10 Great Movie Characters Who Were Introduced In Sequels

Received wisdom has it that movie sequels are generally inferior to their predecessors, as most of the time they are simply regurgitating the cast of characters and story beats of the first one. Sometimes, however, sequels can offer something exciting, like memorable new characters that keep up the energy and interest even if everything else in the movie is a little bit familiar. Oftentimes, these newbies steal the show from under the noses of the returning characters and become firm fan favourites. Sometimes they are villains, like Terminator 2’s T-1000, or new allies for the heroes, like Quicksilver in the X-Men franchise. Either way, they make a big impression. So, on that note, join us as we take a look at 10 great movie sequel characters. As always, if we’ve missed one – hey, there are a lot of sequels out there, it happens! – let us know in the comments section. 10) Sirius Black The Harry Potter movies have no end of memorable sequel characters, mainly the stream of new Defence Against the Dark Arts teachers like Kenneth Branagh’s Gilderoy Lockhart and Imelda Staunton as the despicable Professor Umbridge. For our money, though, the franchise’s strongest latter-day arrival comes from perhaps the series’ best film, The Prisoner of Azkaban. Gary Oldman’s Sirius Black, Azkaban inmate cum Harry’s godfather, is one of the best of the series' supporting cast – which is no mean feat when you consider that he turned up three films (or books) in. Though he is routinely underused in the movies (Oldman only appears as a CGI face in the fire in the whole of Goblet of Fire), the actor fleshes Black out into a likeable rogue, despite the lack of screentime. Due to this, his subsequent death in The Order of the Phoenix is one of the series’ defining emotional moments. 9) Doctor Octopus Spider-Man 2 is right up there with X2 and The Dark Knight in the triumvirate of superb superhero movie sequels – and it just so happens to contain one of the best villains from a sequel movie ever. Willem Dafoe’s cackling, gurning Green Goblin was great, but Alfred Molina’s nuanced (yet suitably villainous when called to be) portrayal of Otto Octavius was better, aided by a tragic backstory and the terrific visual of his mechanical legs. It wasn’t just him that helped Spider-Man 2 surpass its predecessor and remain the pinnacle of the webhead’s movie adventures up until now, but he certainly helped. On the other hand, I guess we could put Spider-Man himself on this list, as well, seeing as Tom Holland’s first appearance as the character in threequel Captain America: Civil War certainly stole the show. 8) Bishop We're not going to get into the eternal debate of whether James Cameron’s all-out actioner Aliens is better than Ridley Scott’s horror movie in space Alien, but I think we can all agree that Aliens is one hell of a sequel. As well as bringing Sigourney Weaver back as the ass-kicking Ripley, it also introduces a great new character in Bishop. The androids are often the most memorable characters in the Alien franchise e.g. Ian Holm as Ash in Alien and Michael Fassbender’s David in Prometheus. Bishop is the best of these, though, due to his interesting relationship with Ripley. At first, she hates him by nature of his being an android, but he wins her over by the end of the film for just being so human. 7) Jessie The original Toy Story is downright near perfect, but one area it could have improved in was by having a strong female character. No matter, though, as Toy Story 2 fixed this issue completely with the introduction of feisty yet damaged cowgirl doll Jessie. Voiced by Joan Cusack, Jessie is probably a more endearing and loveable character than the often selfish and thoughtless Woody. She also encapsulates the running theme of kids treating their toys terribly, as Jessie was left heartbroken when her owner grew up and abandoned her. Her flashback scene, set to Sarah McLachlan’s "When She Loved Me," is the emotional heart of the film and one of Pixar’s most heart-tugging moments. These are family movies, though, and Jessie is good for a laugh, as well. For instance, her romance with Spanish Buzz in Toy Story 3. 6) Ernst Stavro Blofeld Any of the great James Bond villains, apart from Dr. Julius No in the original Bond film Dr No, could feature on this list – from Goldfinger himself to Skyfall’s Raoul Silva. We’ve plumped for the big daddy of them all, though, in the head of SPECTRE – Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Blofeld is such an intrinsic part of Sean Connery’s run of Bond films that it is surprising he doesn’t turn up in any capacity for Dr. No. He first appears – though only as the iconic hand stroking a white cat - in From Russia With Love, before finally showing his face in You Only Live Twice. Over the years he’s been played by five different actors (and more if you count those we didn’t see the faces of), which is almost as many as have played his nemesis. That’s got to make him the most iconic sequel character ever, right? 5) Puss In Boots The first Shrek is an anarchic, anti-Disney triumph, with Mike Myers and Eddie Murphy achieving their definitive roles for this generation in Shrek and his ignoble steed Donkey. But the third member in their trio didn’t turn up until Shrek 2. The Zorro-like Puss In Boots is a terrific creation, a purrfect bit of self-parody from Antonio Banderas. We’re not quite sure how they came up with the idea to turn the French fairy tale character into a Spanish assassin, but it certainly was a stroke of genius. Plus, how can you resist that face? As the franchise’s breakout character, he later featured in his own solo movie titled, um, Puss In Boots in 2011. While that proved he was better in moderation, it doesn’t take away from his success in the main Shrek series. 4) Dr. Henry Jones Indiana Jones was originally conceived by Steven Spielberg and George Lucas as their very own James Bond character, and so it was a natural choice to cast 007 himself as Indy’s father in The Last Crusade. Connery gives one of his best Post-Bond performances as the against-type fusty archaeologist Dr. Henry Jones Sr., enjoying a great comic chemistry with Harrison Ford. Not only one of the standout characters in a sequel, he’s one of the best cinematic dads to boot. If he had returned for Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, as well, it might have helped to soften the blow of one of the worst sequel characters in Shia LaBeouf’s Mutt. A shout out must also be given to the franchise’s other latecomer star in Short Round, the adorable kid sidekick from The Temple of Doom. 3) Gollum If you want to be pedantic about it, Gollum does technically appear in The Fellowship of the Ring as a glowing pair of eyes, but he makes his first proper appearance in the follow-up The Two Towers, so we're counting him here. Gollum is probably the most fascinating character in the Middle Earth saga, as he's at the heart of the films’ main theme of the detrimental effect of greed. The schizophrenic former Hobbit serves as a dark mirror image of Frodo and Bilbo, a warning to both of them not to give in to the lust of the Ring's power. The role also turned Andy Serkis into the motion capture extraordinaire that he is today. Infamously, though, he's been denied Academy Award nominations for the part, due to the levels of special effects involved. Don’t they know a precious performance when they see one? 2) Yoda In a weird way, Gollum and Yoda are like two sides of the same coin – both are small odd-looking creatures with strange ways of speaking who tag along with the hero in the second instalment of a series. Obviously, Yoda is the far less villainous and more loveable one, though. Likewise, as opposed to Gollum’s high-tech realization, Yoda is at his best when portrayed as an old-fashioned puppet, where Frank Oz’s voice work and skilled puppetry from all those years with The Muppets can shine through. Possibly the key to Yoda's success is how he could have easily have been a bumbling kid-friendly sidekick (Jar Jar, anyone?) but instead is the wisest character in the universe. He might be overused in the prequels – but even then he gets to take part in some awesome lightsaber battles. Second best sequel character ever, he is. 1) The Joker The Joker might be a slightly controversial pick for the top spot, as we had actually seen the character on screen before he turned up in the sequel to Batman Begins. But while we were already familiar with the Clown Prince of Crime, Heath Ledger’s unique take on the character ensured it felt like we were watching him for the first time. At once both engrossing and repellent, The Joker of The Dark Knight is like the scary clown from your childhood nightmares mixed with the insane terrorist that the modern world fears. Thanks to this rendition of the character, the agent of chaos villain became a familiar trope in cinema for years afterwards. The Joker is also the only character/performer on this list to be given an Academy Award, as Ledger posthumously won the gong for Best Supporting Actor after his untimely death. So, it’s pretty much official, then, that he's the best movie sequel character of all time.