In The Dark Knight Rises, we heard the Joker tell us two different stories about the scars on his face. We heard him say it was his dad who scarred him after doing the same to his mother. While to Rachel Dawes he said that his wife had been grumbling about the scars on her face after an accident and to make her feel better, he cut himself on the cheek. This lunatic, with the truth in his madness, captivated audiences worldwide, especially since his appearance in The Dark Knight. The comic, The Killing Joke, and Suicide Squad do tell a bit about the creation of the Joker, but not entirely. Don’t we all really want how that happened? The upcoming film, Joker, directed by Todd Phillips will take audience through the origin story of Batman's most famous foe.
In this era of prequels, movies like Joker, featuring Joaquin Phoenix, take fans into the history of their favourite characters, and how they came to be as we know them today. Prequels do not in any way affect the course of the original and neither is it required to watch the prequel before the original. If anything, it is the other way around.
Quite a few characters that we met in the fictional realm have swayed us with their intriguing personalities. Like Batman with his resolute righteousness. And guess what, a prequel starring Robert Pattinson is on its way—which is to focus on the life of the young Bruce Wayne. Black Widow has been a consistent character throughout Avengers. Her past has hardly been told—barely a minute in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. But how did she become the international spy and assassin that she was? This is why you should wait for Black Widow that is to release in 2020, to be directed by Cate Shortland.
The magical as well as the muggle world had been stirred by J. K Rowling’s allegation (through Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, a prequel to the Harry Potter series) that Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, whom we all know as Professor Dumbledore had been a homosexual and not just been best friends with Grindelwald, but something more.
With the depth in the storyline and the twists that the prequels sometimes reveal, like Baahubali (which is one of the few grand high-budget cinematic marvels Indian cinema has witnessed), they either get widely accepted, deeply criticised or unanimously despised. The prequels have a history of saving as well as ruining the originals. For example, while the Star Wars originals have been one of the best sci-fi of all time, its prequels have not been so warmly welcomed. Neither was Annabelle, prequel to The Conjuring. On the other hand, when the X-Men movies were plummeting down at the box office, X Men: First Class, a prequel, with a new set of characters, not only kept it from hitting rock bottom but lifted it back to where it had once stood at the box office. It continues that way till date, with X Men: The Dark Phoenix, having hit the theatres on June 5.
Prequels have become one of the main elements of hardcore storytelling. Quite a few prequels, sequels and remakes have been lined up for this year. The sequels include Frozen 2, Toy Story 4 and It: Chapter 2, and remakes— Aladdin, Dumbo (which have already been released) and The Lion King. Looks like a plush time for the movie industry. What more, rumour has it that there might even be a prequel to Game of Thrones! Drama’s just about to begin!