The highly-anticipated Hunger Games prequel novel has finally revealed its main hero – and it's safe to say that nobody expected it to be Coriolanus Snow.
Snow, played by Donald Sutherland in the movie franchise, is the ruthless president of the Panem and central villain in Suzanne Collins's trilogy.
But in the prequel, titled The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Snow acts as the protagonist – a young boy who's about to graduate from the Academy left with the final project of mentoring someone from the 12 Districts.
Thanks to a first excerpt from the prequel book (released by Entertainment Weekly), we learn that Snow is looking forward to mentoring someone at either District 1 or 2, but he's surprised when he gets relocated to the least-expected District of all.
The teaser reads: "Something was amiss when a Snow, who also happened to be one of the Academy's high-honour students, had gone unrecognised.
"Coriolanus was beginning to think they had forgotten him – perhaps they were giving him some special position? – when, to his horror, he heard Dean Highbottom mumble, 'And last but least, District Twelve girl… she belongs to Coriolanus Snow'."
What to Read Next
These events take place years prior to the start of the Hunger Games trilogy so it will be interesting to see whether Snow mentoring a girl from District 12 could somehow be connected to the trilogy's protagonist Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), who was from the same District.
And although it's not guaranteed that the planned movie will focus on this exact storyline, it will likely be an adaptation of it.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is scheduled for release on May 19, 2020.
Scholastic The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
![The Hunger Games [Theatrical Version] (streaming)](https://hips.hearstapps.com/vader-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/1560929347-51PGCDJdaDL.jpg?crop=1xw:1xh;center,top&resize=980:* "The Hunger Games [Theatrical Version] (streaming)")
![The Hunger Games - Complete Collection [DVD] [2015]](https://hips.hearstapps.com/vader-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/1560929754-512BEqKZVatL.jpg?crop=1xw:1xh;center,top&resize=980:* "The Hunger Games - Complete Collection [DVD] [2015]")
Universal/Island Records The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
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