“Telling a villain origin story as a prequel to a popular series is a tricky task. One need only remember the most famous example of the genre—the Star Wars prequels, with Anakin Skywalker—to see the dual potential and peril of that sort of storytelling.
“Such is the opportunity and burden of The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, the newest entry in the billion-dollar film franchise, which will be released in theaters Thursday night.
“The original Hunger Games series, which consisted of three books and four movies, was a true multimedia phenomenon and sparked both Jennifer Lawrence’s A-list stardom and a young adult dystopia craze.”
Read more at The Ringer
