8 Movies We Didn’t Know Were Origin Stories Going In

Those pictures that delivered origin stories that none of us were expecting.

By Andrew Pollard /

For certain corners of cinema, there's nothing that is more commonplace than an origin story.

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Time and time again over the decades, we've seen plentiful films hit the silver screen and give us a backstory that helps us get invested in a particular character. The world of superheroes is clearly one which forever utilises origin tales to give audiences an emotional attachment to its heroes and villains, but the concept of the origin story isn't merely exclusive to the realm of capes 'n' tights.

While it's one thing to be expecting an origin tale when going into a movie, there are those other smart pictures that actually deliver a bona fide origin offering which none of us ever saw coming. And it's on those films that the attention is on here.

Before you go any further, though, it's worth noting that this list contains some spoilers for the now-in-cinemas Spider-Man: No Way Home. For those who've yet to see this latest outing for Tom Holland's Wall-crawler, you're advised to tread carefully once you get to the business end of this list.

With that in mind, then, here are eight movies that delivered origin stories that none of us were expecting.

8. Kill Bill Vol. 1

The Bride's roaring rampage of revenge in Quentin Tarantino's two-part Kill Bill epic saw her first target Vivica A. Fox's Vernita Green, aka Copperhead of the Deadly Vipers.

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Turning up at Copperhead's house, Uma Thurman's Bride has an initial tussle with her rival before the pair play nice once Vernita's young daughter Nikki arrives home from school. From there, Green and B head to the kitchen, sup some coffee and discuss plans to meet up on the beach at dark for a good old fashioned knife fight.

Of course, that is until Copperhead tries to get one over on the Bride, using a cereal box-hidden pistol to try and kill her one-time teammate. Avoiding this gunshot and fatally throwing a knife in Vernita's chest, the Bride turns around to be greeted by the tragic sight of Nikki.

How does Thurman's character handle this slightly awkward situation? Why, she offers Nikki the opportunity to seek her out to avenge her mother's death once she's older. And with that, the table is set for Tarantino's oft-discussed Kill Bill Vol. 3.

As QT has detailed over the years, that threequel - should it eventually happen - would indeed see Nikki on her own roaring rampage of revenge, as she targets the woman responsible for killing her mom.

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