No, this is not a drill or a fan fiction fantasy. Everlark is back, baby! Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson are officially returning as Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark in The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping.
Sunrise on the Reaping, which explores the backstory and Games of our favorite disgruntled mentor Haymitch Abernathy, ends with an epilogue that brings us back to Katniss, Peeta, and Haymitch after the fall of the Capitol. If you’ve read the original trilogy or even just seen the films, you know that is exactly where the story leaves off.
So when Lionsgate announced that this new prequel was headed to theaters, the big question quickly became whether Woody Harrelson, Lawrence, and Hutcherson would return for that epilogue or if the film would include it at all.
Joseph Zada has been cast as the young Haymitch Abernathy, pulled from District 12 and forced into the second Quarter Quell. Instead of two tributes, the Quell sends four. It is a brutal twist in the Games and a massive breakout role for Zada, who steps into one of the franchise’s most beloved characters. Producer Nina Jacobson explained, “Nobody can be Woody Harrelson but Woody Harrelson. You have to find that mischief he has inherently and turn back time to understand who he was before everything that shaped him.”
Honestly, I have all the faith in the world! I watched a few episodes of We Were Liars, and he’s easily the standout. McKenna Grace, who plays Maysilee Donner, one of the District 12 female tributes, said, “Joe is devastating as Haymitch. Everybody is going to be freaking sobbing in the theatre.” After watching the trailer, I fully believe her.
Now, I could write an entirely separate article breaking down every shot in that trailer (the ICONIC aspect ratio shift)! Still, what sent fans spiraling from excitement into full emotional collapse was, believe it or not, the last three seconds.
“I think these games are going to be different,” Haymitch says while the arena burns around him, but the voice isn’t Zada’s, it’s Woody Harrelson.
That one line immediately reignited rumors that he appears in the film, even though his involvement still has not been formally announced. I mean, come on! As a longtime student of Hunger Games studies, I know exactly what they’re getting at!
Then, the real bomb dropped. Every THG fan will remember where they were on December 10 at 4:38 PM, when The Hollywood Reporter reported that Lawrence and Hutcherson are set to return for Sunrise on the Reaping. Lawrence has always spoken about how The Hunger Games changed her life. She still holds the Guinness World Record as the highest grossing action heroine, and Catching Fire remains her top earning film at 865 million worldwide. Yet since then the Academy Award winner has gone on to star in action movies, arthouse dramas, and slapstick comedies, and other than the release of this new film, there was absolutely no reason for her to ever be Katniss again.
The same goes for Harrelson, who had an established career for decades before The Hunger Games, and Hutcherson, who recently admitted that it was hard to book roles once the series ended. “You’ve arrived. You now are working with Jennifer Lawrence and Philip Seymour Hoffman, and you’re in this movie that makes billions of dollars, you’re the second lead of the film. And then it was just a string of no one calling, not getting any offers, auditioning but not getting cast.” His career has since been reignited as he leads the very successful Five Nights at Freddy’s franchise and stars in Rachel Sennott’s new HBO show I Love LA.
Ultimately, they haven’t touched these characters in years (and let’s all be thankful none of them have gone full Tom Felton), so the announcement that they’re returning feels so unexpectedly crazy in the best way.
And for fans who grew up with this series, that choice feels like a victory of its own. With the release of the new prequels, the understanding of the Games and the revolution has certainly changed. A lot of people believe now that Katniss was always destined to lead the overthrow of the Capitol, since she’s Covey just like Lucy Gray, with a popular theory even claiming she’s Lucy Gray’s granddaughter. Personally, I think what makes The Hunger Games so special is that Katniss was just a regular girl who was trying to protect her sister. There’s no dynasty or destiny to it. The same goes for all the tributes, victims, and victors. The whole point was that they’re just regular children like you and me, forced to kill or be killed and the pure injustice of that is enough to radicalize anyone.
But again, the two prequels, especially Sunrise, show us how the revolution began taking shape long before Katniss and Peeta were even born. Still, to me and to so many OG fans, they remain the heart of the entire story, from Songbirds and Snakes to Mockingjay. That is why their return feels so special. With fifty years of added context and narrative, we get to see Peeta, Haymitch, and the Mockingjay herself at peace. And I think that’s what all Katniss girlies deserve! (And of course, Haymitch girlies too, because if you’ve read Sunrise, you KNOW Suzanne absolutely put him through the ringer!)
Sunrise on the Reaping is promising a devastating ride, and now we know it ends with familiar faces waiting for us on the other side.