7 movie cliffhangers the sequels totally ignored
Just pretend it never happened, no one will remember.
You can't make a movie these days without thinking about its sequel (and truly clever filmmakers are always ready to claim their movie was the start of a bigger franchise). But what if the final twist doesn't fit well with the next film? Will the audience remember? Will they even care? Here are 11 times sequels totally ignored what went before...
The Lawnmower Man
At the end of the first film you know that Jobe's consciousness has survived the explosion that destroys his body because he makes every phone in the world ring, as he promised he would. Yet the sequel largely ignores his birth as a cyber god and hits the retcon button, bringing him back with a different actor as part of another evil cyberspace plan.
Jurassic Park III
The third film's conclusion suggested the dino threat was about to go global, as pteranodons escaped the island and flew away to more populated areas. Jurassic World ignored that in favour of pulling everything back to an island again (before part 2 suggested a more widespread threat itself).
Halloween II
Having Jamie Lee Curtis return to the Halloween franchise is a blessing or a curse, depending on how much you like the intervening films. When she came back to face Michael Myers for the 20-year anniversary slasher H20 she wiped parts four to six from the franchise, so the pagan cult controlling Myers was also swept away. It's still not as nuclear a change as the Halloween reboot promises.
Species
When alien hybrid Sil (Natasha Henstridge) is destroyed at the end of Species, a rat is seen eating part of her remains and it gains some of her violent powers. Forget about it. Species 2 completely ducked this introduction of alien DNA to Earth's creatures and went back to stalking its human/alien threats.
xXx
This Vin Diesel vehicle managed to have a few sly digs at the Bond franchise as it turned snowboarding, base-jumping, adrenalin addict Xander Cage into a super spy. Having been told by his mentor (Samuel L Jackson) to prep for his next mission, Diesel didn't return for the second film and was blown up so badly in short film xXx: The Death of Xander Cage that his tattoo was all that remained. A third film brought him back, naturally.
Friday the 13th: A New Beginning
The Final Chapter was too successful to remain faithful to its name and the horror franchise hoped to continue with A New Beginning. With Jason hacked to pieces, it took a different tack and instead had Tommy Jarvis (John Shepard) stalked by a Jason-like figure. Tommy kills the copycat, but in a twist that was supposed to cast him as the killer in future versions, he goes insane and becomes the copycat himself. But the fans missed Jason, and Tommy dug him up at the start of the new film so he could return.
The Incredible Hulk
In this early Marvel movie, Edward Norton's Bruce Banner is aided in his quest to find a cure by Doctor Samuel Sterns (Tim Blake Nelson). When some of Banner's blood falls into a head wound Sterns has sustained, he's transformed into the Leader. William Hurt's General 'Thunderbolt' Ross has since reappeared in the MCU, so The Incredible Hulk is still canon, but according to a comic book the Leader was captured by Black Widow off screen.
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