Here's Why Hunger Games Prequel Chose the Wrong Protagonist

The upcoming Hunger Games: Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes will be centered around Coriolanus Snow, the man who will later be known as President Snow, the narcissistic tyrant behind the bloody Panem government machine.

Through the prism of Katniss Everdeen, we saw him as a well-established dictator, but the show wants to reveal how he came to turn from a hopeful young man to this monster.

We're sure there's a lot of ground to cover there, and the story behind Snow's rise to power and moral degradation will be quite captivating — but at the same time, we can't believe that the showrunner chose him.

There's a far more interesting character in the original franchise, the one who deserves his own prequel more than Snow.

The man in question is, of course, Haymitch Abernathy, Katniss' mentor and friend. There are many reasons why his sequel would've been an amazing idea, but today, we'll cover the three we consider the most important.

Beautiful and deadly

A prequel about Abernathy's Hunger Games would have a truly breathtaking setting.

Haymitch was a part of the Second Quarter Quell, the special Hunger Games where the number of tributes is doubled, which makes it twice as deadly and bloody.

At the same time, it had amazing scenery — the designers made an absolute masterpiece of background to celebrate 50 years since the start of the Hunger Games.

Captivating and dramatic

Haymitch won his Hunger Games with wit, against all odds.

Much like Katniss, he used the mechanics of the Games to benefit himself, and the entire Panem saw him finish off the last opponent by manipulating the force field around the Arena.

However, he was wrong to think that his struggle was over: President Snow was infuriated, and he ordered Abernathy's entire family to be murdered as punishment.

Rise and fall

Haymitch's first appearance in the original movie was pathetic: he was a petty drunkard hiding behind cynicism and sarcasm. It's no wonder, considering the tragedies he's been through.

But in the prequel, we could see Abernathy in his prime: handsome, strong, and confident, with those sort of young Sirius Black-ish vibes.

Of course, after getting to know this more attractive side of him, we would have to suffer through the pain of seeing him degrade as a result of his family's murder and years of seeing the kids he mentored die before his eyes.

The showrunners already had an amazing story at their disposal: the story of a brilliant young man, full of brutality, action, feelings (he had a love story there, too!), and drama.

We can't get our heads around them choosing to tell Snow's story, instead; still, one day, we hope to get a prequel about Haymitch Abernathy, too.