10 Films That Retconned Themselves (To Fix Glaring Mistakes)
If at first you don't succeed, there's always the sequel.
We’ve all got it wrong before, that’s why pencils have erasers and directors have final cut (our apologies to Mr. Snyder). So, it’s understandable that creators feel the need to add justifications and tweak mythology later in the franchise in order to justify some more outlandish plot contrivances.
The Russians even have a phrase for this: “the grand piano in the bushes”. The piano in question is whatever plot-convenient coincidence is magicked into existence to write the film series out of a hole that the writer has dug themselves into.
No motivation for your killer to keep on pursuing some random teen? Well, let’s say that poor victim is actually his, uh, secret sister! No emotional resonance for your new set of villains? Well, they only went and murdered the protagonist’s wife before the franchise even started, didn’t they?!
With this in mind, it’s time to do our best Annie Wilkes impression and call out the cockadoody screenwriters and filmmakers who thought they could get away with retconning earlier instalments of their franchises as if us obsessive nerds wouldn’t notice.
10. Halloween II – Michael’s Sister
Let’s start with a particularly infamous offender, courtesy of the horror icon and perennial king of cool John Carpenter. Halloween is a pretty much flawless horror, the simple story of an unstoppable killer with seemingly no motive pursuing and picking off teens before being floored by a plucky, resilient final girl.
At least, the killer had no motive until the movie was an unexpected success at the box office. That’s when The Halloween helmer, tasked with putting together a sequel, needed a reason for Myers’ return. Carpenter admitted that the decision to reveal Laurie Strode as Michael Myers’ secret sister came to him while writing at 2am and surrounded by empty beer bottles.
Let’s face it—we all wish franchise-defining sparks of inspiration came to us in this state. The decision would go on to fuel a whopping seven more Halloween films, a two-film reboot courtesy of Rob Zombie, and eventually another reboot courtesy of indie darling David Gordon Green. With two further sequels on the way, Green wisely chose to jettison the familial connection in his reboot.