Examples of a supporting character taking over a film franchise

[Gaastra]

The egg and i. Ma and ka kettle took over after the first movie.

[j9ac9k]

"Van Wilder" and "Van Wilder: Rise of the Taj"
"Bruce Almighty" and "Evan Almighty"

Both passed the torch of the sequel to a supporting character in the first film... (not exactly "franchises" but...y'know)

[A Small Talent For War]

Not just a supporting character that steals the show in one movie, but one that actually ends up taking over the franchise itself.

I was watching Tremors: Shrieker Island a few days ago and the question came to mind.

Michael Gross’ Burt Gummer pretty much did it all in that franchise.
He went from supporting character (and comedy relief) in the original, to co-Star in the sequel, to Starring in the third, to leading a TV show based on the movie to playing his own grandfather in the fourth movie. Movies five through seven saw him fight Graboids in extremely different terrains, while in universe he became something of a legend in certain circles after 30 years of cryptid combat.

So yeah, looking for other examples of that type.

FAST AND THE FURIOUS, right? Essentially, that entire movie franchise has been about the antagonist of the original movie becoming the protagonist of all the subsequent films, AND the antagonists of sequels becoming the protagonists of spin-offs.

[OpaqueGiraffe17]

oops, someone already mentioned this one

[Midvillian1322]

FAST AND THE FURIOUS, right? Essentially, that entire movie franchise has been about the antagonist of the original movie becoming the protagonist of all the subsequent films, AND the antagonists of sequels becoming the protagonists of spin-offs.

Brian was the POV character but I don't think you can call Vins role a supporting character. They were co-leads and continued to be untill Walkers death.

Staying with Vin Diesel there is Pitch Black/Riddick. Though In the ssme boat as Fast and furious I dont think his character was a side character. Mitchel and Walker played the PoV characters kinda but Vin got just as much attention if not more.

[Cyke]

The X-Men. Most movies were primarily about Wolverine guest starring the X-Men as supporting characters, and then Apocalypse came and they switched places. Then the X-Men were the main protagonists in Dark Phoenix

(all you Fox fans -- I'M KIDDING.)

[j9ac9k]

Sandra Bullock tool over "Speed" from Keanu, but it didn't quite work out.

[Rincewind]

"Van Wilder" and "Van Wilder: Rise of the Taj"
"Bruce Almighty" and "Evan Almighty"

Both passed the torch of the sequel to a supporting character in the first film... (not exactly "franchises" but...y'know)

Same thing happened with SHORT CIRCUIT and SHORT CIRUIT 2. Fisher Stevens in brownface was the comic relief supporting character in the first movie. In the second, he was the lead.

[Scott Taylor]

In the Nolan trilogy, Batman was the main character in Batman Begins, but Joker was the main character in Dark Knight Returns and Bane was the main character in Dark Knight Rises.

[Riv86672]

Sandra Bullock tool over "Speed" from Keanu, but it didn't quite work out.

^^^Yeah that franchise died a horrible death.

You also mentioned Bruce Almighty earlier. I think if Evan Almighty had done well, maybe Morgan Freeman would have taken over the franchise, involving himself in more ordinary lives.

[Chris Lang]

The Pink Panther

To elaborate, the gentleman thief Sir Charles Lytton was intended to be the main character. But Inspector Closeau was such a show stealer he took over the lead in all the movies that followed up until Peter Sellers' death, and Charles Lytton was played by a different actor in his next appearance, and wasn't in most of the other Sellers movies.

Friday the 13th

Mrs. Voorhees was the killer in the original. Jason only showed up at the end in a dream sequence.

But then, Jason took over the franchise.

Indeed. It got to the point where people forget that Mrs. Voorhees was the killer in the original, as the movie 'Scream' noted. Jason Voorhees didn't begin his murder spree until the second movie.

Then there was the Fugitive movie in the 90s starring Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones. Tommy Lee Jones' character, who was pursuing Ford's fugitive character of Kimble, returned in the movie US Marshalls, where he's on another case featuring someone wrongfully accused.

[j9ac9k]

Same thing happened with SHORT CIRCUIT and SHORT CIRUIT 2. Fisher Stevens in brownface was the comic relief supporting character in the first movie. In the second, he was the lead.

I almost mentioned that, but wasn't Johnny-5 really the lead in both?

[Ikari]

I don't think so. In the first trilogy, even "Old Ben" remarked that Anakin was considered a hero during the Clone Wars, and that Vader "killed him". So, it was already set up for Anakin to be a good guy, at least for a time.

Well in the first movie, they were meant to be different characters. Vader becoming so iconic certainly increased Anakin's overall role in the saga to the point he became a messianic character. Originally Vader was just an exotic henchman, like Oddjob or Jaws.

Frozen is maybe sort of example of this - character of Elsa was originally written as antagonist as the Snow Queen in the original story. In the finished movie she was written into sort of a victim role, but she became face of the franchise.

[j9ac9k]

I'm not 100% positive, but didn't the "American Pie" franchise continue on by bringing the supporting characters more to the front after the leads left?

[Riv86672]

I'm not 100% positive, but didn't the "American Pie" franchise continue on by bringing the supporting characters more to the front after the leads left?

Yeah, from what I can tell. I only ever see the occasional trailer, but they did a little bit of everything. Stifler’s brother, band camp...
Eugene Levy seemed to be a pretty consistent presence.