A good science fiction film is a great thing. The possibilities are endless, from social science fiction to all out space silliness. There is a problem though: humans are inherently curious. You can present us with any future dystopian, underwater, steampunk, police state, populated by cyborgs and hovercars you like; but what we really want to know is how you got there.

Now lots of good science fiction is built in logical steps, from our present to the supposed future, just take a look at Prometheus

baddies the Weyland Corporation’s timeline over here; a thing of beauty is it not? Ridley Scott built a future and then worked backwards to flesh out the universe, nothing wrong with that. Then again some films prefer to begin with the present and work their way into the future, I’m looking at you 12 Monkeys. Some clever, clever films do both, The Terminator being the perfect example, the film establishes the future and the present using a nice bit of time travel.

However, every now and then there’s a film or franchise which leaves its origins shrouded in mystery: a world that cries out for elaboration, a character that demands explanation, in short, a film that needs a prequel.

Akira

From the looks of things we’re going to have to endure a live action remake of this manga classic. Set in Neo-Tokyo after World War III, the film revolves around psychically gifted children kept in vast underground bunkers and a biker gang who encounter one of them during a fight. What happened with the government’s ESP experiment, how did Akira, Kiyoko and co. end up imprisoned and what was it that sparked WW3?

Hellboy

Guillermo Del Toro has already given us two amazing films in the Hellboy/BPRD universe but there’s so much more that could be done with it. With a wealth of material to draw on, it would be great to see the story of the formation of the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense, and bring back John Hurt as Professor Broom while you’re at it!

Scanners

David Cronenburg’s 1981 science fiction masterpiece Scanners focuses on a group of psychics working for a company, ConSec. The problem is they’re all killed off by the psychotic Darryl Revok who is arguably the strongest of the lot. The one problem the film has is that it’S far too short. How about a prequel going back 20 years to the origins of ConSec and the rise of Revok.

The Matrix

This one works for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the film franchise started off great and then drove itself into the ground: there’s no way that the events after the first film can be touched with a barge pole. Secondly, the idea is tried, tested and good. The Wachowski’s explored the rise of the machines in an animated short as part of The Animatrix and I for one would love to see the idea worked through into a full length film.

Serenity

This one is a no-brainer. Amazing universe with a rich backstory and compelling characters, what more could you ask for? Perhaps a prequel could focus on Mal and Zoe’s role in the Unification War, or the origins of the crew, or mankind’s formation of the alliance: whatever the angle, it’ll be great. Joss Whedon has proved time and time again that he knows what people want, and now after the success of The Avengers

maybe people will put Firefly back on TV and let him do whatever the hell he wants.

Those are my picks, but you must have ideas of your own? Are some franchises to beloved to be touched, we all saw what happened with Star Wars. I personally would love to see more in the world of Blade Runner but I’m too scared that they’d mess it up (here’s hoping for Blade Runner 2

, though). What would you like to see prequeled?