Young Haymitch In The Hunger Games’ New Movie Will Be The Exact Opposite Of Snow In Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes

The Hunger Games’ Sunrise on the Reaping will show young Haymitch in a different light, and he will be the complete opposite of Coriolanus Snow in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. After Katniss’s story was completed in Mockingjay, the next installments in Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games books turned to the history of Panem, with Snow being the protagonist in the first prequel. Five years after The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes was released, Suzanne Collins announced that she would be writing another Hunger Games prequel and Lionsgate confirmed that they would be adapting the book the very same day.

The Hunger Games movies give snippets about Haymitch’s past. However, the details of who he was when he was younger or how he came to be who he is aren’t fully revealed. As Katniss and Peeta’s mentor, Haymitch has an interesting backstory that Sunrise on the Reaping is set to explore. In the same way that The Ballads of Songbirds and Snakes portrays Snow as a complex character, Sunrise on the Reaping will likely do the same for young Haymitch.

The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes Had To Make Young Snow Less Villainous

President Snow Became A Villain At A Young Age

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is a villain origin story. It examines the past of Coriolanus Snow and the events that led to him becoming the antagonist in The Hunger Games franchise. However, the film had to make young President Snow less villainous in order to show that he was a multifaceted character, to make it easier to understand why he became evil. For instance, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes includes a love story between Snow and Lucy Baird and the impact the Panem rebellion had on his life.

While the Snow seen in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is portrayed differently from the one in the other Hunger Games films, he eventually becomes the familiar bad guy by the film’s conclusion. The Hunger Games prequel tries to humanize Snow, but it actually does the opposite by proving that he has always been evil, despite his justification of the atrocious things he has committed. Even in his youth, Snow believed that if a terrible thing had to be done for the greater good, then there was no reason to feel any remorse if the benefits outweighed the costs.

Sunrise On The Reaping Will Have To Make Young Haymitch Less Heroic

The 50th Hunger Games Were The Second Quarter Quell

Sunrise on the Reaping will focus on how Haymitch won his Hunger Games and the subsequent events after he became the second District 12 victor. Haymitch was a tribute in the 50th Hunger Games, which happened to be the Quarter Quell. Quarter Quells are different from the usual Hunger Games because they add a unique element to the death competition. Haymitch’s Quarter Quell had twice as many tributes, so he had 47 opponents to beat compared to the usual 23.

The Ballads of Songbirds and Snakes portrayed Snow’s softer side, but Sunrise on the Reaping will have to show that Haymitch has a dark side. Since he won the games, Haymitch obviously had to do morally ambiguous things in order to survive. The atrocious things Haymitch did during his games prove Snow’s point that even children will kill if their lives hang in the balance. The fact that Haymitch doesn’t talk about how he won the games proves that the games have a way of changing people and making them act in a way that they usually wouldn’t.

Making Haymitch Darker Is Easier For The Hunger Games Than Humanizing Snow

The Hunger Games Have A Way Of Bringing Out The Worst In People

Sunrise on the Reaping will have an easier time showing Haymitch’s darker side than Ballads of Songbirds and Snakes did with humanizing Snow. While in the games, Haymitch had two choices: kill or be killed. Snow, on the other hand, didn’t necessarily have to kill. He did so out of self-interest. What made it harder for the Hunger Games prequel to humanize Snow is that it ultimately says Snow was always evil, and it’s difficult to see him in a different way.

Granted, Haymitch won because of how smart and resourceful he is. However, that doesn’t take away the fact that he murdered his fellow tributes in cold blood.

Haymitch was put in an impossible situation and given a difficult choice when his name was pulled out during the 50th reaping. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire novel briefly explains how Haymitch walked out as victor in the second Quarter Quell. Granted, Haymitch won because of how smart and resourceful he is. However, that doesn’t take away the fact that he murdered his fellow tributes in cold blood. There’s simply no way for Sunrise on the Reaping to avoid portraying how Haymitch was in the games because it would take away an important part of his story.