Fans of movies and long-running series often have a list of sequels they wish were never made. Hollywood’s increasing reliance on sequels, prequels, reboots, and remakes means that not all interconnected stories will please all audiences. To that end, fans have made a list of sequels that they think “ruin” what came before, and it’s not just the notoriously debated Star Wars trilogies that they’re criticizing.
A Reddit post posted the question “Any examples of movie sequels that essentially shit all over the first movie and disregard everything, for better or worse?” and it sparked a lot of discussions among fans. People had a lot to say about sequels that didn’t respect the original movie, which probably isn’t surprising. So let’s start off with the intergalactic mudslinging and go from there.
The Controversial Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
The Star Wars sequel trilogy has been a polarizing topic. The Force Awakens was criticized for being too similar to A New Hope. At the same time, Rian Johnson’s expectation-subverting The Last Jedi caused controversy, with the fandom having many issues with Episode VIII. The Rise of Skywalker attempted to address fan backlash only to upset fans of TLJ’s bold narrative choices. Many fans expressed dissatisfaction, including the thoughts below:
A lot of the other posts are about sequels that have continuity errors or reconciliation the neatly finished story so a sequel can happen.
But The Last Jedi / Rise of Skywalker…. I could feel that these movies hated each other. So many parts where they actively undercut, contradicted or full on called out the previous movie was wild.@Trasvi89
Another fan disagreed with this take, pointing out the issues that began with the first movie in the rebooted trilogy. Their comment:
I’d say Force Awakens does that a lot more than either of the others. It was a fun movie but it started with Luke exiled to a nowhere planet, Leia as the leader of a resistance, and Han smuggling while fighting a Stormtrooper based Sith enemy with a planet destroying weapon.
@oh_what_a_shot
It’d probably take an entire trilogy’s worth of Senate scenes to come to anything resembling the start of an agreement here, so let’s move over to the boxing ring.
The Rocky Road of Balboa Ignoring Brain Damage
When ranking the Rocky movies, many usually put Rocky Balboa above Rocky V. Still, some have pointed out how the 2006 reboot sidesteps a significant plot point from its 1990 predecessor, which explored the real consequences of brain damage in boxing. As the user below points out:
Rocky Balboa completely ignores Rocky V (Rocky had brain damage in Rocky V and could never go back in the ring. In Rocky Balboa, that’s never mentioned and he’s given a license to box again).
Robocop 3 completely missed the point of the first movie being a parody and is just a terrible action movie with a recast Robocop.@mccannr1
This oversight left some fans questioning the series’ continuity and commitment to one of the best sports films ever and its characters’ well-being. At the same time, others point out that Rocky’s comeback has an in-universe explanation. Fans pushed back, with one saying:
The in-universe explanation is that Rocky never got a second opinion and in 2005, with better technology, other doctors said he was misdiagnosed or the damage wasn’t as severe as originally thought.
@SupervillainEyebrows
Still, my favorite take is this bit of fan-based world-building:
I prefer my head canon of him being so old that some doctor finally just said “yeah sure fuck it, go get yourself killed if you want to” and signed off on it
Which now that I think about it doesn’t really contradict what you’ve said.@sonofaresiii
I don’t think anyone would have shared such criticisms right to Rocky’s face. And now from normal-sized humans fighting to giant mech vs. creature brawls.
Pacific Rim: Uprising’s Lighter Tone
The director of the O.G. film, Guillermo del Toro, revealed what he’d have done had he returned for the sequel, but he did not. Thus, Pacific Rim: Uprising is another follow-up film that left fans wanting. Guillermo del Toro’s 2013 original Pacific Rim was lauded for its blend of thrilling Kaiju battles and emotional storytelling. However, the sequel opted for a lighter tone, sacrificing the depth and creativity that made the first film a standout. The fan below points out:
Pacific Rim 2. Pretty much ignores most of the major plot points and details of the first movie.
@withoccassionalmusic
One fan says the second movie feels like it has complete “contempt” for its source material. They commented:
I’ve never seen a film that seems to have so much contempt for the original film, slaughtering/offscreening the original cast. Adding in random characters just to have a tie in and “pass on the torch.”
Throwing in teenagers to appeal to a younger market.
What a terrible, awful film. I paid to see it opening night too.@particledamage
Sounds like some of these fans need shoulders as big as kaiju in order to hold the chips that are on them, amirite?
The Case of the Vanishing Love Interests
A recurring theme in sequels is the mysterious disappearance of comedy love interests, whether it’s due to scheduling issues, contractual changes, or other factors. Films like Ted 2, Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2, and one of Mike Myer’s most unforgettable creations, the Austin Powers series, have often rebooted romantic subplots and left previous relationships unexplained, for better or worse. As the fan below pointed out:
Paul Blart and Ted both have the main characters either trying to win the girl, or fix their relationship. The end of the films ends with the characters getting married.
Cut to the sequel and the actresses don’t wanna come back, so they have to make excuses as to why the characters are suddenly single again@skippiington
While this trend highlights a broader issue with sequels’ tendency to sacrifice continuity and character development for the sake of new narratives, at least, as one fan points out, Austin Powers has a great in-world explanation for the drop of love interests. Take this comment:
At least Austin Powers had the decency to make them fembots
@$ Funkyb
As this lively discussion continues to unfold, where do you stand? Do you agree with these takes? What sequels do you love or love to hate?
There are a ton of sequels heading to the 2024 movie schedule. Here’s hoping they respect the movies that came before them, or else they might find themselves on this fan list.