10 Sequels That Totally Undermined The Previous Movie's Ending

In any story, characters have to grow and change as time goes on. They have to learn from what has happened to them, and they have to evolve, not only to give meaning to the events of the story, but also because audiences would surely eventually get bored of seeing the same thing.

However, it's important not to just completely change the direction and the disposition of a character for the sake of it. This is exactly what happened to Chris Hemsworth's Huntsman from Snow White and the Huntsman to Huntsman: Winter's War. 

The character was once a drunken, broody misery, but in the sequel perked up to portray a far more lovable character. With that change, the film also completely retconned his backstory. Everything that made him who he was originally was thrown out for Winter's War.

In Snow White, the character's main driving factor was that his wife had been killed by the Queen's brother. Of course, he was reminded of her by Snow White throughout the film, until the bombshell was dropped in the sequel that she was never actually dead. Everything told was a lie, and it truly undercut the Huntsman as a character.

Add in the fact that the Queen's brother was nowhere to be seen in Winter's War's flashbacks, but rather her sister was introduced and became a fleshed-out character, which seems to suggest that there was never an ounce of consideration given to the story of the original movie.