Write Your Own Sequel

[ReindeerThistle]

Okay, folks, just for fun.

If you have a favorite film, book, TV show or comic that you would like to write a sequel to, here's your chance. You can choose anything -- whether it's a stand-alone film, like The King's Speech or part o a series, like The Avengers, a canceled TV show you would like to revive, or a book series you would like to continue -- or if in any of the above you did NOT like an enry in the series and want to propose an alternative, that is what I am looking for.

Also, stick to summaries and treatments. Dialog as example is okay, but let's keep it fun.


Two rules:
1. For the courtesy of people who may not have seen the film, TV show or read the book or comic, once you have identified what you are writing the sequel/ prequel to, wrap your entry in spoiler tags so posters and lurkers can see only what they want.
2. Don't try to sell anything that someone else posts. All posters should keep dated files of their ideas if they want to maintain them as their own.


I'll get us started:

Fourth entry in the Christopher Nolan "Batman" Series

Spoiler :

Title: The Killing Joke, based on the Graphic novel by Alan Moore
Bruce Wayne and Selena Kyle return to Gotham in disguise after receiving a desperate phone call from Alfred that the Joker, played by Nick Hoult (X-Men First Class) has escaped from Arkham, kidnapped Commissioner Gordon and shot Gordon's daughter, Barbara.

In the opening gambit, we see what appears to be Batman in the Batpod chasing somebody like the Scarecrow and when we catch up, we see that the bat is a woman -- Barbara Gordon/ Batgirl, played by Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook) taking out the Scarecrow, with the help of someone on another Batpod, Nightwing, played by Joseph Gordon Levitt.

Wayne catches up with Robin Blake/ Nighwing -- but Wayne keeps calling him Robin -- and they follow the trail that Joker leaves to an off-season carnival site

Well, what do you think?

 

[Valka D'Ur]

I never saw any of the Batman movies, so no comment. But I love the idea of sequels.

Next to Star Trek, my favorite show is The Crow: Stairway to Heaven. Almost from the get-go, I had stories and poems running around my head, demanding to be written. The thing is, the actors on that show were so good at conveying entire conversations in a gesture or a change in tone, that it inspired me to want to "fill in the blanks."

Naturally, much of what I came up with turned out to be inconsistent with what the producers/writers eventually came up with. Sometimes I thought my ideas were better, and sometimes theirs inspired me in directions I'd never considered. One of my stories that turned out to be inconsistent was, fortunately, salvageable with a few changes.

The result is that I've got binders and notebooks full of this stuff. The frustration is that the series ended, quite literally, on a cliffhanger (of sorts). The reason is that the show had been renewed for a second season, but then one consortium bought another, and so on... and the new owners decided that this urban gothic fantasy series wasn't what they were interested in. Therefore, at the last minute, they cancelled it. Efforts to pull off a two-hour TV-movie to wrap up the story were not successful. This was back in 1998.

I still think about this series. I've dreamed whole new episodes. But of course after I wake up, I only remember the bare gist... usually. Lately it's taken a really weird twist.

I've started dreaming up crossover episodes between The Crow: Stairway to Heaven and Doctor Who (with Tom Baker, of course). This stuff is once again demanding to be written. I'm going to have to rewatch the series and decide where to branch off... at least now I know my ideas can no longer be superseded by canon, but it's still damn frustrating not to know what the producers intended to happen. There are so many possibilities...

 

[CivCube]

The Fourth Age: A Kingdom For Men - The Shadow has departed Middle-earth forever. Now as the elves' time draws to a close, a just King of Men rules the city of Gondor. But even as Sauron fades, his influence is not so easy to evaporate. Within the fifty years after the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, reports of spies for dark armies rise within Gondor's walls. Now a young market girl must find the truth: Does her mother work for the enemy? Are the sins of the Numenoreans in the Second Age still yet to be repaid? Who is this enemy, if not Morgoth's servant?

Based on posthumous notes by J.R.R. Tolkien (No, really. He started working on a sequel but gave up). Part one in a trilogy. Directed by Guillermo del Toro.

 

[ReindeerThistle]

The Fourth Age: A Kingdom For Men - The Shadow has departed Middle-earth forever...

Based on posthumous notes by J.R.R. Tolkien (No, really. He started working on a sequel but gave up). Part one in a trilogy. Directed by Guillermo del Toro.

Awesome! But shouldn't there be a book, first? You imply a film trilogy....

Also, thanks for keeping del Toro.

 

[CivCube]

Yeah, maybe a book would be better. I just really wanted del Toro to direct The Hobbit.

Edit: Of course, the more I think about it, the more "the tale [grows] in the telling", as Tolkien said. Doubtless there has been countless fanfic "sequels" for LOTR but I would actually be interested in reading a sequel by a present-day author. There would be several challenges to make sure the themes are appropriate to Tolkien while still staying unique in their own right:

- If the protagonist somehow explores the Eastern and Southron lands, it's a fine line to walk on regarding its inhabitants. Either you go too far one way and end up sounding racist (or worse, Lilliputian) or you come across too obviously self-conscious and PC. That's why the languages and cultural ways would need to be sufficiently detailed: nearly whimsical, certainly down-to-earth, but never one-dimensional.

- I find a female protagonist would be refreshing after thousands of pages of men adventuring together. I think Tolkien would like that too. There's so much in gender politics that could be explored regarding Gondor and Numenor. In fact, that would likely solve the "hobbit problem": can you tell a Middle-earth story without Frodo's kin and stay fun? As long as the character is someone with a disadvantage in the society at that time, it wouldn't be a problem for our protagonist to be human.

- As this Fourth Age is closer to our own time, do we put in references to real-life cultures? It would perhaps dilute too much of Tolkien's intent for Middle-earth to be an invented mythology for Britain if we throw in cute references to the Bible and the Epic of Gilgamesh. I'm undecided at this point.

- What to journey for, if not to release the world from a Great Evil? Both Morgoth and Sauron are already gone, which leaves little room for an original story. If you go back to the well with Another Evil, you'll end up retreading old ground and potentially make the universe feel smaller than it should. If you go too far with a new idea, you end up with little reason for using Middle-earth. The themes must be connected to LotR without being bound by them. That's why I could see the themes unfold as a reflection on how hope for new progress can quickly be tainted, why new rulers can go back to old ways, and how original sin must be present for Tolkien's "eucatastrophe". Perhaps the protagonist ends up screwing up big time: she gets to go home, unlike Frodo, and her home is preserved, unlike the Shire, but at the expense of the rest of the world's salvation. We perhaps end the story with Middle-earth about to enter uncertain times. The shades of grey are the real shadow this time, not a discrete Darkness in a geographic location.

 

[BvBPL]

I'd write more Twin Peaks episodes.

 

[BvBPL]

Oops. This post was put in the wrong thread.

 

[ReindeerThistle]

Yeah, maybe a book would be better. I just really wanted del Toro to direct The Hobbit.

Edit: Of course, the more I think about it, the more "the tale [grows] in the telling", as Tolkien said. Doubtless there has been countless fanfic "sequels" for LOTR but I would actually be interested in reading a sequel by a present-day author. There would be several challenges to make sure the themes are appropriate to Tolkien while still staying unique in their own right...

I wanted Del Toro to direct the Hobbit, also, more than ever after seeing it.

The challenges, as you state above, would be difficult for a 21 st Century rendering. I mean for the LOTR films, they gave Arwen a lot more screen time than Tolkien. But your ideas and the issues you raise are important. See Randel Helms' Tolkien's World, Chaper IV "Frodo Anti-Faust," for what I think are some interesting points about contemporary mythology.

Keep going, you're on to something.

 

[ReindeerThistle]

Crossover sequels are all the rage, right? Well, since he Alien v. Predator series fizzled out, how about these:

1. Hangover v. Predator -- in the epic finale to the popular Hangover film series, Bradley Cooper and the "Hangover Bros" wake up in the jungle after a drunken night in Quatemala City. One by one they are hunted down by an extraterrestrial trophy-hunters.

EDIT: 1a. Django v. Predator Oh, God, did I really just write that? Okay, Django teams up with an extraterrestrial trophy hunter... use your imagination.


2. Bridemaids v. Predators -- in the epic finale to the Predator series, a group of extraterrestrial trophy-hunters is hunted down by a Kristen Wiig & Co after they crash Wiig's bachelorette Party.

EDIT: 3. Twilight v. Predator -- C'mon, this would employ every CGI animator out there as the Cullen Coven joins forces with the werewolves against some extraterrestrial vampire-hunters. The twist: garlic, sunligh, wooden stakes WORK, and the werewolves find themselves suspicioisly susceptible to energy weapons.
Let me know if you can think of any more....

EDIT #3: 4. Avatar v. Predator: C'mon, it was only a matter of time before the Predator aliens found Pandora. They're both FOX film entries. Hey, it would work, trust me. $1 billion box office, easy.

 

[ReindeerThistle]

I never saw any of the Batman movies, so no comment. But I love the idea of sequels.

Next to Star Trek, my favorite show is The Crow: Stairway to Heaven.....
.....There are so many possibilities...

Of course you are a Star Trek fan -- your user name tips your hand!

Well, I don't know how I missed the Crow series -- I guess I wasn't watching much TV then -- maybe Due South and Voyager/ DS9, but I'll see if I can find it and check it out.


However, would love to hear your thoughts.

As for the Batman movies of the 21st Century -- they are worth a look' though ideologically a little displeasing for me -- as Batman uses all the USA Patriot act tactics -- phone tapping, extraordinary rendition, torture. Ugh!

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Of course you are a Star Trek fan -- your user name tips your hand!

My CFC username has nothing at all to do with Star Trek. It's the name of one of my original Civ II: Test of Time leaders.

 

[ReindeerThistle]

My CFC username has nothing at all to do with Star Trek. It's the name of one of my original Civ II: Test of Time leaders.

My bad -- thought Vàlka was an old name for Vulcan. I hope I did not offend.

FYI: My A+ Term paper for my fourth year I college was called "Sowing the Space Seed: Star Trek's debt to the early classics of English Literature."

 

[Valka D'Ur]

It's fun, being allowed to write assignments on Star Trek. My sociology instructor in college suggested I write my upcoming term paper on science fiction fandom. He knew I was attending a Thanksgiving weekend convention in Calgary, where his relative (Orson Scott Card) was the Guest of Honor.

I went to the convention, met Orson Scott Card, was totally underwhelmed, and wrote 99% of my paper off the top of my head. I never did tell my instructor (Dr. Brigham Young Card) what a drip his relative is.

 

[ReindeerThistle]

Your secret is safe with me....

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Yes, since Dr. Card is likely dead by now...

 

[Silurian]

Dr. Brigham Card, Age 92
Passed Away June 6th, 2006
in Lethbridge Alberta.

http://www.aberhartfoundation.ca/Pages/Principal.htm

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Thank you, Silurian. I always wondered what happened to him after he left Red Deer College. Looks like he had a good long life.

 

[Cutlass]

I wish I had written the last book of David Weber's War God's Own series. I really didn't like where that one went.

 

[Perfection]

Star Trek vs. Star Trek

(spoiler: at the last five minutes Richard Dean Anderson busts in and blows 'em all up with C4)

 

[ReindeerThistle]

Star Trek vs. Star Trek

(spoiler: at the last five minutes Richard Dean Anderson busts in and blows 'em all up with C4)

Been there, done that. What about Babylon Five versus Star Trek. Curious? Take a look at Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning a hilarious Finnish slapstick about such a match-up.