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Rubixcube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubixcube)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-prequels/630873/9 "2012-08-08T18:00:26Z")
I don’t have much to add to the best list but I will second _X-Men: First Class_ and _Temple of Doom_. For the worst list however. _Alien vs. Predator_. I still don’t know how they fucked this up so badly. Why did they screw with the xenomorphs so much? Why did they decide to water it down to a PG-13 rating? Why did they feel the need to make it about Mayan conspiracy theories? The _Exorcist_ prequels, either of them. These suffer from the same things all of the other _Exorcist_ sequels suffer from, they’re both boring and entirely incomprehensible. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-prequels/630873/10 "2012-08-08T18:06:30Z")
I wouldn’t consider it “the best,” but _Red Dragon_ wasn’t half bad. _Hannibal Rising_ OTOH, was awful. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-prequels/630873/11 "2012-08-08T18:07:29Z")
I’m rather fond of _The Phoenix Guards_, a Steven Brust story that was set in the distant past of his earlier series and told in the style of _The Three Musketeers_. Asimov’s Foundation prequels were all pretty dire. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-prequels/630873/12 "2012-08-08T18:12:20Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > I wouldn’t consider it “the best,” but _Red Dragon_ wasn’t half bad. _Hannibal Rising_ OTOH, was awful. “Red Dragon” wasn’t a prequel. It was Harris’ first book featuring Hannibal Lector (and was made into the movie **Manhunter** before it was remade as **Red Dragon** with Hopkins as Lector) ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-prequels/630873/13 "2012-08-08T18:18:00Z")
> [@Ephemera](#): > > I’m pretty sure First Class is a reboot, not a prequel. Yep, the fact that Xavier gets paralyzed as a young man pretty much broke any continuity with the other movies, where we see him walking as a C~45 year old in X3. Worst: Well, the Star Wars ones. Best: Casino Roylae(Daniel Craig) if you consider it a prequel. Again, it’s more of a reboot. ---
**Author:** ![HenryGale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b782af/32.png) [@HenryGale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HenryGale)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-prequels/630873/14 "2012-08-08T19:09:40Z")
There’s a pretty wide field of contenders for “worst prequel,” with the Phantom Menace probably way ahead of the pack. For “best prequel”, The Godfather Part II is probably the obvious answer, but I think my vote goes to Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Great motion capture work on Caesar by Mister Motion Capture himself, Andy Serkis. Focusing on the human world on the brink of turning into an ape world helped it avoid some of the silliness of the originals, the same silliness that Tim Burton tried to embrace with… suboptimal results. ---
**Author:** ![Rubixcube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Rubixcube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubixcube)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-prequels/630873/15 "2012-08-08T19:14:30Z")
> [@HenryGale](#): > > There’s a pretty wide field of contenders for “worst prequel,” with the Phantom Menace probably way ahead of the pack. > > For “best prequel”, The Godfather Part II is probably the obvious answer, but I think my vote goes to Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Great motion capture work on Caesar by Mister Motion Capture himself, Andy Serkis. Focusing on the human world on the brink of turning into an ape world helped it avoid some of the silliness of the originals, the same silliness that Tim Burton tried to embrace with… suboptimal results. Pretty sure _Rise_ is a flat out reboot. The later sequels of the original series are actually prequels, its been a while since I’ve watched them but I’m pretty sure they don’t jive with the new one. ---
**Author:** ![Tanbarkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a698b9/32.png) [@Tanbarkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tanbarkie)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-prequels/630873/16 "2012-08-08T19:14:45Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Yep, the fact that Xavier gets paralyzed as a young man pretty much broke any continuity with the other movies, where we see him walking as a C~45 year old in X3. I’d be willing to throw out the pile of garbage that was X3, if it makes “First Class” fit better into the continuity of X-Men and X2. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-prequels/630873/17 "2012-08-08T19:18:37Z")
Does CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER count as a prequel to the IRON MAN movies? ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-prequels/630873/18 "2012-08-08T19:43:35Z")
\*The Magician’s Nephew \*is my favourite book of the Narnia saga. ---
**Author:** ![HenryGale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b782af/32.png) [@HenryGale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HenryGale)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-prequels/630873/19 "2012-08-08T21:40:21Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > \*The Magician’s Nephew \*is my favourite book of the Narnia saga. I can respect that. Unless you’re one of those people who think you should read the books in chronological order, starting with The Magician’s Nephew. Then you’re dead to me. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-prequels/630873/20 "2012-08-08T21:54:28Z")
> [@Tanbarkie](#): > > I’d be willing to throw out the pile of garbage that was X3, if it makes “First Class” fit better into the continuity of X-Men and X2. Well, eliminating X3 would take out _some_ of the inconsistencies, including Xavier and Magneto recruiting mutants together as middle-aged men (i.e. portrayed by Stewart and McKellan) with Xavier ambulatory. Left unresolved, though, is the issue from the first film of Magneto having helped Xavier build the large sphere-room Cerebro under Xavier’s mansion (confirmed somewhat by how readily he reconfigures Stryker’s copy in X2), and that Hank McCoy appears in his non-blue form. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-prequels/630873.md?page=2)