The apocalyptic and dystopian TV shows have been incredibly popular in recent years, and we can see why. Everything about drama has been headed in an extreme direction for some time. Superhero battles last twenty minutes on movies, kids shows like Dora the Explorer and Pokemon are getting more grown-up reimaginings, and even zombies have gone from cult status to full-blown cultural phenomenon. So it’s no surprise that a great show like The 100 has been so beloved. When fans learned that the seventh season would be the end of the story, they were devastated even though it’s not yet done filming until sometime in March of 2020. The great news is that while the story might be done, there’s more left to tell. That’s right, a prequel series for The 100, is in development.
Limited Spoilers Ahead! We tried not to share too many details about the characters, just some backstory.
The 100 Premise
The 100 is loosely based on the novels of the same name by Kass Morgan. Jason Rothenberg developed the books int a fantastic series that follows a group of young people as they try and survive in a post-apocalyptic world. The future is a mess. Nuclear armageddon destroyed the Earth and left the people aboard several international space stations as the only survivors. Over time they linked their habitats and their resources together, and decades later, there are just four thousand surviving humans in the universe, all of them trapped in orbit above a ruined planet. That would be a tense situation even if nothing ever went wrong.
Unfortunately, life isn’t perfect anywhere, and the survivors have limited resources. That leads to some serious laws and even more severe consequences. In a society with limited air and food, families can only have one kid, and anyone who’s stealing or otherwise causing problems doesn’t have a place within the group. Adult offenders generally aren’t given a second chance, and the death penalty is standard. For juveniles, things are a little different. Child offenders go to jail until they reach majority.
When someone sabotages part of the station, the leaders are left without many options. People will die without enough air and food. They make the incredibly tough decision to send the young offenders down to earth to see if the planet is again inhabitable. Most of the show follows this group of 100 miscreants and troubled teens. Things are far from smooth on the ride down, and a group of teens is left to see if the world they’ve landed on is possible to survive after the fallout.
Earth is beautiful and wild but fraught with peril, not the least of which comes from within the group. Some of them don’t want to serve the adults in the station above and prefer to break away. Tensions mount and fights break out, some of them lethal. However, that’s not all they face. Wild animals, few survival skills, weather, and a mysterious toxic fog all cut down their numbers. That’s before they discover that they aren’t alone. Some humans have survived on Earth, and they are not friendly.
The Earth That Was
Before the last dregs of humanity were trapped in space or on a dying world, there was a thriving human society. People led ordinary lives and did everyday things like commuting to work and buying fast food. Life was pretty much the same as it always has been, at least in recent decades. Of course, there were high tensions and political problems. At least, we have to assume there were because at some point there was a nuclear Armageddon. That’s not something that just ‘happens’ by accident.
By our best guess, based on the little bit of information available about the prequel series is that the new series will begin just before the end of the world. We expect to see the nukes go off in the first or second episode. Surviving a world with nuclear problems is bad enough. The fallout could darken the skies, and it will undoubtedly kill billions. Those who remain will have to fight the environment and other survivors for uncontaminated supplies and shelter.
At first, survivors on Earth will have to find ways to cope with the lack of services, contaminated land, air oceans, and more. Some people will want to band together to rebuild. Others will only want to take what they need to make the rest of their lives comfortable and safe. Like the kids from the space station who won’t arrive for another ninety-seven years, survivors on Earth will have a whole host of terrifying and potentially deadly consequences to navigate. From illness and animals to the beginnings of that poison fog, a decimated world isn’t exactly a weekend camping trip.
What We Know For Sure
First, this is no mere rumor. The CW has put in for a pilot that is set ninety-seven years before the first events of The 100. They’ll be working with Jason Rothenberger again as the showrunner. Jason teased the idea of a prequel at the 2019 WonderCon, and he has discussed working on a prequel novel as well. We’ll be keeping an eye out for that since we always like to read the books behind the shows and movies we love.
Because of the timeframe, it seems unlikely that anyone from the original show will be apart of the new prequel cast. None of the characters from The 100 would have been born when the original nuclear apocalypse takes place. The prequel will follow a group of survivors as they try to re-establish a society. After the events of a significant extinction event like a nuclear armageddon, things will be toxic and dangerous.
Details have been kept under wraps for the most part, and no air date for the prequel has been announced. We don’t even know what the show will be called. However, the pilot should air as a planted episode within, or alongside the seventh season. It seems likely that the prequel show will take the time slot for The 100 after it wraps up. That means we won’t be seeing more from that universe until 2021 since the 2020 episodes of the seventh season are still filming.
Final Thoughts
We’re excited about the idea of a prequel for The 100. We’ve enjoyed the adventures of Clarke and her crew of survivors, their parents above, and the people who were left behind on Earth. There’s so much more story to tell in this world that we’re glad season seven won’t be the end. Hopefully, the prequel will get as much interest and love as the original. Certainly, we’ll tune in to see how the world ended. Are you looking forward to the prequel as much as we are? Let us know, in the comments section, what you think happened to the world before The 100.
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