Jennifer Lawrence has confirmed to Variety that she’d return to The Hunger Games as Katniss Everdeen and honestly…girl, no.
According to Variety, Lawrence said, “Oh, my God – totally!” She went and followed that up with, “If Katniss ever could ever come back into my life, 100 percent.” And she also turned to look off-camera at said, “My producing partner just clutched her heart.”
There was also another interview from Entertainment Weekly where The Hunger Games was also asked about, because of course they did. Sitting with co-star Andrew Barth Feldman from No Hard Feelings, she cringed at the fact that Feldman was like 10 when Lawrence was in the middle of becoming a household name.
Katniss got her happy ending. It might not be the one she expected and everything might not be perfect. But she survived the games, she fell in love, had children, and created a life for herself. Returning in any capacity as Katniss means that they are going to fuck that up. And after what happened with Rue, Finnick, and Primrose, my little heart wouldn’t be able to handle Katniss losing her peace of mind, Peeta, or her children to The Hunger Games or any lingering Capitol bullshit.
Alsooooooo the ending of The Hunger Games was perfect. I still remember sitting in that theater and watching Katniss and Peeta reunite as he was planting Primroses. I remember their hug. The way that Katniss and Peeta would sit with each other in silence or when they held each other. And I remember how he held her close and asked for reassurance when his brain was playing tricks on him because you’re not suddenly over the torture that he experienced.
And I remember that field. The green. The ease. The way that Katniss watched Peeta play with their child because she didn’t want to miss a moment. The giggles. And I remember how Katniss looked at her child, something she probably never thought she’d have. The swell of the music as she spoke to her child about how she survived really tied it all together on how much she’d grown. And it felt like a declaration. “I survived. You didn’t destroy me. Better yet, I thrived.”
The nail in the coffin of The Hunger Games came when Katniss started singing the song she sang to Primrose during the credits. And there’s nothing anyone, not even Lawrence herself can say that will convince me that I want to return to this world and ruin the peace of mind this family has now. I don’t want more. I want her to be happy and safe. And sure, life isn’t always like that and bad shit still happens. But with 2023 being a shit show, and this franchise being special to me, I want to keep it safe.
I want to keep Katniss Everdeen safe. I want to keep Peeta Mellark safe. And if that means never seeing either of them again in new material, then so be it.
