Franchise lore is the glue that holds film collection collectively, though some filmmakers haven’t been shy about retconning main points of ongoing collection. A retcon is when pre-established occasions are recontextualized by way of the introduction of latest data, successfully undoing the previous and explaining away an inconsistency.
It’s not straightforward to tug off a retcon, as typically audiences reject these modifications as lazy writing and an absence of forethought. Nevertheless, there have been situations the place retcons work extremely properly, and a few all-time nice superhero collection and traditional franchises have managed to get away with some critically enormous retcons over time.
Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker (2019)
Trying again on the Star Wars sequel trilogy, it is disappointing simply how uneven it was and the way little its remaining installment aligns with what got here earlier than. With The Power Awakens director J. J. Abrams unexpectedly introduced again in to exchange Rian Johnson, the third entry within the trilogy spent most of its time undoing earlier plot factors and retconning pre-established lore.
Whether or not it was the backlash to reviving the Emperor as “one way or the other, Palpatine returned” or messing with Rey’s parentage, The Rise of Skywalker felt like a slap within the face to followers. The shortage of an overarching plan for the collection felt significantly grating, contemplating how properly every installment within the unique trilogy builds on what got here earlier than.
Halloween (2018)
In the case of continuity, the Halloween franchise is a complete mess, and it may be tough to maintain up with all of the totally different contradictory timelines. Whereas Halloween II launched a agency motive for Michael Myers’ pursuit of Laurie Strode by making them brother and sister, that is one thing that the 2018 sequel, additionally titled Halloween, selected to disregard.
In truth, 2018’s Halloween opted to function a direct sequel to the unique movie and ignore all the things that occurred in between. This successfully erased films like The Return, The Curse, The Revenge, and H20: 20 Years Later from canon and eradicated the concept that Laurie and Michael have been truly siblings.
Terminator Genisys (2015)
As a sci-fi collection about killing machines being despatched again in time, it’s no shock that the Terminator franchise options its justifiable share of retcons. Whereas the time-travel nature of this Arnold Schwarzenegger franchise means it might probably all the time reinvent itself, there was one main change referring to the savior of humanity, John Connor, in Terminator Genisys that rubbed followers the flawed manner.
That’s as a result of Terminator Genisys truly turned John Connor into the story’s villain, which stood in distinction to all the foundation of the unique movies. This controversial movie modified John’s whole story as Skynet contaminated him with machine-phase matter, and he switched sides from the resistance towards preventing on behalf of the machines because the T-3000.
F9 (2021)
The road racer and heist knowledgeable Han Lue is among the hottest characters within the Quick & Livid franchise, though the collection has struggled with one huge subject since Tokyo Drift. That’s as a result of Han died in his very first look, and each film earlier than F9 was introduced as a prequel to account for the truth that he was nonetheless round.
Han Lue first appeared in Justin Lin’s 2002 movie Higher Luck Tomorrow earlier than being integrated into the Quick & Livid franchise.
Nevertheless, by the point F9 got here round, it will have been ridiculous to attempt to shoehorn in one other film between the occasions of 2 Quick 2 Livid and Tokyo Drift, and the filmmakers determined to easily retcon his demise. With an elaborate rationalization that said Han faked his personal demise with the assistance of Mr. No person, Han was miraculously revived.
Creed (2015)
Creed helped revitalize the Rocky franchise with a spin-off that expanded on the themes of earlier installments whereas additionally introducing new parts of social commentary, racial points, and sophistication dynamics. By shifting focus from Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky Balboa towards the illegitimate son of his former rival, this new installment powerfully calls again to the previous whereas carving out one thing new.
Michael B. Jordan’s character retconned the pre-established narrative that his father, Apollo, was a dedicated household man. With Adonis being the results of an affair with Donnie’s mom, Ms. Johnson, Creed recontextualized Apollo’s backstory to permit for a younger protagonist to emerge who had way more to combat for than Apollo’s extra privileged kids.
The Matrix Resurrections (2021)
Whereas audiences have loads of points with the sequels within the unique Matrix trilogy, there’s no denying that the Wachowskis had a whole story that they needed to inform. With The Matrix Revolutions concluding Neo’s (Keanu Reeves) character arc, his option to sacrifice himself to avoid wasting humanity ended his hero’s journey in a definitive and significant manner.
This was the total story for nearly 20 years, till Lana Wachowski revived Neo along with her legacy sequel, The Matrix Resurrections. With Neo again and residing an atypical life as a video games developer who thinks he’s named Thomas Anderson, many felt the existence of this self-referential sequel undercut Neo’s sacrifice.
Friday The thirteenth Half VI: Jason Lives (1986)
Friday the thirteenth has by no means been overly involved with continuity, because the lore of its principal antagonist, Jason Voorhees, shifted from film to film. As an unseen presence within the unique movie, the place his mom, Pamela, sought revenge towards the youngsters she deemed culpable for his demise, Jason rose from the useless and sought his personal vengeance in later sequels.
Nevertheless, it was the sixth movie, Jason Lives, that determined to retcon the lore of Jason’s existence in a significant manner by turning him right into a supernatural being. This led to a collection that was virtually unrecognizable from its slasher origins and indifferent the franchise from its actuality, opening the doorways to tales of Jason in Hell and even area.
X-Males: Days Of Future Previous (2014)
Whereas X-Males: First Class was meant as a reboot that recast this Marvel superhero staff with new actors, Days of Future Previous discovered a approach to retcon this determination and merge the collection with earlier X-Males films. Set throughout two time durations, when Wolverine traveled again in time to 1973, he successfully bridged the hole between the unique collection and this reboot.
X-Males: Days of Future Previous was a masterclass in learn how to successfully retcon a franchise’s lore, because it allowed the collection to have one of the best of each worlds and have totally different iterations of characters work together with each other. This intelligent artistic determination paved the best way for the MCU to make the most of the multiverse in later years and create countless storytelling prospects.