You Don’t Have To Know A Single Thing About The Source Material To Love These 8 Franchise Movies

It’s always frustrating to watch a movie without knowing about the characters and the world they inhabit, but some franchise movies are welcoming to newcomers. Even sprawling multimedia franchises like Pokémon and Dungeons and Dragons can create good entry points for the uninitiated while simultaneously appeasing the hardcore fans.

Some movies are much more enjoyable when audiences have already seen everything else in the franchise, even if this includes TV shows and other forms of media too. While these movies can be extremely rewarding to a certain group of people, they can fall flat for viewers who haven’t done their homework. It’s harder to make a movie which appeals to everyone, no matter how much information they have about a certain franchise.

8

Pokémon: Detective Pikachu (2019)

Detective Pikachu Ignores A Lot Of Pokémon Concepts

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Detective Pikachu

PG

Fantasy

Family

Animation

ScreenRant logo

7/10

11

7.7/10

Release Date

May 10, 2019

Runtime

104 minutes

Director

Rob Letterman

Writers

Rob Letterman, Nicole Perlman

Franchise(s)

Pokemon

Cast

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  • Ryan Reynolds Profile Picture

    Ryan Reynolds

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    Suki Waterhouse

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From the outside looking in, the Pokémon games can seem pretty complicated. Detective Pikachu simplifies things by ignoring some concepts like evolution, gym badges, the Elite Four and more. The story is loosely based on a spinoff game, but it’s mostly an original narrative that conforms to the shape of a detective story. This makes it much more accessible to newcomers.

Detective Pikachu does a good job of boiling things down until it reaches the basic appeal of the franchise.

There’s a glut of Pokémon lore from games, TV shows and movies that could be distracting to the uninitiated. Detective Pikachu does a good job of boiling things down until it reaches the basic appeal of the franchise. The movie is filled with creative monsters living alongside humans, which gives it a child-friendly fantasy vibe. There are Easter eggs for the true fans, but nothing which is necessary to the plot. Unfortunately, Detective Pikachu 2 seems to be trapped in development hell.

7

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)

Honor Among Thieves Is A Great Intro To D&D

Dungeons and Dragons Honor Among Thieves Poster-3

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Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

PG-13

Fantasy

Adventure

Action

ScreenRant logo

7/10

49

9.2/10

Release Date

March 31, 2023

Runtime

134 Minutes

Director

Jonathan Goldstein, John Francis Daley

Writers

Michael Gillio, Jonathan Goldstein, John Francis Daley

Prequel(s)

Dungeons and Dragons: Honor among Thieves, Dungeons & Dragons: Wrath of the Dragon God

Cast

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  • Headshot Of Chris Pine iN The Wags & Walks 12th Annual Benefit Gala at Taglyan Complex.

    Chris Pine

  • Headshot Of Michelle Rodriguez

    Michelle Rodriguez

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Dungeons and Dragons can be a very intimidating game to try and get into, because there are so many different starting points, and the best way to learn is by finding a group of people who are already well versed in the mechanics of the game. D&D has a rich mythology surrounding it, but it can essentially be whatever the players and the dungeon master want it to be. Fortunately, none of this information is necessary for newcomers to enjoy Honor Among Thieves.

Part of what makes D&D seem so complex is that the game’s evolution has been driven by the community. Honor Among Thieves has a lot of source material to sift through, therefore, but it extracts the essence of the game without getting bogged down in the specifics. Honor Among Thieves has the same sense of unpredictability, adventure and humor that can come from any game of D&D with friends.

6

The Dark Knight (2008)

Fans Can Skip Batman Begins And Any Other Batman Movie

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The Dark Knight

PG-13

Drama

Action

Crime

Thriller

Superhero

ScreenRant logo

10/10

90

9.6/10

Release Date

July 16, 2008

Runtime

152 minutes

Director

Christopher Nolan

Writers

Christopher Nolan, Bob Kane, Jonathan Nolan, David S. Goyer

Producers

Benjamin Melniker, Charles Roven, Emma Thomas, Kevin De La Noy, Michael Uslan

Cast

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  • Headshot Of Christian Bale In The `The Pale Blue Eye` LA Premiere

    Christian Bale

    Bruce Wayne

  • Headshot Of Heath Ledger In The 2006 Oscars Nominees Luncheon

    Heath Ledger

    Joker

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It’s hard to know where to start with Batman. The character has been in comics since the 1930s, and movies since not long after that. He has subtly changed in different versions of the story, but The Dark Knight is usually considered a great Batman movie among hardcore fans and first-timers. Audiences don’t even need to watch Batman Begins, which shows his origin story.

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The Dark Knight is one of Christopher Nolan’s best movies, showing off his flair for cinematic spectacle driven by practical effects. However, Nolan understands that he has to tell a good story first and foremost. The Dark Knight has an intriguing moral center, focused on the philosophical struggle between Batman and the Joker. There can’t be many better places to get into Batman than one of the franchise’s best movies with its most iconic villain.

5

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit (2005)

The First Feature Film Isn’t The First Film

Wallace & Gromit_ The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005) - Poster

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Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

G

Animation

Adventure

Comedy

Release Date

October 7, 2005

Runtime

85 Minutes

Director

Nick Park, Steve Box

Writers

Nick Park, Steve Box, Mark Burton, Bob Baker

Cast

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  • Cast Placeholder Image

    Peter Sallis

  • Headshot Of Ralph Fiennes

    Ralph Fiennes

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    Helena Bonham Carter

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    Peter Kay

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Wallace and Gromit had already appeared in several award-winning short films by the time they debuted in their first feature-length outing, but The Curse of the Were-Rabbit is accessible to anyone. This is mostly because the story is so tightly written that it’s easy to get a perfect sense of who the two characters are within the first few minutes. Audiences quickly understand their dynamic just as well as if they had watched every Wallace and Gromit movie.

The charming claymation style of Wallace and Gromit changed a lot between the time of their debut in A Grand Day Out and The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, becoming a little more refined. It’s arguably better for new fans to start with The Curse of the Were-Rabbit and then go back. Their latest movie, Vengeance Most Fowl, is definitely more enjoyable if the audience already has some backstory.

4

Uncharted (2022)

The Video Game Adaptation Is Its Own Thing

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Uncharted

PG-13

Action

Adventure

ScreenRant logo

4/10

7.2/10

Release Date

February 18, 2022

Runtime

116 minutes

Director

Ruben Fleischer

Writers

Art Marcum, Rafe Judkins, Matt Holloway

Cast

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  • Headshot Of Tom Holland In The 29th Annual Critics Choice Awards

    Tom Holland

  • A photo of actor Mark Wahlberg at a screening of Arthur The King

    Mark Wahlberg

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As well as the four main series Uncharted games and the closely-related The Lost Legacy, there are a few lesser-known spinoffs made for web browsers, mobile phones and the PlayStation Vita. When factoring in the comics and other media, there’s a lot of source material to get through. The 2022 Uncharted movie cherry-picks a few iconic scenes from Nathan Drake’s adventures in the games, but it’s also original enough to stand on its own two feet.

Tom Holland’s casting as Nathan Drake was rather divisive among the game’s fan base, since he’s a lot younger than Nathan is in any of the games. This was the first indication that Uncharted wasn’t going to be too fixated on accurately recreating the stories from the games. It maintains the same swashbuckling sense of adventure, with a healthy dose of wry humor too. A prospective Uncharted sequel seems to have stalled, but the movie certainly seems like it could set up a whole franchise.

3

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World (2010)

Edgar Wright’s Comedy Perfectly Suits Scott Pilgrim

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Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

PG-13

Action

Adventure

Comedy

Fantasy

Romance

ScreenRant logo

7/10

22

8.5/10

Release Date

August 12, 2010

Runtime

113 minutes

Director

Edgar Wright

Writers

Edgar Wright, Michael Bacall

Franchise(s)

Scott Pilgrim

Cast

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  • Headshot oF Michael Cera

    Michael Cera

  • Headshot Of Alison Pill In The Star Trek: Picard TV Show Premiere

    Alison Pill

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The Scott Pilgrim franchise now includes a video game and an animated series on top of the graphic novels by Bryan Lee O’Malley which started it all. Fortunately, fans don’t need to know about any of this in order to enjoy Edgar Wright’s 2010 movie adaptation. Each Scott Pilgrim story slightly alters the same overarching narrative, so Scott Pilgrim vs. the World can actually be used as a gateway into understanding everything else.

Jack Nicholson peering through a chopped door

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Scott Pilgrim vs. the World was a notorious box office bomb, but this doesn’t reflect the quality of Edgar Wright’s movie. It might have more to do with its idiosyncratic style, which has garnered a passionate cult following even if it excludes the movie from finding broad appeal. Wright adds some comic book flourishes to the visuals, but there are also plenty of references to arcade games and manga.

2

A Haunting In Venice (2023)

Agatha Christie Published So Many Stories That It’s Hard To Know When To Start

A Haunting in Venice Movie Logo

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A Haunting in Venice

Not Yet Rated

Crime

Drama

Horror

Mystery

ScreenRant logo

7/10

Release Date

September 15, 2023

Runtime

100 Minutes

Director

Kenneth Branagh

Writers

Michael Green, Agatha Christie

Cast

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  • Cast Placeholder Image

    Kyle Allen

  • Headshot Of Kenneth Branagh In The 30th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards

    Kenneth Branagh

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Most people will be aware of Agatha Christie’s work in some sense, since she has impacted the mystery genre more than any other writer. There have been countless movies adapted from Christie’s books, and even more which attempt to mimic her style. Kenneth Branagh is the latest director to take on Christie’s work, and any of his three movies so far are a warm welcome to the author’s style. A Haunting in Venice is particularly well-suited to this.

Kenneth Branagh’s Poirot Movies

Movie

Rotten Tomatoes Score

Audience Score

Murder on the Orient Express (2017)

60%

54%

Death on the Nile (2022)

62%

82%

A Haunting in Venice (2023)

75%

76%

Although it’s the third movie in Branagh’s series, A Haunting in Venice doesn’t require its audience to know anything about Hercule Poirot. It’s clear from the outset that he’s a brilliant, famous detective who has shut himself away to avoid the outside world. A Haunting in Venice is also a good entry-point for newcomers because it isn’t as well known as some of Christie’s other works, which have already been spoiled many times over.

1

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

The New Era Of The Franchise Provides A Clean Slate

Mad Max Fury Road Poster

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Mad Max: Fury Road

R

Action

Adventure

Thriller

Fantasy

ScreenRant logo

9/10

72

8.5/10

Release Date

May 14, 2015

Runtime

120 Minutes

Director

George Miller

Writers

George Miller, Brendan McCarthy, Nick Lathouris

Prequel(s)

Mad Max, Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

Cast

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  • Headshot Of Tom Hardy In The Premiere Of The Bikeriders

    Tom Hardy

  • Headshot Of Charlize Theron

    Charlize Theron

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The first three Mad Max movies introduce the character of Max Rockatansky, showing his evolution into a battle-hardened nomad as the world crumbles all around him. However, 30 years passed between the last of these movies and Fury Road, which kicked off a new era for the franchise with Tom Hardy taking over from Mel Gibson in the title role. George Miller ensured that Fury Road would be just as enticing to people who had never seen any Mad Max movies.

There isn’t much about Fury Road that carries over from the original movies.

There isn’t much about Fury Road that carries over from the original movies, since Max’s lifestyle often sees him drifting across the wasteland without staying anywhere for too long. The intelligent worldbuilding of Fury Road often takes place in the background, painting a picture of a complex world without going into too many tedious details. In this way, it feels like a brand new experience even for fans of the original trilogy.