The ‘Hunger Games’ prequel has a trailer and hints into the backstory of President Snow

In the “Hunger Games” series, Coriolanus Snow is the villainous president of Panem and enthusiastic supporter of the Hunger Games — a survival battle where each of the 12 districts send two children and only one of the 24 can live.

Like many villains, Snow has a backstory. Now a new movie will chronicle his story — “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.” The first trailer for this movie was released on Thursday and gave a preview of what’s to come.

The book which the movie is adapted from takes place 64 years before the first “Hunger Games” novel. The trailer shows Snow (Tom Blyth) becoming a mentor for the tenth Hunger Games. He meets the creator of the games, Casca Highbottom. Snow is told, “There has been a chance this year, your role is to turn these children into spectacles, not survivors.”

Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler) is chosen as the tribute for District 12 and Snow is her mentor. As the games are depicted in a montage, a voice says, “See how quickly civilization disappears?” The trailer also seems to preview Snow becoming a Peacekeeper.

The film, produced by Lionsgate, releases on Nov. 17. CNN reported, “The star-studded cast includes Peter Dinklage as the Hunger Games creator Casca Highbottom and Viola Davis as head game maker Volumnia Gaul.”

Fan reactions to the ‘Hunger Games’ prequel

Fans have posted their reaction to the new trailer on social media. On Twitter, some fans started making comparisons between the new movie and the original Hunger Games trilogy. They compared Baird’s bow to Katniss Everdeen’s bow.

Another Twitter user picked up on how the first host of the Hunger Games is named Lucky Flickerman. The host in the original trilogy is known as Caesar Flickerman — the last name implies some relation between the two.

Fans also left comments on the trailer that Lionsgate Productions posted on YouTube. Michael the Movie Encyclopedia commented, “As a fan of the book, i approve of this trailer. They have already captured the tone and design of the book perfectly, now let’s see if they can capture the story and characters.”

Many of the other commenters said they were excited for the movie to come out and thought the tone of the trailer matched what they thought the movie should be like.

When does the new Hunger Games come out?

The movie will have a theatrical release on Nov. 17.

What is the Hunger Games?

The Hunger Games is an annual event which takes place in Suzanne Collins’ books by the same name. The trilogy follows Katniss Everdeen, who is a member of District 12. She lives with her mother and her sister Primrose. In the 74th annual Hunger Games, her sister is chosen to participate and Katniss volunteers to take her place.

Since District 12 is especially poor, unlike the Career Districts (like Districts 1 and 2, where being in the games is seen as an honor), Katniss is expected to die. She’s chosen for the Hunger Games along with Peeta Mellark. The two prepare for the games with their mentor, Haymitch Abernathy. They will be going into an arena to fight to the death — with only one survivor — for the entertainment of the Capitol.

The trilogy follows Katniss and Peeta as they win their Hunger Games, become victors and then have to enter the Games for the Quarter Quell, an especially horrific version of the Hunger Games which happens every 25 years. Then, the trilogy chronicles Katniss’ role in the revolution against the Capitol.

Why did the Hunger Games start?

The prequel sheds more light on why the Hunger Games started. Essentially, there was a rebellion from the districts of Panem, which the Capitol crushed. As a way to scare districts and remind them of their rebellion, the Capitol launched the Hunger Games, during which they take two tributes, one male, one female, from each district, according to Screen Rant.

The tributes are between the ages of 12 and 18 and if a family needs more food, the children of that family can enter their name more times into the reaping, which increases the odds of being selected. The winner of the Hunger Games becomes a Capitol celebrity and their family would have money enough for their needs and luxuries for the rest of their lives.