9 Origin Movies That Actually Worked

4. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Rogue One isn't an origin story in the same sense as some of the others here, because it doesn't tell the origin of a character. But it does tell the origin of a movement and of a moment in Star Wars history that is legitimately legendary.

While the rebellion existed well before the Rogue One mission, the sacrifices made by Jyn and her crew of rag-tag heroes were the origin point for their chance of victory. And the lack of mythologising of them in the Original Trilogy was a serious injustice that made this film a completely just addition to the canon.

Crucially, Rogue One introduced characters who we could still care about despite ultimately knowing their fate and it did genuinely feel like there were real stakes even with a pre-determined end-point. Given how badly so many prequels and origin stories fail at that particular hurdle, that's no small feat to be sniffed at.