The Trilogy Paradox
Franchises with Nine or More Movies Tend to Follow a Common Pattern
The film industry has come a long way from the silent movie era. Many Bible epics died down, and slapstick comedy movies are no more. With so much change in the industry, it’s pretty impressive when a franchise shows longevity. A little under 200 franchises have reached nine movies or more. That might seem like a lot, but it’s only good enough of a sample size to prove my point.
Trilogies That work
Some franchises made it to nine films and deserved it, like Star Wars, Spider-man, and X-men. While others churned out nine movies before we could say stop, I’m talking to you Nightmare on Elm Street, Rocky, and the Alien Vs. Predator series. Are all the movies bad in these franchises? No, but unlike Harry Potter, where you can and want to see each one in the series, let’s be honest with ourselves and admit no one wants to see every Friday the 13th.
Successful franchises are no different, and they suffer from other problems. This is the trilogy paradox. A prominent pattern found in successful movie franchises, in which only one movie in the set of the respected series will stand out and be accepted by the masses.
The Star Wars Paradox
The first example of the trilogy paradox comes at the hands of the beloved Star Wars. Three trilogies, each with one single stand out. Let’s take this one trilogy set at a time. The Luke Skywalker Saga starts strong with “A New Hope,” not wrong. It introduces the world and has its moments of charm. Then Empire comes out of nowhere, breaking the concept of having the second movie be better than the first. As for Return of the Jedi… it has its moments, but there’s no way it’s beating Empire.
Then there is the Anakin trilogy. Don’t get me started on Phantom Menace, and while Attack of the Clones bumped up the action, this movie kills itself with long drawn out boring scenes. Then there is Revenge of the Sith. Obi-wan and Anakin battling on a lava planet, Palpatine vs. Yoda, Darth Vader appearing; it was like the Empire stroke back all over again and won. The prequel trilogies weren’t the best, but it’s hard to deny Revenge of the Sith got some concepts right.
The sequel trilogy did something right by having major success out the gate. If you are a Star Wars fan, you love The Force Awakens. To see the characters admired for years, return, new characters were exciting and didn’t overstay their welcome. Plus, the writing was superb and perfect fan service after years of absence.
The Spider-man Paradox
Star Wars isn’t the only franchise to do this; Spider-Man achieved the same pattern in fewer movies. Take the Sam Raimi trilogy, for example, the first one is good, but there is just something about Spider-man two that still gives people chills. Don’t get me started on Spider-man 3.
Then look at Andrew Garfield’s series. Yes, he only got two movies. Technically this isn’t a trilogy. But let’s be honest, how good was that third one going to be? It will be great now if they make TASM 3, but that’s thanks to his redemption in Spider-man No way Home. Andrew’s performance in the first The Amazing Spider-man works. The charm of Peter and Gwen was adorable, and we finally got a more comic book accurate Spider-man.
Here’s where people may argue with me. Tom Holland is an excellent spider-man, but his first two movies are how people would describe things now as “mid.” Homecoming was good because of Robert Downey Jr., and Far From Home was terrible because of Robert Downey Jr. No way Home was the first time we got a story with Spider-man not based around Iron man. Do Homecoming and Far From Home suck? No, but they do not compete with No Way Home.
Exceptions to the Rule
Are there exceptions to the Trilogy Paradox? Of course, franchises like Star Trek and Rocky proved only to get certain installments right. Star Trek loves to ball out on the second installment of the series, with Wrath of Khan and First Contact. While the Rocky franchise loves their first movies, Rocky and Creed are classics.
This isn’t a definitive rule, just a typical pattern that pops up in franchises that have been spent over decades. What this does is help you gauge that next movie coming out. The paradox reminds you how deep into a franchise we are and what to expect based on a common series. It can make you wonder if the next Star Trek will be good or know that the next Godzilla will probably be terrible.
The next step is to see what happens when a series enters its fourth trilogy. Does the cycle repeat? Is it madness after that? I encourage you to see this pattern for yourself. See where the exceptions to the rule are and which franchises follow this formula strictly.
What’s your favorite trilogy of all time?
