What Retcon Means In Movies & TV

With the popularity of long-running movie and TV franchises, the word "retcon" is one that has been thrown around a lot. What does it really mean?

Summary

• Retcons are common in movies and TV, often used to explain continuity errors or to move the plot in a new direction based on audience feedback.
• A retcon is defined as new information that changes previously described events in a piece of fiction, altering the perceived "truth" of the story.
• Retcons are found in many franchises, such as the X-Men films and Star Wars prequel trilogy, and have become inevitable in the film industry due to the popularity of sequels, spinoffs, and reboots.

With so many long-running movie and TV franchises, the word "retcon" is often thrown around, but what does it mean in this context? Sometimes, the term is used to describe a continuity mistake in a work of fiction, but the true meaning goes a little deeper than that. In the world of movies and television—especially regarding franchises that have been going on for years—previously established information is bound to need a tweak or two. This is where retconning comes in, and there are a great many ways that this can be done.

Retcons are often associated with mistakes in movies and TV. For example, if a continuity error exists regarding a character's family history—perhaps the writer listed two different names for that character's father—an in-plot reason for this may be established to explain this issue retroactively. Audiences often regard these kinds of bandaids with annoyance, and the word retcon might be thrown out as a sort of criticism. Still, this is only one kind of retcon. The movie/TV term encapsulates far more.

Retcon Definition & Meaning In Movies & Television

Retcon, or "retroactive continuity," is defined as "a piece of new information that imposes a different interpretation on previously described events." This means that any change to what audiences had previously perceived as part of a piece of fiction's "truth," whether or not the author intended it, is a retcon. Though this can sometimes happen within a single piece of work, retcons are typically seen in sequels or spinoffs. A screenwriter may choose to retcon canon characters or events to move the plot in a new direction, adjust circumstances based on audience feedback, or simply because they no longer like how they wrote the story.

Examples Of Retcons

Retcons are extremely common in movies and TV, especially in franchises that have been in the works for years. A prime example of this is the X-Men franchise. After the plots of X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men Origins: Wolverine took things in a direction that critics didn't love, the writers in charge used time travel in X-Men: Days of Future Past to start everything all over again. This meant that all the bad things that had happened to characters (or the existence of Wade Wilson as Weapon XI, The Mutant Killer) were entirely erased—and the story could continue for a few more films rather than immediately fizzling.

Another example of continuity being retroactively changed or retconned is the explanation of Midi-chlorians in the Star Wars prequel trilogy. In George Lucas' original Star Wars films, the Force was a unique combination of science and magic—a mystical form of balance that in-tune individuals could learn to master. However, in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, it was revealed that a person's ability to master the Force depended on the number of Midi-chlorians in their blood. Whether or not Lucas had thought up Midi-chlorians before his original trilogy is up for debate, but regardless, this is still a retcon.

Why Retcons Are Common Nowadays

Though the word retcon finds its roots in written fiction, its use grew in online communities with the rise of comic book adaptations like the MCU and DC. Stories like Spider-Man have been adapted and readapted several times, each with a slightly different version of how Peter Parker became the superhero everyone knows and loves. The same applies to Iron Man, Captain America, and much more. If the film industry wanted to take advantage of these popular stories, then older plots needed to be retconned using time travel and the exploration of the multiverse.

Even outside the world of comic book adaptations, retcons have become inevitable. Nearly everything on the screen is part of a never-ending franchise these days. Sequels, spinoffs, and reboot movies or TV series are the real money-makers of the industry, and continuity within these franchises grows shakier with every new installment. For this reason, after-the-fact shifts in the plot are a must. Whether these retroactive continuity changes are good or bad is an entirely different conversation, but they aren't going anywhere anytime soon.