As fans of Sons of Anarchy know all too well, we’ll probably never get to spend any more time with the characters we grew to love over those seven seasons. (Unless, of course, Jimmy Kimmel puts together a reunion sketch on his show or something.) But we can one day live in the world of the mythology again, whenever creator Kurt Sutter gets around to making the previously announced prequel series. Thankfully, he’s got a good idea for what it’ll be about and how he’ll tackle it.
Sutter is getting ready to unleash his blood-soaked 14th century drama The Bastard Executioner on audiences next week, so heading back into the world of Sons of Anarchy isn’t in the cards just yet, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t given it some thought. When asked by Deadline what his vision was for telling the origin story behind SAMCRO, here’s how he put it.
At some point I do have plans to hopefully do the prequel, which I do see as a one-off 10- or 12-episode thing where we begin in ‘Nam and see John Teller and Piney and see how that relationship got created, and bring them back to the States and the obvious external dynamics that were going on with the country and the perception of the war and what an odd kind of perception these vets got when they returned home. And then have it be the development of the club, ending before we start to get too close to some of the mythology that’s already been established.
While I, like many others, am definitely interested in getting into the historical meat of this motorcycle club and its founders – well-known as the First 9 – I am almost more intrigued by the concept of Sutter telling a story about post-Vietnam America and the state of this nation at that particular time. Having that angle anchored to the story of John Teller, such a monolithic presence throughout Jax Teller’s character arc on Sons of Anarchy, is the perfect way to kill two creative birds with one stone.
As well, it’s smart to keep this prequel series as a singular entity that doesn’t necessarily blend too much into the stories that we already know. It’s unclear from his description if the plot would incorporate the relationship between Clay and Gemma, or if things would wrap up before that murderous pair ever came to be. In any case, I love the idea of getting to know young versions of Otto and Keith and other characters who were dead or died during the series’ run.
Sure, the idea of a spinoff series also sounds like a great idea, because TV can never have too much of Sutter’s maniacal storytelling, but I don’t think that concept could be more exciting than the idea of seeing the First 9 come together. I’m certainly hoping Bastard Executioner is a huge success, but it would suck to have to wait another 7 years for the prequel to get made. That's a Gemma-level of selfishness going on there.
