Movie Sequels That You Never Realized Were Just Copying 'Empire Strikes Back'

After the release of Dead Man's Chest, critics were quick to compare the film to Empire. And looking back on the arc of the initial Pirates trilogy, they were right to do so. 

Following in the footsteps of Empire Strikes Back, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest has quite the cliffhanger ending. After a darker movie than the first, in which the main cast finds themselves split in different directions (just like Empire), the film ends with Captain Jack Sparrow at his end. Everyones' favorite pirate gets a one-way ticket to Davy Jones' locker from the Kraken, where he would have presumably stayed for eternity. Luckily for Jack, just like in Empire, his closest allies waste no time plotting his rescue with a surprise assist from the resurrected Captain Barbossa. 

While Back To The Future II is a touchstone for pretty much every time-travel movie that's been made since, it also borrows a penchant for shocking cliffhangers with Star Wars. The film ends with Marty Mcfly (who, just for the record, is from 1985) stranded in 1955 after the sudden disappearance of the Doc from his time. Marty was left with nothing except for a letter from Doc explaining that he was transported back to 1885. 

Back To The Future II also shared some DNA with Empire Strikes Back through an increase in darkness from the first installment. This film saw Marty finding himself trapped in an alternate dystopian present-day where Biff has become the ruler.

Just like Nerdist's review of the film announced, "Avengers; Infinity War is Marvel's Empire Strikes Back." This Marvel movie has one of the bleakest cliffhangers ever featured in a franchise film. Without the success of The Empire Strikes Back paving the way for it, there's no way a studio would have allowed a downbeat cliffhanger of this magnitude. 

For those who somehow missed it, Avengers: Infinity War ends with the heroes unequivocally losing and half of all life in the entire galaxy being wiped away. Audiences watched on as fan favorites like Peter Parker and Black Panther dissolved into dust. Fans were then forced to wait an entire year to find out how or even if the heroes would finally avenging their fallen comrades in Endgame.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is one of the darkest, grittiest, and top-to-bottom best entries into the MCU. As with many a great blockbuster sequel, the inspiration the film took from Empire is evident. 

The most obvious connection to the second Star Wars installment is the reveal of the film's main antagonist. Just like Darth Vader revealing to Luke that he's his father, Captain America discovers that the Winter Soldier is none other than his previously-thought-to-be-dead childhood best friend, Bucky. Also like Empire Strikes Back, the film ends with plenty of loose strings. When it comes time for the credits to roll, Winter Soldier is still at large, and it's up to Captain America to find his old friend. 

Honorable mention in the franchise goes to Captain America: Civil War (a movie where Peter Parker literally references Empire Strikes Back), which continues the downward slope into darkness and somehow ends in an even darker place than The Winter Soldier with the Avengers having completely broken up.

One of the key elements of Empire Strikes Back is Luke's relationship with Yoda. After learning the basics of the force from Ben Kenobi, Luke is ready for more training from a new Jedi Master. Luke travels to Dagobah, finds Yoda, and begins to train. Before Luke's training can finish, he goes against Yoda's warnings and leaves for Bespin to save his friends. 

Similarly, in The Matrix: Reloaded, Neo meets with The Architect, the Matrix's creator. The Architect tasks Neo with going to the Source to save the Matrix, but instead, he chooses to save his love, Trinity. SyFy rightly compared this moment to Empire Strikes Back as well due to the big twist - the machines have been behind The One this whole time. 

The Matrix: Reloaded ends on a classic Empire Strikes Back downbeat with the destruction of the Nebuchadnezzar and loss of most of Zion's fleet after an EMP goes off early. The machines have achieved quite the victory, and the movie ends with Neo in need of medical attention a la Luke in Empire. To make matters worse, one of the only other human survivors is secretly possessed by Agent Smith.

John Wick 2 ends with an absolutely phenomenal cliffhanger. The movie begins with Santino, a crime lord from Wick's past, returning to demand Wick fulfill the "marker" Santino has from him. This "marker" symbolizes an unbreakable promise. At first, Wick defies the request, but after Santino destroys Wick's home, he doesn't see any option but to accept the request. 

After a violent series of events, Wick sets his sights on Santino after being betrayed in bad faith. Wick pursues Santino into The Continental, the one safe-zone from assassinations. But, after Santino uses this fact to taunt Wick, Wick terminates him anyway. The film ends with Wick having one hour until his excommunicado status goes into effect, and every assassin in the world will be hunting him. While it feels a bit more exhilarating than Empire's crushing final ten minutes, it still leaves audiences desperate to find out what will happen when it's literally John Wick against the world.