9 Movie Franchise Staples That Actually Came From Sequels

4. The Wasteland - The Road Warrior

The Mad Max series doesn't really follow one continuous story, with it only being Max himself - and the injuries he sustains from surviving longer in this post-apocalyptic future - who remains constant from movie to movie (bar one actor change). Even the iconic wasteland itself, this gas-deprived hellscape filled with cartoon characters and S&M loving bandits, was a product of the second film.

Sure, the original takes place in a dystopia, but it's a far cry from the nightmarish end-times Earth that acts as the backdrop for the rest of the franchise. Things are going south for sure, but there's still some semblance of normality; people still live in houses, police attempt (but mostly fail) to keep order, and it's only really the lack of gas that's causing anarchy.

It's not exactly paradise, but it might as well be compared to the nightmarish state the world is in in subsequent sequels.