Terms of Entertainment Endearment - Legacyquel & Erasequel

Welcome to a new occasional segment, "Terms of Entertainment Endearment". These segment will feature some new terms I've come up with(or had assistance with) to call certain things in film and television that don't have official terms or SHOULD have official terms. Anything you see in these posts ARE unofficial, but with some help from The Audience, we can get them out there(unlikely, but I can hope).

So... we are going to start with something that has been happening quite a bit lately. Originally had a different name, but thanks to Bob(credit for Bob), a fitting name has been given: Legacy Sequel or Legacyquel for short. We have Minor Legacyquels and Major Legacyquels. In this post, we will go over why there are two types, examples of each, and why some work and some don't. And then we will tackle the other term, because it ties in so well.

So... let's get into it. What is a Legacyquel? It is a sequel that comes out MUCH later than the last entry in the series. And we will start there, the difference between a Minor and a Major is the number of years. Minor will be between. 10-20 years. Major will be over 20 years. Pretty simple.

Minor Legacyquel. A sequel that releases 10-20 years after the previous entry. There are other reasons that I fell Minor fits. For example... a Spin off Sequel or a Sequel whose development got pushed back for various reasons and it originally wasn't supposed to take that long. Here are some examples:

~Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines(12 years after T2: Judgment Day): Terminator 2 had a teenager John Connor... Terminator 3 has an adult John after Sarah's death. Leading to Judgment Day. Movie wasn't the best. Took some liberties it just couldn't pull off.

~Blues Brothers 2000(18 years after the original): Hard to beat the original, and didn't capture the same magic without John Belushi. But John Goodman is always a great addition to anything!

~Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles(13 years after Dundee 2): Fish out of water story, a classic Paul Hogan role... but this sequel was just random, almost like a fan film.

~Clerks 2(12 years after Clerks): the usual nerddom jokes, but hurts that it wasn't all black and white like the original was. Overboard with some jokes. But Rosario Dawson was a nice addition.

~Rocky Balboa(16 years after Rocky V): Not only was this a great movie, it also led to a highly successful spinoff series called Creed.

~Live Free or Die Hard(12 years after Die Hard with a Vengeance): Rumors that this one might not have been an Legacyquel, but 9/11 pushed it all back. So 12 years... good enough to get another sequel AND soon to have a Pre-Sequel.

~Independence Day: Resurgence(20 years after the original): Missing magic dur to missing out on star Will Smith. Just doesn't live up to it.

~Superman Returns(19 years after Superman IV): This is under the radar. But this was a sequel. Brandon Routh resembles Christopher Reeve. They did that for a reason. And it was a decent movie(at least better than Superman III and IV).

~Split(16 years after Unbreakable): Example of a surprise sequel. M Night had a rough patch of terrible movies... and he made it back with Devil. So... let's make a sequel to one of your best.

Hopefully that give you an idea for some Minor Legacyquels. There are many more. But take these and consider some of your favorites.

Let's get into Major Legacyquels. These are the ones where the assholes will whine about "why doesn't Hollywood come up with new ideas?" Sometimes... you need closure... or to pass a torch. There will be a few surprises or ones people don't really think about. Examples:

~Tron: Legacy(28 years after the original): Great idea. New age tech. New age graphics. And an early adopter for de-aging to make Jeff Bridges look like he did back then.

~Blade Runner 2049(35 years after the original): Answers some questions from the original... gives us new questions. And some amazing performances/set pieces. To make Ridley Scott proud.

~Bill & Ted Face The Music(29 years after Bogus Journey): A sequel a LONG time in the making, but it's stars had different trajectory(Keanu Reeves is Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter... well... is Alex Winter). Released during a pandemic, but should've gotten more support(go watch it).

~Psycho II(23 years after the original classic): one of overlooked sequels that to this day, I'm not sure why it exists. But it does.

~The Color of Money(25 years after The Hustler): Paul Newman reprises his role from The Hustler, paired with Tom Cruise. And... while he was nominated for an Oscar for the role in the Hustler, he WON an Oscar for the same role in this Legacyquel.

~The Odd Couple II(30 years after the original): The original spawned a TV series without the original duo of Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon. After coming back together for the Grumpy Old Men movies, they decided to do this, and it was a nice nostalgic piece.

~Star Wars Episode VII(32 years after Episode VI): Technically, this is true. Granted, there is a prequel trilogy between them. And Technically... George Lucas didn't want it to happen. But it happened. And um... it happened.

~Ghostbusters: Afterlife(32 years after Ghostbusters 2): It isn't out yet... and no, I'm not ignoring the all female Ghostbusters(I consider it alternate universe). After having a sequel in development hell for decades(that became the video game)... we are finally getting a sequel, that REALLY drives home the Legacy in Legacyquel.

Note: Disney has LONGER Legacyquels, but they are usually direct to home video releases. Example... Bambi to Bambi 2... there is a 62 year gap.

You get the idea of Legacyquel? Good.

Now... Erasequel. An Erasequel is a sequel that eliminates movies from canon. Maybe a sequel came out that no one liked. So the studio comes along and undoes it. Examples:

~X-Men Days of Future Past(erases X-Men The Last Stand): This movie has two halves. The future and the past. The past is the sequel to First Class, the Future is the sequel to Last Stand. With the ending, it undid what happened in The Last Stand. Because of this, Logan went from being a Minor Legacyquel to just being a sequel(Logan is in the original trilogy timeline...).

~Terminator: Dark Fate(erases T3, Salvation, and Genisys): So because Dark Fate is James Cameron doing a direct sequel to T2, Dark Fate IS a Major Legacyquel. And it erased two terrible movies, it also Technically erases a really good one too, in Salvation. This is up for debate since it takes place entirely in the future(after Judgment Day). But this movie wasn't that good. A great concept for a new Terminator(like in T3), but poor execution of the movie altogether.

~Unnamed Robocop sequel(erases Robocop 3): Robocop 3 wasn't that good, and no Peter Weller. Recently Peter Weller reprised his role as a voice in Mortal Kombat 11. Talk has been for awhile that we are getting this Erasequel. But Covid throw everything in disarray. We will see what happens. Hopefully it doesn't suck.

~Halloween(2018)(erases almost the entire franchise): 40 Years after the original. Jamie Lee Curtis is back. The Shape is back. And this one is a DIRECT Legacyquel to that original.(The Best Example of an Erasequel)

Enough examples of an Erasequel?

Do you have any examples of an Erasequel? What about a Legacyquel? Leave them in the comments. Let's get this going. Share it... comment on it... share it again.

Thank you for joining me on this. Have any ideas for Terms? Let's get on that, and if I like it, it'll be featured in a post with credit where it is supposed to go.

Until next time...

Don't forget...