Don’t know what prequel, sequel and spin-off mean? We explain

Have you ever come across the terms prequelsequel and spin-off when you saw the release of a film, series or book and didn’t understand what they mean?

These terminologies are used in the cultural industry to describe the relationship between different productions within the same universe of stories.

Meanings of prequel, sequel and spin-off

Meaning and importance of prequels, sequels and spin-offs – Image: Reproduction

Prequel

Prequel, also called prequel or prelude, is a story that takes place before the original work.

The idea of ​​the prequel is to provide the public with knowledge about the origin of the characters or events presented in the first film, series or book.

An example of a prequel is ‘Wonka’ from ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’, as it narrates the beginning of the career of the character Willy Wonka.

Likewise, ‘The Hunger Games: A Song of Birds and Snakes’ is a prequel that exposes part of the story of the villain of the ‘Hunger Games’ saga.

Sequel

The term sequel, originating in the English language, is equivalently used to designate the sequence of a filmseries or book.

Sequels usually keep the main actors and continue the story presented in the first work.

Examples of sequels include ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’, which is a sequel to ‘Avatar’, and ‘Top Gun: Maverick’, which follows the story of ‘Top Gun – Good Will Hunting’.

Spin off

O spin off it is a production created from another, expanding a universe already shown to the public. These stories usually focus on characters or plots that were initially secondary in the original work.

There are several known examples of spin-offs. In cinema, we have ‘The Hobbit’, which expands the universe of ‘The Lord of the Rings’, and ‘Fantastic Beasts’, derived from the world of ‘Harry Potter’.

On television, ‘Better Call Saul’ is a spin-off that encompasses the ‘Breaking Bad’ universe, just as ‘The Originals’ did with ‘The Vampire Diaries’.

We hope that you are now more familiar with such cultural industry terms. So, the next time you see one of them associated with a work, you know what to expect.