10 Sequels That Were Supposed to End Their Franchises But Didn’t

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One thing is true about franchises: they never really end. Especially in this age of reboots and multiverses, every time you think you’ve seen the last of your favorite superhero or slasher villain, they’re almost guaranteed to pop up in yet another movie just a few years after what was supposed to be the last one. The truth is, this has always been the case. No studio is going to bury some erstwhile beloved IP forever. There’s always the chance of a big comeback.

Still, plenty of famous film series once thought they were going to end, so strongly that there’s at least one film in every series that’s purportedly the last one, the final chapter, the absolute, definitive end. At least, until someone shows up with a great idea for another one. It’s always kind of funny, looking back, to consider these movies for what they were supposed to be: the end of a well-rounded trilogy, the last gasp of a dying franchise, a meta experiment that brings everyone back for one last ride. Because we live in the future, we know they were never any of these things, but it’s interesting to imagine a world in which they were.

Should they have been the last? In some cases, considering the quality of what came after them, yes. In others, we’re thankful they weren’t. Some of them were simply too successful not to warrant another sequel. Others weren’t successful enough, prompting those in charge to figure out how to steer their series back on the right track, or retcon it altogether. Whatever the reason, these movie series managed to continue even after someone tried to put a stop to them. But, imagine what the world would have been like if that had never happened.