There’s a prequel to The Hunger Games being released this year by author Suzanne Collins, titled The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Lionsgate has already optioned the rights to the book as they will eventually adapt it into a film, but now we know who this new story will focus on.
Entertainment Weekly recently shared an excerpt from the book that reveals the story will revolve around a heroic young version of Coriolanus Snow. This is the same character who eventually becomes President Snow, the tyrannical leader of Panem and the main villain of the original trilogy.
The character is described as “a teenager born to privilege but searching for something more, a far cry from the man we know he will become. Here, he’s friendly. He’s charming. And, for now anyway, he’s a hero.”
It’s not a new thing to see stories told that take popular villains and then give them a history and backstory that humanizes them. But, it was certainly an interesting choice for Collins to choose to focus on Snow. There are a lot of characters that she could have played with, but she obviously had a story for Snow that she just had to tell. It’ll be interesting to see what that story will be. Hopefully, it’s a good one.
Would you be interested in reading a story about how a Tyrant used to be a sympathetic young hero?
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes will be released on May 19, 2020, and the film should arrive sometime in the next year or two. Here’s some art that was shared:
