20 Upcoming Movie Sequels That Might Be Better Than The First

Sequels are what Hollywood wants pretty much more than anything - certainly more than original ideas, because sequels are generally easier to make and far less of a financial risk.

And while many sequels are representative of wider creative bankruptcy in the film industry, it'd be silly to poo-poo franchises as a whole. 

Giving the audience more of what they like isn't an inherently bad thing, especially if it's done smartly with a genuine imaginative spark.

All the same, it's fair to say that the majority of sequels don't end up delivering above and beyond the original, because it's simply tough to compete with the freshness of the first go-around.

There are obvious examples of sequels that did massively outpace the original, and where upcoming movies are concerned, these are the ones that just might pull it off.

While we won't know for sure until we see them for ourselves, the potential is absolutely there for these films to be bigger and better than what came before.

With their insane casts, their beefed up budgets, and their intriguing narratives, these sequels just might build on the first...

2021's Mortal Kombat reboot was a bit of a mixed bag - it offered up some dazzling visuals and entertainingly gory action, though was also weighed down by the wildly unnecessary presence of an audience surrogate protagonist, Cole Young (Lewis Tan), who was created solely for the film.

But pretty much everything we've seen and heard about Mortal Kombat II suggests it's going to be much better. 

For one, it will feature the actual Mortal Kombat tournament this time.

Also, Cole appears to have been nudged into the periphery for the sequel, with the character being barely featured in the film's marketing at all, while the newly introduced fan favourite character Johnny Cage (Karl Urban) will be taking up protagonist duties.

Otherwise it looks set to deliver the grisly kombat fans expect, while tossing in a ton more beloved franchise characters, including Kitana (Adeline Rudolph), Jade (Tati Gabrielle), Quan Chi (Damon Herriman), Shao Kahn (Martyn Ford), Sindel (Ana Thu Nguyen), and Baraka (CJ Bloomfield).

Better still, Warner Bros. recently confirmed that Mortal Kombat III is already in development, implying that they're confident about this one building on the success of the first.