Franchise lore is the glue that holds movie series together, although some filmmakers have not been shy about retconning major aspects of ongoing series. A retcon is when pre-established events are recontextualized through the introduction of new information, effectively undoing the past and explaining away an inconsistency.

It’s not easy to pull off a retcon, as often audiences reject these changes as lazy writing and a lack of forethought. However, there have been instances where retcons work incredibly well, and some all-time great superhero series and classic franchises have managed to get away with some seriously huge retcons over the years.

Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker (2019)

Looking back on the Star Wars sequel trilogy, it’s disappointing just how uneven it was and how little its final installment aligns with what came before. With The Force Awakens director J. J. Abrams hastily brought back in to replace Rian Johnson, the third entry in the trilogy spent most of its time undoing previous plot points and retconning pre-established lore.

Whether it was the backlash to reviving the Emperor as “somehow, Palpatine returned” or messing with Rey’s parentage, The Rise of Skywalker felt like a slap in the face to fans. The lack of an overarching plan for the series felt particularly grating, considering how well each installment in the original trilogy builds on what came before.

Halloween (2018)

When it comes to continuity, the Halloween franchise is a total mess, and it can be difficult to keep up with all the different contradictory timelines. While Halloween II introduced a firm motive for Michael Myers’ pursuit of Laurie Strode by making them brother and sister, this is something that the 2018 sequel, also тιтled Halloween, chose to ignore.

In fact, 2018’s Halloween opted to serve as a direct sequel to the original film and ignore everything that happened in between. This effectively erased movies like The Return, The Curse, The Revenge, and H20: 20 Years Later from canon and eliminated the idea that Laurie and Michael were actually siblings.

Terminator Genisys (2015)

As a sci-fi series about killing machines being sent back in time, it’s no surprise that the Terminator franchise features its fair share of retcons. While the time-travel nature of this Arnold Schwarzenegger franchise means it can always reinvent itself, there was one major change relating to the savior of humanity, John Connor, in Terminator Genisys that rubbed fans the wrong way.

That’s because Terminator Genisys actually turned John Connor into the story’s villain, which stood in contrast to the entire basis of the original films. This controversial film changed John’s entire story as Skynet infected him with machine-phase matter, and he switched sides from the resistance toward fighting on behalf of the machines as the T-3000.

F9 (2021)

The street racer and heist expert Han Lue is one of the most popular characters in the Fast & Furious franchise, although the series has struggled with one big issue since Tokyo Drift. That’s because Han died in his very first appearance, and every movie before F9 was presented as a prequel to account for the fact that he was still around.

However, by the time F9 came around, it would have been ridiculous to try to shoehorn in another movie between the events of 2 Fast 2 Furious and Tokyo Drift, and the filmmakers decided to simply retcon his death. With an elaborate explanation that stated Han faked his own death with the help of Mr. Nobody, Han was miraculously revived.

Creed (2015)

Creed helped revitalize the Rocky franchise with a spin-off that expanded on the themes of previous installments while also introducing new elements of social commentary, racial issues, and class dynamics. By shifting focus from Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky Balboa toward the illegitimate son of his former rival, this new installment powerfully calls back to the past while carving out something new.

Michael B. Jordan’s character retconned the pre-established narrative that his father, Apollo, was a committed family man. With Adonis being the result of an affair with Donnie’s mother, Ms. Johnson, Creed recontextualized Apollo’s backstory to allow for a young protagonist to emerge who had much more to fight for than Apollo’s more privileged children.

The Matrix Resurrections (2021)

While audiences have plenty of issues with the sequels in the original Matrix trilogy, there’s no denying that the Wachowskis had a complete story that they wanted to tell. With The Matrix Revolutions concluding Neo’s (Keanu Reeves) character arc, his choice to sacrifice himself to save humanity ended his hero’s journey in a definitive and meaningful way.

This was the full story for almost 20 years, until Lana Wachowski revived Neo with her legacy sequel, The Matrix Resurrections. With Neo back and living an ordinary life as a games developer who thinks he’s named Thomas Anderson, many felt the existence of this self-referential sequel undercut Neo’s sacrifice.

Friday The 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986)

Friday the 13th has never been overly concerned with continuity, as the lore of its main antagonist, Jason Voorhees, shifted from movie to movie. As an unseen presence in the original film, where his mother, Pamela, sought revenge against the teenagers she deemed culpable for his death, Jason rose from the ᴅᴇᴀᴅ and sought his own vengeance in later sequels.

However, it was the sixth film, Jason Lives, that decided to retcon the lore of Jason’s existence in a major way by turning him into a supernatural being. This led to a series that was almost unrecognizable from its slasher origins and detached the franchise from its reality, opening the doors to stories of Jason in Hell and even space.

X-Men: Days Of Future Past (2014)

While X-Men: First Class was intended as a reboot that recast this Marvel superhero team with new actors, Days of Future Past found a way to retcon this decision and merge the series with previous X-Men movies. Set during two time periods, when Wolverine traveled back in time to 1973, he effectively bridged the gap between the original series and this reboot.

X-Men: Days of Future Past was a masterclass in how to effectively retcon a franchise’s lore, as it allowed the series to have the best of both worlds and have different iterations of characters interact with one another. This clever creative decision paved the way for the MCU to utilize the multiverse in later years and create endless storytelling possibilities.