Lately, I’ve been through a string of bad follow-ups on TV. Many shows or movies whose first installments I rated with a 9 or a 10 deserved no more than a 5 or a 6 for their second run. Alice in Borderland. The Sandman. The Old Guard 2. Several Marvel and DC continuations.
Initially, these franchises built up their worlds. They introduced a pace, a cast of characters, a setting, visual vibe, and soundtrack. Then, they sent the characters on a journey. I got to know them. I grew to like some of them while disliking others. And I became invested in their adventures. These adventures were meaningful, but even if they hadn’t been, it would have been easy enough to pull me in. After all, everything was new!
But once you’ve set up a group of heroes and they’ve completed their first quest, the question becomes: What next? Where to now? And it seems movie and TV producers often don’t have an answer. This is both the opposite and part of the reason of Hollywood’s massive commitment issues. You’ve already decided you’re returning to that story—but now what are you going to do with it? If the answer falls flat, your show ends with a whimper, and who wants to repeat that mistake?
Sequels often underperform because sequels are hard. Without a kickass story, there’s nothing to carry the tale. We already know the world and characters. It’s no longer enough to just have them meander through life, engage in pointless action, or repeat what they did last time. The above examples all committed either one or several of these crimes, and that’s why all they could get out of me by the time the credits rolled was “meh.”
You might not write movies, but you, too, dish out sequels. What’s next for dinner? How do you follow up on a project that landed well? What will you talk about on your second date? In stories as in life, sometimes, the hardest part is to keep going. You won’t always do it brilliantly, but it’s still worth your best effort every time.
Thank hard about your second chapters.
