In the Silver Age of Comics, Superman editor Mort Weisinger had a rule about a recycled plot: He was actually fine with it happening every couple of years, since it was his belief that the kids the comics were written for aged out of comics within five years. This is why more than half of Lois Lane stories seem to involve her getting her own super-powers, why Wonder Woman met Robin Hood two different times, why Archie stories sometimes seemed to be vintage tales redrawn with modern clothing. South Park made a pretty strong joke of it when they redid the pilot episode several seasons later, only to have the characters realize what was going on and undermine the plot, leading to today’s deja vu-infused query…
The MS-QOTD (pronounced, as always, “misquoted”) is always reminded of Stephen’s anger at ‘Cars’ being ‘Doc Hollywood’ and ‘Cars 2’ being ‘A Man Called Flintstone’, asking: What’s your favorite example of a recycled plot in fiction?
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Shakespeare’s King Lear has been retold countless times in different settings: Old king retires and leaves his kingdom in hands of three sons/daughters. Infighting, treachery and madness ensues. My favorite exapmle of this is Akira Kurosawa’s Ran.
I’m a sucker for the opposite attract trope. Han and Leia. Ron and Hermione. Bats and Wonder Woman