New Hunger Games Movie Can Cast Jeremy Allen White as a Younger Version of the Character 1 Marvel Star Played in the Original Films

Despite dystopian fantasy novels filling up bookstores on every street corner around the world, only a rare few manage to never go out of stock. It may be as ancient as J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit (1937) or as recent as Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games (2008), but the allure of escaping into a universe beyond one’s imagination never fails to attract crowds of fans thirsty for an escape.

The maddeningly captivating lore of Suzanne Collins’s Hunger Games plays with the audience’s imagination on a level never foretold before. Like J.R.R. Tolkien’s mythology of Middle-earth, J.K. Rowling’s Hogwarts, and George R.R. Martin’s Westeros, the dystopian city of Panem that serves as the setting of the Hunger Games then ushers in a world crafted by an excess of violence, control, power, political machinations, and tragedy.

Suzanne Collins Goes Back in Time for Haymitch Abernathy

If the world of Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark was not disturbingly violent enough, Suzanne Collins takes her readers back to the year of Haymitch Abernathy’s reaping. As part of a Quarter Quell, the 50th Hunger Games had the Capitol demanding twice as many tributes from each District “as a reminder that two rebels died for each Capitol citizen” during the First Rebellion.

Set during the Second Quarter Quell, the new prequel novel titled The Hunger Games: Sunrise of the Reaping dives into a world where a young and undeterred Haymitch Abernathy still had something to fight for. Although the lore behind the 50th Hunger Games has already been explored in the original works, there remains an element of mystery to the universe that crowned a dying Haymitch Abernathy as District 12’s victor even while slaughtering his entire family as retribution.

Filled with the potential allure of being branded as a tragic hero, the tale of Haymitch Abernathy only begins during the Second Quarter Quell. As such, it feels like a brash waste of resources not to bring his story to light, despite the foreknowledge of where his arc is headed.

Hunger Games Fans Already Have the Perfect Cast in Mind

Portrayed excellently by Woody Harrelson in the Hunger Games film series, the Haymitch Abernathy that the fans have grown to admire and adore seems a far cry from the one who answered his reaping on the eve of the Second Quarter Quell. Despite his drunken self-imposed isolation and sassy sarcastic indifference, Harrelson’s Abernathy was a tragic figure who rose to action when the circumstance called for it.

After years of him slowly degrading in the background, the character’s arc comes full circle when he finally serves a part in the Second Rebellion, helping to end the Hunger Games once and for all. With an arc as fulfilling as his, it only seems fair to exploit Haymitch Abernathy’s potential to be the lead of a whole new Hunger Games prequel film, especially considering the market still remains profitable for the franchise today.

With that thought in mind, fans have come up with the perfect casting for a younger version of the character that Woody Harrelson plays in The Hunger Games series. It seems that The Bear star Jeremy Allen White has risen to the top of the charts when it comes to in-demand A-listers, making him not only an attractive choice overall but also a perfect fit for the role [via X].

The Hunger Games: Sunrise of the Reaping is slated to launch on March 18, 2025. Its film adaptation is expected to premiere on November 20, 2026.