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'A '''prequel''' is a literary, dramatic, or cinematic work whose story precedes that of a previous work,<ref name=mw/><ref name=oxford/> by focusing on events that occur before the original narrative.<ref name=Silverblatt>{{cite book|last=Silverblatt|first=Art|year=2007|title=Genre Studies in Mass Media: A Handbook|publisher=[[M. E. Sharpe]]|isbn=9780765616708|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=R7ixUTC8EpwC&pg=PA211 211]|quote=Prequels focus on the action that took place ''before'' the original narrative. For instance, in ''Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith'' the audience learns about how Darth Vader originally became a villain. A prequel assumes that the audience is familiar with the original—the audience must rework the narrative so that they can understand how the prequel leads up to the beginning of the original.}}</ref> A prequel is a work that forms part of a [[backstory]] to the preceding work. All "prequels" are, by definition, essentially [[sequel]]s in that they "expand on a ''previous'' or ''preceding'' work."<ref>[http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sequel merriam-Webster Dictionary, Entry for ''sequel'']</ref> The term is a 20th-century [[neologism]] that is a [[portmanteau]] of the prefix "pre-" (from [[Latin]] ''prae'', "before") and "sequel".<ref name=mw>{{cite book|year=1993|title=[[Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary]]|edition=10th|publisher=[[Merriam-Webster]]|pages=921, 915, 1068, 246|location=[[Springfield, Massachusetts]]}}</ref><ref name=oxford/> Like other sequels, prequels may or may not concern the same plot as the work from which they are derived. Often, they explain the background which led to the events in the original, but sometimes the connections are not as explicit. Sometimes, prequels play on the audience's knowledge of what will happen next, using deliberate references to create [[dramatic irony]]. ==History== Though the word "prequel" is of recent origin, works fitting this concept existed long before. The ''[[Cypria]]'', presupposing hearers' acquaintance with the events of the Homeric epic, confined itself to what preceded the ''[[Iliad]]'', and thus formed a kind of introduction. According to the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' the word "prequel" first appeared in print in 1958 in an article by [[Anthony Boucher]] in ''[[The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction]]'', used to describe [[James Blish]]'s 1956 story ''[[They Shall Have Stars]],'' which expanded on the story introduced in his earlier 1955 work, ''Earthman Come Home''. The term came into general usage in the 1970s and 1980s.<ref name=oxford>{{cite book |contribution=prequel, n. |title=[[Oxford English Dictionary]] |format=online |edition=3rd |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |date=March 2012 |origyear=March 2007 |contribution-url=http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/150546 |accessdate=19 April 2012}}</ref> ''[[Butch and Sundance: The Early Days]]'' (1979) may have introduced the term "prequel" into the mainstream.<ref name=salon>{{cite web|url=http://www.salon.com/1999/06/26/lester/|last=Burgess|first=Steve|date=1999-06-26|title=Richard Lester: A Hard Day's Life|quote=Lester may also have locked up the dubious distinction of inaugurating the term 'prequel' in 1979 when he directed 'Butch and Sundance: The Early Days.'}}</ref> The term has since been popularized by the [[Star Wars#Prequel trilogy|''Star Wars'' prequel trilogy]] (1999-2005).<ref>{{cite web |last=Deever |first=Chris |title=On prequels and The Prequel |publisher=TruthInStuff |date=28 May 2001 |url=http://www.truthinstuff.com/Cinema/prequel.html |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20040101110428/http://www.truthinstuff.com/Cinema/prequel.html |archivedate=1 January 2004}}</ref>{{unreliable source?|date=April 2012}} ==Usage== Rather than being a concept distinct from that of a ''sequel'', a ''prequel'' still adheres to the general principle of serialization, defined only by its internal chronology and publication order. For example, ''[[Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace]]'' (1999) is a prequel to ''[[Return of the Jedi]]'' (1983) but is only a ''predecessor'' rather than a ''prequel'' of ''[[Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones]]'' (2002) because of the release order. Likewise, 1984's ''[[Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom]]'' is a prequel to 1981's ''[[Raiders of the Lost Ark]],'' in that it is set in 1935, one year before the first film. ===Complications=== Sometimes "prequel" describes followups where it is not always possible to apply a label defined solely in terms of [[intertextuality]].<ref name=Jess-Cooke/> In the case of ''[[The Godfather Part II]]'', the narrative combines elements of a prequel with those of a more generalized sequel by having two intercut narrative strands, one continuing from the first film ([[the mafia]] family story under the leadership of [[Michael Corleone]]), and one, completely separate, detailing events that precede it (the story of his father [[Vito Corleone]] in his youth). In this sense the film can be regarded as both a "prequel and a sequel" (i.e., both a prior and a continuing story), and is often referred to in this manner.<ref name=Jess-Cooke>{{cite book|last=Jess-Cooke|first=Carolyn|authorlink=Carolyn Jess-Cooke|year=2009|title=Film Sequels: Theory and Practice from Hollywood to Bollywood|publisher=[[Edinburgh University Press]]|isbn=9780748626038|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Sw0mjBBbybUC&pg=PA6 6]}}</ref> In the original [[Planet of the Apes|''Planet of the Apes'' series]], even though the latter three films depict world events chronologically prior to those of the first two films, the narrative itself is continuous for the main characters, as three apes from the first two films go back in time. The later installments (''[[Escape from the Planet of the Apes|Escape from...]]'',<ref name=dirks>{{cite web|url=http://www.filmsite.org/sci-fifilms5.html|title=Science Fiction Films Part 5|first=Tim|last=Dirks|publisher=[[AMC (TV channel)|AMC]] Filmsite|quote=A sequel and prequel to the first two films.}}</ref> ''[[Conquest of the Planet of the Apes|Conquest of...]]'',<ref name=britt>{{cite web|url=http://www.tor.com/blogs/2011/07/whos-your-caesar-re-watching-conquest-of-the-planet-of-the-apes|title=Who's Your Caesar? Rewatching ''Conquest of the Planet of the Apes''|first=Ryan|last=Britt|author2=[[Tor.com]] |publisher=[[Macmillan Publishing]]|quote=''Conquest'' is in a separate category of films as it serves as both a sequel to the previous film and a prequel to the first two films.}}</ref><ref name=matheou>{{citation|last=Matheou|first=Demetrios|title=Ascent of Ape|newspaper=[[The Sunday Herald]]|publication-place=[[Washington, D.C.]]|date=August 14, 2011|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-29969125.html|quote=Aficionados of the original series of five films will know that a prequel already exists, namely ''Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes''.}}</ref> and ''[[Battle for the Planet of the Apes|Battle for...]]''<ref name=chappell>{{cite book|title=Film Review: Rise of the Planet of the Apes: After the Tim Burton travesty, the Apes are back in a genuinely fantastic movie|first=Arthur|last=Chappell|work=History|publisher=Socyberty/Triond|quote=Stunning prequel to the original Planet Of The Apes movie, with some elements of the original franchise sequel / prequel Battle For The Planet Of The Apes.|date=2011-08-20}}</ref>) are sometimes called "prequels" in a broad sense of the word, but they are primarily sequels, as defined both broadly (as later installments) and narrowly (as continuation of the previously established storyline).<ref name=mw/> In recent times the term "prequel" has also been applied to [[origin-story]] [[reboot (fiction)|reboots]], such as ''[[Rise of the Planet of the Apes]]'', ''[[Batman Begins]]'', and ''[[Casino Royale (2006 film)|Casino Royale]]''.<ref name=rota>{{cite news |author=Associated Press|authorlink=Associated Press|title=With the documentary ‘Chimpanzee’ opening, a look at 5 prime primate movies|work=The Statesman|url=http://www.statesman.com/business/personal-finance/with-chimpanzee-opening-5-prime-primate-movies-2316295.html|accessdate=5 May 2012}}</ref><ref name=Sutton>{{cite book|last=Sutton|first=Paul|year=2010|chapter=8. Prequel: The "Afterwardsness" of the Sequel|editor1-last=Jess-Cooke|editor1-first=Carolyn|editor1-link=Carolyn Jess-Cooke|editor2-last=Verevis|editor2-first=Constantine|title=Second Takes: Critical Approaches to the Film Sequel|publisher=[[State University of New York Press]]|isbn=9781438430294|pages=[https://www.scribd.com/pillowbookworm/d/52443704-second-takes-critical-approaches-to-film-sequel#page=153 139]–152}}</ref> The creators of both ''Batman Begins'' and ''Rise of the Planet of the Apes'' also stated their intent to dispense with the continuity of the previous films so they would exist as separate pieces of work, with [[Christopher Nolan]]—director of ''Batman Begins''—explicitly stating he does not consider it a prequel.<ref name=Sutton/><ref>{{cite news |last=Keegan|first=Rebecca|title=‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’: 21 nods to classic ‘Apes’|date=11 August 2011|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|url=http://herocomplex.latimes.com/2011/08/11/rise-of-the-planet-of-the-apes-21-nods-to-classic-apes|accessdate=19 April 2012}}</ref> Here, "prequel" denotes status as a "franchise-renewing original" that depicts events earlier in the (internally inconsistent) narrative cycle than those of a previous installment.<ref name=Sutton/> Most reviewers require that a prequel must lead up to the beginning of its original work,<ref name=Silverblatt/> which is inconsistent with works that dispense with the narrative of previous work and are not significantly within the same [[Continuity (fiction)|continuity]]. At times, the term has been used to refer to a work that was released, as well as chronologically set, before any other work.<ref>http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/top-5-bollywood-movie-better-than-prequel/1/444747.html</ref><ref>http://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/regional/singam-3-will-have-connection-with-prequels-director/</ref> However, that usage conflicts with the fact that a prequel is a type of sequel. The 2009 film ''[[Star Trek (film)|Star Trek]]'' features characters from the 1960s TV series ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek]]'', but earlier in their careers. However, the film is set in an alternate timeline caused by a [[Romulan]] captain from the universe of the original series going back in time and interfering with history. Thus, the film has been described as simultaneously a prequel and a reboot.<ref>{{cite web |title=Star Trek 3 to Include Spock and Kirk Reunion With William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy |url=http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/star-trek-3-include-spock-kirk-reunion-william-shatner-leonard-nimoy-1466727 |work=International Business Times |first=Ben |last=Skipper |date=September 23, 2014}}</ref> ==See also== {{wiktionary|prequel}} * [[List of prequels]] * [[Sequel#Chronologies|Chronologically related terms to Sequel]] ==References== {{reflist}} [[Category:Film and video terminology]] [[Category:Prequels| ]]'