Following The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping — which is expected to showcase Haymitch’s Abernathy’s (Woody Harrelson) backstory — there are still many more characters from The Hunger Games who deserve their own prequels. While the original Hunger Games book trilogy (adapted into four movies) follows Victor-turned-revolutionary Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), Suzanne Collins has demonstrated her interest in expanding the world in recent years. This began with the publication and subsequent adaptation of The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, following a young President Snow (Donald Sutherland/Tom Blyth) and District 12’s first Victor, Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler).

Collins’ plans for the Hunger Games series are apparently open-ended, with Sunrise on the Reaping being another unexpected announcement. There are many Hunger Games characters who could return in Sunrise on the Reaping; however, Collins may hold off on this if she plans to further delve into their stories with their own prequel novels (and most likely, movie adaptations). This includes the victors who came before and after Haymitch, revolutionaries from the Capitol and districts alike, and some characters who are of little consequence to Katniss’ story but could still showcase a new perspective of this setting.

10

Finnick Odair

From Catching Fire & Mockingjay

Finnick (Sam Claflin) and Johanna (Jena Malone) are the two most prevalent characters introduced in the second book, and are both among the survivors of the 75th Hunger Games. A novel/movie showing Finnick’s winning the 65th Hunger Games would follow a fairly predictable trajectory, although it would feature something newer for the franchise, where the main tribute character is someone who is considered a contender from the beginning. Despite being one of the younger tributes, Finnick entered the arena with previous combat training and a natural ability to win sponsors.

However, there is potential to expand Finnick’s prequel beyond the standard expectation that the story ends when he wins. The next few years are very important in his backstory: He is forced into prostitution by President Snow; his future wife Annie Cresta (Stef Dawson) wins the 70th Hunger Games; his would-be close friend Johanna wins the 71st Games. There are a lot of compelling moments fans would love to see in Finnick’s past — namely meeting Annie, Johanna, and Mags (Lynn Cohen) — as well as the possibility of illustrating the horrors of being a Victor.

9

Johanna Mason

From Catching Fire & Mockingjay

Johanna’s Games would make for an interesting story because of how she wins: by pretending to be weak and frightened so no one would consider her a threat until there were only a few tributes left, at which point she easily killed her remaining competition. Given Johanna’s personality, it is not impossible to imagine that she had an absent mentor and devised this strategy herself. Johanna’s past is also still a mystery to the Hunger Games fandom and could finally be explained in a prequel.

Johanna parades around the Capitol insulting the government as much as she likes because, unlike many of the other Victors, she has no loved ones who the Capitol can threaten to get her to behave. Johanna’s assertion that there is “no one left that [she loves]” implies there was once someone. It is entirely possible that Johanna’s family died long before she won the Games, killed by the hazardous work conditions and extreme poverty in the districts. The Capitol doomed itself where Johanna is concerned: by causing her family’s deaths this way, they are never able to control her.

8

Enobaria

From Catching Fire & Mockingjay

Enobaria (Meta Golding) and most of the other career tributes are interesting characters who are never explored much in any of the Hunger Games books or movies, aside from some fleeting moments of regret and horror. Coming from District 2, Enobaria would have trained for most of her life to be in the Games, and likely volunteered. She won when she ripped another tribute’s throat out with her own teeth; she later had her teeth filed into fangs due to her fame for this act.

Despite her apparent eagerness to participate in the Games and serving as a minor villain in Catching Fire, Enobaria still demonstrates some resentment towards the Capitol at the end of the series. With her, there is the opportunity to explore the mentality of the careers: how they view the Games as an honor but are still affected by the same trauma as the other Victors. Because Enobaria is one of the few surviving Victors at the end of the series, her story could be framed in flashbacks as she reflects on her life.

7

Mags Flanagan

From Catching Fire

Everyone wants to see Mags’ life as a young woman; her story would also serve as a natural follow-up to Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, as she wins the Games the year after Lucy Gray. How Mags wins her Games is unconfirmed; interestingly, the girl from District 4, Coral (Mackenzie Lansing), almost wins the 10th Hunger Games before Lucy Gray’s stroke of luck. However, what is especially interesting about Mags is how she behaves and approaches others in the context of the fanfare surrounding the Games for the rest of her life.

Mags’ prequel could turn into a very long chronicle of more than 60 years of being a Hunger Games mentor. During that time, Mags would have known many tributes who died, even though the chances of survival are better for District 4 tributes (although they are only confirmed to also be career tributes in the books). She becomes a parental figure to Finnick and mentors him for his Games. Throughout all this, Mags is still known for being a kind and caring woman.

6

Beetee Latier

From Catching Fire & Mockingjay

Beetee’s (Jeffrey Wright) character proves that physical strength and the ability to handle traditional weapons do not always win the Hunger Games. Beetee won his Games by using his technological knowledge — District’s 3 trade is electronics — to electrocute six tributes at once. The theme of surprising, practical skills is something that Katniss reflects on at one point during the Quarter Quell, as it is an advantage District 12’s tributes do not share. While District 3 tributes enter the arena with electrical expertise and District 11 with agricultural, District 12 does not allow anyone to work in the mines until they are 18.

Additionally, it has never been revealed how Beetee’s Quarter Quell district partner Wiress (Amanda Plummer) won her Games. Beetee and Wiress’ approximated ages suggest that he could have mentored her, and they have been friends for a long time. Beetee’s prequel could be an interesting exploration of different ways to win the Hunger Games, while revealing certain details about multiple characters.

5

Plutarch Heavensbee

From Catching Fire & Mockingjay

Plutarch grew up in the Capitol but, at some point, decided to start acting to destroy its power. Based on the events of Catching Fire, he somehow managed to make contact with District 13 before the beginning of the series. Plutarch likely spent many years climbing the ranks within the Capitol and covertly recruiting others, waiting for something like Katniss and Peeta’s (Josh Hutcherson) act of rebellion to happen in order to kick-start a revolution that he could facilitate.

This is the makings of a bestselling prequel characterized by political intrigue and the protagonist leading a double life. Additionally, Cressida (Natalie Dormer) and her film crew could appear in Plutarch’s prequel, shedding light on the lives they led in the Capitol, and when, why, and how they fled. The Hunger Games understandably focuses on the people in the districts who join the rebellion, but it would make the world even bigger to show more heroic characters on the Capitol side of the story.

4

The Winner Of The 25th Hunger Games

Mentioned In Catching Fire

When they are preparing for the Quarter Quell, Effie (Elizabeth Banks) only provides Katniss and Peeta with the tapes of past Hunger Games where the Victor is someone they might have to face. They do not get the tape for the 25th Games and first Quarter Quell as that person must be dead. However, whoever this person was, their prequel would be a shockingly powerful addition to the series. For the first Quarter Quell, the Capitol dictated that the districts had to vote for who their tributes would be.

Therefore, a story following the 25th Games has huge potential to explore the darkest parts of human nature and how the people in the districts are forced to do terrible things to survive, a theme which is already illustrated in the context of the arena. The would-be Victor and their fellow tributes may feel some resentment towards their respective districts who chose them for the Games. Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes also shows that people in the districts may go as far to send someone to the arena for petty, personal reasons.

3

President Alma Coin

From Mockingjay

President Alma Coin (Julianne Moore) of District 13 is strongly implied to at least be on the road to becoming as tyrannical of a leader as President Snow. Her plan to kill Capitol children to sway public opinion against Snow and the suggestion of holding another Hunger Games as recompense are strong evidence of this. The question that remains is whether taking over Panem for the sake of personal power was always Coin’s plan, or if she once genuinely wanted to help the country’s suffering people. More than likely, her character is more complicated than one or the other.

Prim (Willow Shields) tells Katniss that Coin lost her husband and daughter when an illness took out part of District 13’s population, a detail that is not in the Mockingjay novel. Coin spent her life in 13’s highly militaristic society, also working tirelessly in service of her political career. There is much to unpack with her character regarding who she was as a child and young woman, as well as when she decided she was willing to use unethical methods to win the war.

2

Cinna

From The Hunger Games & Catching Fire

Cinna (Lenny Kravitz) makes a subtly beautiful contribution to the series by showcasing how art plays a role in politics and making the world a better place. Like with characters such as Plutarch and Coin, the exact timeline of when Cinna decided to rebel against the Capitol is shrouded in mystery. Cinna probably didn’t have any major contacts like Coin before meeting Katniss (although he could have met Plutarch in passing). It is entirely possible that Cinna became a stylist because he was passionate about the artistic side of it, but firmly believing that the Games were wrong, resolved to do whatever he could to help his tribute.

Cinna could have potentially met Tigris Snow (Hunter Schafer/Eugenie Bondurant) in the years leading up to the 74th Hunger Games, and discussed with her what they believed about the Capitol’s regime. It would be very interesting to see Tigris mentoring other stylists through Cinna’s backstory, imparting her opinions to them. Peeta’s stylist Portia (Latarsha Rose) also seems to be sympathic towards the rebels, suggesting that there may be more stylists on their side.

1

Katniss’ Mother

From The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, & Mockingjay

Katniss’ mother (Paula Malcomson), who is never named, grew up part of the wealthier merchant class in District 12, but married a poor coal miner and hunter and left to live in the Seam with him. She is also a very skilled healer, and spent her teen years treating people who had been brutalized by the peacekeepers. As far as readers know, her life was relatively unaffected by the Hunger Games up until one of her daughters was chosen and the other volunteered.

With her, Collins could further explore what the life of an average, even somewhat privileged person in the districts looks like in The Hunger Games setting. Furthermore, the inclusion of Katniss’ father could actually result in a bittersweet yet more straightforward and romantic love story than most of the series’ main pairings. This particular prequel might be less obvious than some other possibilities, but could still broaden the series’ major themes.

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  The Hunger Games

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  The Hunger Games is the first of four in the action-drama movie series based on the novels by Suzanne Collins. Set in a dystopian world where people are separated into twelve districts to maintain order, this first film in the franchise focuses on Katniss Everdeen as she is forced to participate in The Hunger Games: a draconian gladiatorial survival event where there can be only one winner.

  Director

  Gary Ross

  Release Date

  
  March 12, 2012
  

  Writers

  Gary Ross
  , Suzanne Collins
  , Billy Ray

  Cast

  Liam Hemsworth
  , Jeffrey Wright
  , Natalie Dormer
  , Josh Hutcherson
  , Julianne Moore
  , Elizabeth Banks
  , Robert Knepper
  , Donald Sutherland
  , Woody Harrelson
  , Jennifer Lawrence
  , Jena Malone
  , Philip Seymour Hoffman

  Runtime

  142 minutes

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• 

  The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

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  The second entry into the Hunger Games film franchise and based on Suzanne Collins’ book of the same name, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire picks up shortly after the events of the first film. Returning home to District 12 after their victory at the 74th Annual Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) begin to sense an imminent rebellion against the oppressive Capitol.

  Director

  Francis Lawrence

  Release Date

  
  November 1, 2013
  

  Writers

  Francis Lawrence
  , Jennifer Lawrence

  Cast

  Jennifer Lawrence
  , Josh Hutcherson
  , Sam Claflin

  Runtime

  2h 26m

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  The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1

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  Katniss finds herself in District 13 where she is implored to become the Mockingjay, the symbolic leader of the districts’ revolution against the tyrannical Capitol.

  Director

  Francis Lawrence

  Release Date

  
  November 10, 2014
  

  Writers

  Peter Craig
  , Danny Strong

  Cast

  Jennifer Lawrence
  , Josh Hutcherson
  , Liam Hemsworth
  , Woody Harrelson
  , Elizabeth Banks
  , Julianne Moore
  , Philip Seymour Hoffman
  , Jeffrey Wright
  , Stanley Tucci
  , Donald Sutherland

  Runtime

  123 Minutes

• 

  The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2

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  The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 is the fourth and final film in The Hunger Games adaptation saga and sees Katniss Everdeen lead the charge to the final battle that will decide the fate of Panem. With Peeta kidnapped and brainwashed and the lives of her family in danger, Katniss and her allies charge into the heart of the capital, but with every victory – comes sacrifice.

  Director

  Francis Lawrence

  Release Date

  
  November 20, 2015
  

  Writers

  Peter Craig
  , Danny Strong

  Cast

  Liam Hemsworth
  , Donald Sutherland
  , Mahershala Ali
  , Sam Claflin
  , Josh Hutcherson
  , Stanley Tucci
  , Philip Seymour Hoffman
  , Elizabeth Banks
  , Jena Malone
  , Woody Harrelson
  , Julianne Moore
  , Willow Shields
  , Jennifer Lawrence
  , Jeffrey Wright

  Runtime

  137 Minutes

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  The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

  The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is a prequel movie set 64 years before the events of the original movie with Katniss Everdeen. The film centers on a young Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) and shows his rise to power as the leader of Panem. Taking place during the 10th Hunger Games, Snow is tasked with mentoring Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler), the tribute from District 12.

  Director

  Francis Lawrence

  Release Date

  
  November 17, 2023
  

  Writers

  Michael Lesslie
  , Michael Arndt
  , Suzanne Collins

  Cast

  Tom Blyth
  , Rachel Zegler
  , Hunter Schafer
  , Jason Schwartzman
  , Peter Dinklage
  , Josh Andrés
  , Josh Andrés Rivera
  , Viola Davis

  Runtime

  157 Minutes