Prequel Prerequisites

Considering canon’s credibility

The greatest prequels have already been made and though it is unlikely that these stories will ever be bested, creators will churn them out until the end of time. I am of the many who have released a prequel and/or plan on doing so. I suppose I wrote my prequel for the same reasons anyone else does, which is expand on a previously established story - that, and content. With an actual thing, a product, there isn’t much to talk about. My prequel, however, had a unique situation in that technically it is not a prequel.

I had already written two complete, full-length manuscripts of the Eric Icarus series but waited to release the first installment. Instead, I opted to write a new novella and launch that before anything. This short story takes place years before the events of Unsecret Identity, the first novel, and while it doesn’t spoil anything, it will fill in gaps for readers who enjoyed the main stories. The Supervillain’s Oath was my very first fiction release and is currently available as an ebook. Later, Eric Icarus - Book One was released. So, while I wrote Oath as a prequel, it was actually the inaugural release, therefore does not qualify as a prequel. Still, it can read before or after, and still make sense.

Prequels often play fast and loose with the rules (and canon). According to myself, a series such as Smallville is not a true prequel because there was no series preceding it. It is its own entity. But I’m not going to “well, actually” anyone who claims it as a prequel. I like to think of it as simply a “year one” show, but, again, these are super semantics.

Better Call Saul is, in my humble opinion, the greatest prequel series ever made. Whether a new viewer who hasn’t seen anything in this universe before would enjoy watching the series in the best chronological order they can… well, that’s up for debate. What this show does very well, though, is respect its own lore. Subjectivity will tip your personal scales, and I’m not saying the adventures of Jimmy McGill didn’t have hiccups along the way, but overall it is a masterpiece. Even with visibly older actors playing younger versions of themselves.

Staying true to the events of a series’ canon is crucial. Granted, being annoyed by an unsteady grasp of canonicity can be superseded by the quality of the entertainment. Remaining faithful to the source material is always preferred, but I’ve been won over numerous times. Will it still by a tiny bit aggravating if every detail isn’t coveted? Yes, but at the end of the day, if I enjoy something at the time I watch it, then I’m not sure what else I’m supposed to asking for.

Despite being able to like a movie or show that clearly didn’t watch its own “previously on” segments, the confusion doesn’t go anywhere. Is it a matter of too many cooks? Fuzzy memories? The writers are more excited about a new idea rather than revisiting old territory? We could all list several instances of a prequel bafflingly contradicting itself, but I won’t use this space to cite them. Mainly because I don’t want to trash something a fan may have enjoyed. Plus, as I mention above, I have produced material that takes place before other major fictional events in my own universe, so I am side by side with all the Prequel People.

No one is immune to continuity errors. However, I pledge to retrace every little step to ensure that my saga doesn’t get mixed up. And even if I do accidentally create a few historical blunders, I can always say it took place in an alternate dimension. Yeah, that’s the ticket!

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Unsecret Identity: Eric Icarus - Book One is available now from the Amazon as a paperback and as an ebook.

https://a.co/2XAtxvH

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