A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music, or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same fictional universe as an earlier work, usually chronologically following the events of that work. In many cases, the sequel continues elements of the original story, often with the same characters and settings. A sequel can lead to a series, in which key elements appear repeatedly. The difference between more than one sequel and a series is somewhat arbitrary. Sequels are attractive to creators and publishers because there is less risk involved in returning to a story with known popularity rather than developing new and untested characters and settings. Audiences are sometimes eager for more stories about popular characters or settings, making the production of sequels financially appealing. In film, sequels have become very common towards the end of the twentieth century. There are many name formats for sequels. Sometimes, they either have unrelated titles or have a letter added to the end. More commonly, they have numbers at the end or have added words at the end. It is also common for a sequel to have a variation of the original title or a subtitle. In the 1930s, many musical sequels had the year included in the title. Sometimes sequels are released with different titles in different countries, because of the perceived brand recognition. There are several ways that subsequent works can be related to the chronology of the original. Various neologisms have been coined to describe them.
Classifications
The most common approach for a sequel is for the events of the second work to directly follow the events of the first one, either continuing the remaining plot threads or introducing a new conflict to drive the events of the second story. Though most sequels begin some time after the events of the first work ended, some sequels pick up shortly after the first work, with the same story arc spanning over both parts. This is often called a direct sequel.
Prequel
A prequel is an installment that is made following the original product which portrays events occurring chronologically before those of the original work. Although its name is based on the word sequel, not all prequels are true prequels that are part of a main series. Prequels that are not part of a main series are called spin-off prequels, while prequels that are part of a main series are called true prequels.
Midquel A midquel is a work which takes place between events. Types include interquels and intraquels. An interquel is a story that takes place in between two previously published or released stories. For example, if 'movie C' is an interquel of 'movies A' and 'B', the events of 'movie C' take place after the events of 'movie A', but before the events of 'movie B'. Examples include Rogue One (2016) and Solo (2018) of the Star Wars franchise, Saw X (2023), Alien: Romulus (2024), and Ballerina (2025). An intraquel, on the other hand, is a work which focuses on events within a previous work.
Legacy sequel A legacy sequel is a work that follows the continuity of the original works, but takes place much further along the timeline, often focusing on new characters with the elderly original characters still present in the plot. They are often made many years after the original works were made. Legacy sequels are sometimes also direct sequels that ignore previous installments entirely, effectively retconning preceding events. Film journalist Pamela McClintock describes a legacy sequel as something that "exploits goodwill toward the past while launching a new generation of actors and stories".
Standalone sequel
A standalone sequel is a work set in the same universe, yet has little or no narrative connection to its predecessor, and can stand on its own without a thorough understanding of the series.
Spiritual sequel
A spiritual sequel, also known as a spiritual successor, is a work inspired by its predecessor. It shares the same styles, genres and elements as its predecessor, but has no direct connection to it at all. Most spiritual sequels are also set in different universes from their predecessors, and some spiritual sequels aren't even a part of their predecessor's franchise, making them non-franchise sequels. Spiritual sequels can sometimes be repurposed from material originally intended to be direct sequels.
Parallel A parallel, paraquel, or sidequel is a story that runs at the same point in time as the original story. For instance, three different novels by John Morressy—Starbrat (1972), Stardrift (1973; also known as Nail Down the Stars) and Under a Calculating Star (1975)—involve different lead characters, mostly in different places, but overlap at one dramatic event to which each novel provides a different perspective.
Relatives Alongside sequels, there are also other types of continuation or inspiration of a previous work. A spin-off is a work that is not a sequel to any previous works, but is set in the same universe. It is a separate work-on-its-own in the same franchise as the series of other works. Spin-offs are often focused on one or more of the minor characters from the other work or new characters in the same universe as the other work. A crossover is a work where characters or events from two previous works from different franchises are meeting in the same universe. Crossovers can also function as sequels if plotlines from the two previous works continue into them. A reboot is a start over from a previous work. It could either be a film set in a new universe resembling the old one or it could be a regular spin-off film that starts a new film series. Reboots are usually a part of the same media franchise as the previous works, but not always. Kathleen Loock has written that traditional reboots tended to stray away from depicting direct narrative or stylistic correlations to the previous versions of the franchise. Contemporary reboots lean into the nostalgia factor and create new stories that simultaneously revel in the aspects of the original franchise that made it notable in the first place.
History
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