The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes: Connections to the Original Trilogy Characters
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes’ delves into the origins of the original trilogy characters, providing a captivating narrative set over 60 years before the events of the movies
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is set over 60 years prior to Katniss Everdeen's participation in the competition, but it manages to mention her in a unique way. (Spoilers alert!)
Jennifer Lawrence does not make a cameo appearance, but in the recently released film on November 17th, Lucy Gray Baird (played by Rachel Zegler) utters Katniss Everdeen's name.
In District 12, Lucy accompanies a young Coriolanus Snow (played by Tom Blyth) to a scenic lake. They enjoy a refreshing swim and soak up the warm sunlight. While exploring, Lucy spots a flower with edible roots, but notes that it is not yet ripe enough to be eaten. Informing Coriolanus that some refer to it as "swamp potato," she personally prefers the more elegant name of "Katniss."
The only familiar characters from the original trilogy that appear in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes are Snow, the dictator whom Katniss eventually fights against, and Tigris, Snow's cousin. Tigris, known for her stylist expertise and tiger-like physical modifications, aids the rebels in covertly infiltrating the Capitol.
In the prequel film, Tigris (played by Hunter Schafer) doesn't bear any tattoos and solely focuses on looking after her and Snow's grandmother. Meanwhile, Snow aims to secure prize money to lift their family out of poverty, all while mentoring Lucy in the 10th annual Hunger Games.
This marks the inaugural usage of mentors, and Snow has numerous ideas to attract a larger audience. Nevertheless, he isn't portrayed as the classic villain depicted by Donald Sutherland in the original trilogy.
"Blyth, in an interview with Variety earlier this month, expressed the common perception people have of the character. His hope is that audiences not only empathize with him, but also gain a deeper understanding of his motivations and the complex journey that led him to become a villain. Personally, Blyth confesses his fondness for the character, making it even more difficult for him to witness his descent into darkness."
As the film concludes, Snow embraces his destiny as the future icy president, with the older Snow absent from the final scene. Nonetheless, Sutherland's voice rings out, reciting Snow's iconic line to Katniss: "It is the things we cherish most that ultimately bring about our demise."
In contrast, Blyth did not engage in a discussion with Donald Sutherland about the character, as director Francis Lawrence sought a new interpretation. On the other hand, Zegler had the opportunity to meet Jennifer Lawrence after completing the filming.
Zegler shared with Access Hollywood on November 13 that meeting her felt like meeting a friend. They have numerous mutual friends and Zegler had heard a lot about her prior to this encounter. When she informed their director Francis about finally meeting, he amusingly remarked that the two quirkiest people in his phone had teamed up. Zegler considers it a badge of honor.
