A thought occurs…
Sequels don’t have numbers in their titles anymore, at least not when it comes to franchises that never end. I realize I’m writing this on the day Horrible Bosses 2 comes out but that’s in the modern minority. This blog actually came about in light of the new Hunger Games movie, which does technically have a number in it but that number is “1” even though it is the third movie in the series. In an effort to up the confusion stakes, Divergent (that other dystopian-future-with-a-female-hero book series turned film franchise) has its first sequel titled Insurgent.
Who’s to blame for this pattern? I say James Bond. I’ve seen all of the movies but I can’t tell you the chronological order of the Sean Connery and Roger Moore films. The titles sure as hell don’t help. Similarly, I can get why people who haven’t followed Harry Potter are confused by where to start. They’re obviously little kids in two of them but once they hit puberty, all bets are off. At least the DVD spines indicated the school year as a guide.
Next month, the final Hobbit film will set up another future wave of confusion by having the word “five” in the title of its third film (well, sixth film if you count those other ones). The only series Marvel has gotten this right with (so far) is Iron Man which had numbered sequels as opposed to titles like Iron Man: Rhody Shrinks By Eight Inches or Iron Man: Alpha Terrorist Switcheroo.
Oh man, that first goof included a number too. Dammit. Movie titles might be tougher to come up with than I thought.
The list of offenders goes on: Indiana Jones, Transformers, Fast & Furious only recently fixed their titles. Maybe Star Wars will get this whole thing back on track. Hell, most fans refer to them by episode number more than anything else. Until that day comes, consult your local nerd for more information.