10 Best Movie Sequels That Took Decades To Arrive - Ranked

4. T2 Trainspotting (2017)

Star Wars The Force Awakens BB-8
TriStar Pictures

The Previous Film: Trainspotting (1996)

Few people were clamouring for a sequel to Danny Boyle's Trainspotting - the first film was a brilliant standalone story, but it was never something that was commonly considered "franchiseable".

But fortunately, T2 Trainspotting isn't just a lazy rehash of its predecessor or a passable "more of the same" return to this world. Instead, it wisely explores what's happening to these characters now, 20 years after we last saw them; how the first film affected their lives, and how their lives have changed in the years since.

As a result, it feels completely fresh and different, but because the director and main ensemble cast remained the same, it's also got that signature Trainspotting flavour. Its crazy energy is infectious, which, in a movie that's largely about addiction, is another way of saying that it absolutely accomplished what it set out to do.

Contributor
Contributor

Danny has been with WhatCulture for almost nine years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. He has been writing and video editing for 10+ years, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers and uploading them to YouTube (they're admittedly a bit rusty by today's standards). If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order or to tell you about the making of 1988's Remembrance of the Daleks, Danny is the person to ask.