What Is A Prequel? Meaning & Best Examples

Anakin Skywalker's tumble into the darkness of the dark side. Gotham before the caped crusader took over. The Godfather's Vito Corleone building his empire brick by brick, forging the path that his son would later follow.

The prequel trilogy takes a journey right back to the very beginning, showing us how the characters we know and love first came to be, and how they ended up as the legends we've heard so many times over.

What is a prequel and whats so compelling about delving into the back story of our most beloved characters that makes it worth making a feature-length film out of it?

Let's take a closer look at the narrative format that answers the big question : where did we come from?

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What is a Prequel ?

A prequel is a movie that takes place before the events of an established film , delving into the earlier stories of the characters and settings that we already know.

By showing the events that led up to the situations we already know the outcomes of, prequels help to fill in the gaps in the narrative and give us a deeper understanding of the world and its characters.

Prequels are important because audiences really want to know the back story of the characters they love. When we know how a story is going to end, it creates a sense of dramatic irony - we get to watch the characters heading towards a fate that we already know is going to happen.

This makes for a very different type of emotional investment than you get from watching a story where you don't know the outcome - and it's one that's very hard to replicate in a straightforward narrative.

The challenge of making a prequel is to keep the audience engaged, even when the outcome is already known. After all, if we already know how the story ends, how can we be surprised by the journey?

Effective prequels manage to do this by showing us new sides of the characters, by exploring the themes of the original story in a new way, and by revealing little details and insights that add depth and richness to the world we already know.

Prequel Meaning

The term "prequel" is a bit of a paradox - by definition, it means a story that comes before another story - but in a way, it goes against the usual way we think about storytelling.

Normally, we think of stories as flowing in a straight line, from beginning to end - but prequels go back in time, exploring the events that came before.

Prequels are not just a series of flashbacks - they are full-fledged stories, with their own plot and character arcs. They are a chance to explore the world and its characters in a new and different way, and to show us how the events of the original story came to be.

One of the biggest challenges of making a prequel is working within the boundaries that are set by the original story.

We know how the characters turn out, and we know how the world ends up - so how can we make a story that feels compelling and suspenseful, even though the outcome is already known ? It's a tough challenge, but one that can be met with creativity and imagination.

Best Prequels

There are some great examples of prequels out there, and they demonstrate just how effective this format can be.

The Godfather Part II is a prequel of sorts, showing us the rise of Vito Corleone and paralleling that with the fall of his son Michael. It's a masterclass in how to use the prequel format to tell a rich and compelling story.

X-Men: First Class took the X-Men franchise and turned it on its head with its origin story - showing us how Magneto and Professor X first met, and how their friendship turned into a bitter rivalry.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes is another great example - it's a film that shows us how Caesar came to be the leader of the apes, and how he ultimately changed the course of human history.

Better Call Saul is a TV prequel that's so good, it makes the original series look like a pale imitation. It shows us how Jimmy McGill became the smooth-talking lawyer Saul Goodman, and how he became embroiled in the world of crime.

Casino Royale rebooted the Bond franchise as an origin story, showing us how 007 got his first mission and became the man we know today.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is a great example of how a prequel can work even when the connection to the main story is tenuous.

It shows us how the Man with No Name got his iconic poncho - and it's a great example of how a prequel can be a standalone story that still feels connected to the world we know.

Rogue One is a great example of a prequel done right - it shows us the story of the Rebel Alliance's desperate attempt to steal the Death Star plans, and it's a film that feels like a natural extension of the Star Wars universe.

The Star Wars prequel trilogy, however, is a good example of how not to do a prequel.

By showing us too much of Anakin Skywalker's backstory, the films risked diminishing the mystique of the character as a villain - and they ended up feeling like a bunch of big, empty epics with no real substance.

How to Write a Prequel with LTX Studio

LTX Studio is a tool that can help you write a prequel by giving you the chance to visualize just how the characters and worlds that you love came to be.

Start by thinking about the questions that you most want to answer from the original story - what back stories would really add depth and richness to the world we know? What would make the characters feel more fully realized?

The AI script generator is a powerful tool that can help you develop a prequel plot that balances fan service with standalone storytelling.

It can help you write scenes that show character transformation and development, and that explore the themes of the original story in a new and interesting way.

Storyboarding the key transformation moments in the story can help you see just how the characters change over time - from innocence to corruption, weakness to strength, and so on.

Can you see how the story makes the predetermined outcomes feel inevitable, yet still surprising ? Can you visualize the younger character versions of the people we know and love - the ones that still had their whole lives ahead of them ?

When creating your prequel, make sure to use the consistent character tools to create the younger versions of your characters. You want to make it clear that these are the same people that we know, but at an earlier stage in their lives.

Build a pitch presentation that shows producers and studios why prequels are a must - and show 'em some seriously cool imagery of untold stories just begging to be brought to life.

Make a compelling case for how prequels don't diminish the original but rather round it out with some seriously interesting revelations.

Test the waters with prequels that work just fine on their own - don't make fans of the original feel like they need to brush up on their story before checking it out.

Craft scenes that hook new viewers right from the get-go while still giving long-time fans some juicy details to get excited about. And the key is striking a balance between making it accessible to newcomers and rewarding the dedicated fans who've been along for the ride.

Conclusion

Let's face it, prequels are all about getting to the root of things - finding out where beloved characters and worlds came from. The good ones take what we already know and add some new depth to it - and can even stand on their own as their own standalone story.

At LTX Studio, our tools help you bring these prequel ideas to life, testing how they enrich the original story with origin stories that add drama and make sense rather than just being some dry info dump.