A prequel is a work that is released after a previous installment, but that takes place in the past according to the chronology of the saga.
Prequel is a concept that is used in the artistic industry to name a work that appears after a previous installment, but that in the saga's own chronology takes place in the past .
The term prequel is a neologism (a word that has appeared in our language recently) from English. Its use in that language dates back to 1958 , when Anthony Boucher coined it to refer to the novel "They Shall Have Stars" by James Blish , the first of a tetralogy. Curiously, although there was previously no word to describe this type of work, the origin of the prequel is very remote ; For example, the poem "Cypria" can be considered a prequel to the "Iliad" and is believed to have been composed between the 6th and 7th centuries .
prequel example
What the prequel does is resume the first story , although narrating events that happen before. In this way, the prequel deals with the origins of what was seen in the original work.
Suppose that, in 2010 , a movie about two young people who fall in love was released. In 2011 , said film had a sequel: that is, a film that continues the action of the story. In the second film, for example, the already married couple has two children. In 2012 , the third film in the saga appears, but focused on the years prior to the formation of the couple. It is, therefore, a prequel . What this work will do is tell how the young people who fell in love in the 2010 film and had children in the 2011 film met.
Several prequels have been made of Superman.
The dramatic irony
Prequels do not always focus on the same plot as the work on which they are based, in the same way that sequels can move away to narrate unexpected or not so predictable events. While they often provide more information about the background of the "current" story, it is not always very explicit. One of the concepts related to the prequel is dramatic irony , which is defined below.
Dramatic irony consists of the use of irony within an artistic work based on events that take place outside its limits , either in others that have been previously published or in reality. For example, if a story is published today that takes place aboard the Titanic and one of the characters constantly assures that the ship will not sink, it will be clear that the author does not expect his readers to believe this statement, since the sinking of the Titanic is a fact known throughout the world.
How is dramatic irony applied in the context of a prequel? Since the authors of prequels usually assume, although sometimes wrongly, that their audience knows perfectly the story on which they base their works, they take advantage of this supposed knowledge to have the characters allude to events that will take place in the future , within of fiction. This resource, when used cleverly, usually greatly pleases fans and makes them feel a very strong bond with the universe of the work, since newcomers have no way of understanding these references .
The prequel as an extension resource
Prequels allow us to extend a successful franchise whose story, for various reasons, can no longer continue developing forward in a chronological sense (due to the death of characters, creative difficulties, etc.). In cinema , prequels are becoming more frequent, while they can also be found in television , literature and video games .
An example of how the prequels work is found with the character of Superman . While the superhero died in the comics, a series ( " Smallville " ) and a movie ( "Man of Steel" ) were developed on television about his youth, before Clark Kent became Superman .