Typically, films like to create a canon and a universe, in which, a certain number of things actually ‘happened’ in the world. Take Star Wars, for example. There is a huge universe full of films, books, TV shows, games, and many other entities that ‘happened’ in the world of the characters we follow. When Disney took over, Star Wars had much of its canon reduced to nothing more than legends, effectively retconning various story elements.
Various other films have taken multiple approaches to ignoring previously established stories, re-explaining previously explained things, or offering new perspectives to things we thought we knew. Here are ten.
Superman Returns
At the end of Superman 2, we see Clark Kent fly off into space. Then in Superman 3 and Superman 4, he’s back and getting up to a whole host of poorly reviewed adventures, with Supergirl thrown in for good measure.
In 2006, Bryan Singer took the reins and allowed Superman to ‘return’ from space. Only Superman 3 and 4 and Supergirl had never happened, and this film was a sequel to the two original films. It’s pretty confusing if you didn’t know the sequels had been retconned, but the film had pretty good reviews, so I guess it worked!
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
When George Lucas answers questions about his wider plans for the Star Wars universe, he states that he had a big, 12-film epic planned with adventures spanning the universe and the biology of the midichlorians. Sure you did, buddy.
In A New Hope, Obi-Wan tells Luke that Darth Vader killed his father, Anakin. Then when Lucas was able to continue his story, he combined the two characters and provided the most iconic twist in the history of film: ‘No, I am your father’ and retconned the previously established storyline like it was nothing.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
When Disney started expanding the Star Wars universe, we had no idea they’d be able to create a film that turns the entire explanation and motivation behind the first, original and most universally adored Star Wars film on its head. Yet somehow, they did. Rogue One was a massive success because it was unafraid to tell the story it had to tell in the only way it could tell it. They retconned the idea that the Death Star (for some reason) had one fatal, totally destroying flaw and turned Mads Mikkelsen’s Galen Urso into a planet-saving hero who had pre-planned the whole thing.
Star Wars: The Phantom Menace
While the Phantom Menace didn’t really have anything to retcon considering it was designed to be set many years before the original trilogy, George Lucas still managed it. On top of replacing the charming practical effects of the original with bizarre green screens, he also replaced the omnipresent, unexplained nature of the force with a horrifying biological explanation called midichlorians.
Apparently his original plan was to conclude the entire saga with a deep dive further into the midichlorians, but luckily, that privilege was swiftly taken away from him. He sort of retconned himself again soon after, though, and pretty much left the midichlorians out of every remaining film.
Deadpool
Starring Ryan Reynolds, Deadpool quickly became a global phenomenon. With the fourth wall breaking, R-rated jokes and brutal action, the series was an outlier in the otherwise child-friendly Marvel franchise. Only, his entire character was built on a retcon.
In 2009, Deadpool (played by Reynolds) made an appearance in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. His swordsmanship and one-liners are mostly intact, but he isn’t decked out in his red suit, his mouth is sewn shut, and his entire personality is just a lot less garish. When it came to making the Deadpool films, the creators felt it wise to reinvent the bold personality of the character.
Creed
The 2015 film Creed is the seventh entry in the Rocky series but manages to remain a sequel to the film that came just before it, unlike many films on this list who simply ignore the existence of certain entries to their franchises. However, when Apollo Creed is killed in the ring at the end of Rocky IV, Creed establishes the key detail that just before this, he had an affair that resulted in a child named Adonis. While Apollo never knew his son, without this retcon, the entire Creed series couldn’t even exist.
Saw VI
With eight films following one drawn out, but surprisingly brilliant backstory, you can imagine there are a fair few retcons used to keep the series going. One of the biggest comes in Saw VI. Two films previously, we met FBI agent Lindsey Perez, who we see (remember that, we literally saw it happen) getting her face mangled up, then taken away by paramedics and then mourned for. All of a sudden, it’s Saw VI and she’s as alive as ever. For absolutely no reason, either, as she dies (well, who knows) about an hour later. A pointless retcon.
The Exorcist III
The idea of retconning an entry in a series is absolutely fine. If a director wants to make an alternate sequel that doesn’t match up to the established events of a universe, take a creative liberty and do what you want, sure. What you shouldn’t do, is number your sequel as if the previous one still exists, but then ignore its existence.
That’s what William Peter Blatty, the writer of The Exorcist novels, did with The Exorcist III when he was given his shot at directing an entry into the franchise. In fairness, it received much better reviews than its predecessor, but why did he allow the name to suggest it was the third entry in a series where the second entry doesn’t exist?
Friday The 13th Part 2
By the time of writing, there are more Friday The 13th sequels than people on earth. Each one stranger and worse than the last and even the second entry in the series holds some pretty poor reviews.
Friday The 13th Part 2 brings Jason Voorhees to life to avenge his mother’s death, despite the fact that he is dead throughout the first film and apparently just a hallucination. On top of that, basically every film in the franchise kills him, only for him to return in the very next entry. The series lives and dies with its retcons.
Halloween (2018)
Halloween is a series with almost as many entries as Friday The 13th. As per usual, the original is regarded as a cinematic masterpiece, and all of the remaining films are panned by critics. The difference with Halloween (2018), is that it brought back some of the original cast 40 years later to reprise their roles, retcons every single film in the series except the original, and received almost universally positive reviews. Very impressive, even if the two upcoming direct sequels are almost definitely going to ruin this legacy.
