When The Hunger Games first arrived in 2012, it became a YA movie sensation and brought Jennifer Lawrence into the mainstream. A movie star through and through, she became the biggest piece of the Panem puzzle.
The Hunger Games‘ new prequel, A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, turns the attention to President Snow this time around, so fans of the action movies may be running to find out if our favorite District 12 tribute, Katniss Everdeen, will return in the new movie. Here’s what you need to know.
Is Jennifer Lawrence in the new Hunger Games movie?
No, Jennifer Lawrence isn’t in the new Hunger Games movie. A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes takes place decades before her story.
Songbirds and Snakes takes place when Snow is a teenager, 64 years prior to the events of 2012’s The Hunger Games when Katniss wasn’t born yet.
Similarly, if you were hoping for a cameo or flash-forward that features Lawrence, you’ll be disappointed. The only mention of her on-screen character comes when Lucy Gray Baird refers to the plant that she’s named after.
There’s no mention of Katniss in the prequel book either, so it would have been a pretty bold choice on director Francis Lawrence’s part to include a mention or appearance. In fact, when we spoke with Lawrence, he admitted he’d been nervous about “what the appetite would be for a Hunger Games movie without Katniss.”
We’ll just have to wait and see how much of the fandom returns to theaters to truly gauge their appetite. That said, there’s plenty of Katniss to go around, and there’s never been a better time to start watching the Hunger Games movies in order to prepare for the newest installment.
For more on the newest movie, check out our A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes review. You can also get to know the Hunger Games cast or check out our list of the best teen movies to watch now. Don’t miss all the other great movies in the works, like Deadpool 3 and Avatar 3, or our list of the best movies of all time for some classics.