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'{{Short description|Fictional work whose story precedes that of a previous work.}} A '''prequel''' is a literary, dramatic or cinematic work whose story precedes that of a previous work, 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. The term "prequel" is a 20th-century [[neologism]] from 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=[https://archive.org/details/merriamwebstersc00spri/page/921 921], 915, 1068, 246|location=[[Springfield, Massachusetts]]|title-link=Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary}}</ref><ref name=oxford/> Like sequels, prequels may or may not concern the same plot as the work from which they are derived. More often they explain the background that led to the events in the original, but sometimes the connections are not completely 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 |edition=3rd |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |date=March 2012 |orig-year=March 2007 |contribution-url=http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/150546 |access-date=19 April 2012|title-link=Oxford English Dictionary }}</ref> When Ballantine Books published J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings in authorized paperback editions in the US in 1965 The Hobbit was frequently referred to as a prequel to the longer work. ''[[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]] (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 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040101110428/http://www.truthinstuff.com/Cinema/prequel.html |archive-date=1 January 2004}}</ref>{{unreliable source?|date=April 2012}} An example of a prequel would be [[C. S. Lewis]]'s children's book, ''[[The Magician's Nephew]]'', published in 1955, that explained the creation of Narnia - the subject of Lewis's seven-book series in [[The Chronicles of Narnia]], which began with ''The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'', published in 1950. ''The Adventures of Ben Gunn'', a 1956 novel by [[R. F. Delderfield]] was written as a prequel to the novel ''Treasure Island''. ==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|Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi]]'' (1983) but is only a ''predecessor'' 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|Indiana Jones and the 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|author-link=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> Time-travel often results in a work being considered both a prequel and a sequel, or both a prequel and a "soft" reboot, depending on how drastically history is altered. Examples of arguable soft-reboot prequels include [[Star Trek (2009 film)|the 2009 Star Trek movie]], [[X-Men: Days of Future Past]], and [[Terminator Genisys]]. Time-travel sequel-prequels can be found in the original ''[[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 installment ''[[Escape from the Planet of the Apes]]'' served as both a sequel and prequel to the first film.<ref name=dirks>{{cite web|url=http://www.filmsite.org/sci-fifilms5.html|title=Science Fiction Films Part 5|first=Tim|last=Dirks|publisher=[[Filmsite]] Filmsite.org|quote=A sequel and prequel to the first film}}</ref><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.|author2-link=Tor.com|date=2011-07-27}}</ref><ref name=matheou>{{citation|last=Matheou|first=Demetrios|title=Ascent of Ape|newspaper=[[The Sunday Herald]]|location=[[Washington, D.C.]]|date=August 14, 2011|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-29969125.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140611094715/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-29969125.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 11, 2014|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> [[Transformers: Beast Wars]] is an example of a TV series that uses time-travel to serve as both a sequel and prequel to another series (in this case, the original Transformers cartoon). The term "prequel" has also been applied, sometimes incorrectly, 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 |agency=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|access-date=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|access-date=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>{{cite web|url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/top-5-bollywood-movie-better-than-prequel/1/444747.html|title=5 Bollywood movies which are better than their prequels|website=India Today}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/regional/singam-3-will-have-connection-with-prequels-director/|title='Singam 3' will have connection with prequels: Director|date=22 June 2015}}</ref> However, that usage conflicts with the fact that a prequel is a type of sequel. ==See also== {{wiktionary|prequel}} * [[List of prequels]] * [[Sequel#Chronologies|Chronologically related terms to Sequel]] ==References== {{Reflist}} [[Category:Film and video terminology]] [[Category:Prequels| ]] [[Category:Television_terminology]]'