2026 might just become the year of prequels. With 4 highly-anticipated origin stories scheduled for release, check out what to look forward to in 2026.
As 2025 winds down, one entertainment trend has pulled firmly into the spotlight- the origin era is officially here. And 2026 is doubling down on it in the smartest way Hollywood has seen in years. Instead of recycling familiar plots or retreading old triumphs, next year’s biggest prequels zoom in on the formative years of characters who became cultural giants.
With four marquee titles across Prime Video, HBO Max, and theatrical releases, the year ahead is pulling back the curtain on the worlds we thought we already knew. These aren’t just backstories; they’re bold character excavations that celebrate the messy, surprising, deeply human moments that shaped legends.
Have a look at the prequels set to dominate 2026, and why they’re striking such a chord:
1. Young Sherlock (Prime Video)
Long before 221B Baker Street, there was a 19-year-old student at Oxford who had more raw talent than discipline. Young Sherlock rewinds to an impulsive, brilliant Holmes whose detective instincts are sharp, but not yet weaponized. When he’s pulled into a murder scandal that could destroy his future, Sherlock’s desperate pursuit of the truth becomes the first real test of his method.
This is Holmes before the mastery, before the myth, and that’s exactly why this prequel feels electric. It lets us witness the construction of the greatest detective mind of all time.
2. Elle (Prime Video)
Elle Woods didn’t simply burst into Harvard as a polished icon; she became Elle long before the LSAT prep and courtroom sass. Prime Video’s Elle traces her high-school years, where her confidence, intuition, and resilience are forged. With warmth, humour, and teen-era vulnerability, the series reminds us that being underestimated is an origin story in itself. A pop-culture force wasn’t born in pink; she was built in it.
3. The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping (Theatres)
The rebellion didn’t start with Katniss Everdeen; it started with the world that shaped her. ‘Sunrise on the Reaping’ takes us back to the morning of the 50th Hunger Games, following a young Haymitch Abernathy as he’s thrust into an arena that will define, scar, and harden him.
This prequel doesn’t just fill in a gap. It recontextualizes the entire franchise by showing the brutality, politics, and history that preceded the Girl on Fire.
4. Game of Thrones: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (HBO Max)
A century before the Iron Throne melted, Westeros looked different. It was gentler at first glance, but charged with quiet storms. In ‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’, Ser Duncan the Tall and his young squire Egg traverse a kingdom still shaped by Targaryen rule, where destiny lurks in small encounters, and history waits to erupt.
It’s a return to character-driven fantasy with intimate journeys, grounded storytelling, and simmering political undercurrents.
Why the prequel trend
Audiences are craving the “how” behind the heroes – the early bruises, the missteps, the revelations that built the legends. By revisiting beginnings rather than outcomes, 2026 proves that the roots of a story can be just as thrilling as its climax.
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