Franchises often span decades, involving separate creative visions and multiple directors, so it's easy to see why keeping track of things is a challenge. Sometimes, movies forget or contradict major plot points, creating continuity issues that damage the franchise's own internal logic. In other cases, studios willingly ignore previous installments, resulting in massive gaps in the timeline and overall confusion.From sci-fi sagas like Transformers to fantasy epics such as Harry Potter and horror staples like Halloween, just about every major film series has fallen prey to continuity missteps. But there's always that one film that really throws everything into disarray.

Terminator: Dark Fate

2015's Terminator: Genisys is all over the place, turning series protagonist John Connor into a villain amid layers of time-travel ludicrousness that, at one point, make John older than his own parents. Still, all of that absurdity remains within the franchise's internal logic.

By 2019's Terminator: Dark Fate, the studio decided to ignore all entries after Terminator 2: Judgment Day, controversially killing John off as a child in its opening minutes. This continuity shifts focus to a new AI threat and a new chosen one, with an older Sarah Connor seeking to protect her - essentially the same Terminator outline, just without the original hero and villain.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service

Ernst Stavro Blofeld is revealed as the head of SPECTRE in You Only Live Twice, in which he and James Bond clash before Blofeld escapes. Viewers would naturally assume their antagonism would continue in the sequel, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, but instead, events unfold in a bafflingly inconsistent manner.

In the film, Bond and Blofeld encounter each other again, only for neither man to recognize the other. There's no explanation for their apparent amnesia, especially since they were in conflict in the previous movie.

Halloween

Halloween's continuity has spiraled out of control more than a few times. Still, Laurie's death in Halloween: Resurrection was widely accepted as the conclusion to her story. That no longer applies after 2018's Halloween, which wipes the slate clean by ignoring every entry apart from the 1978 original.

In the revised timeline, Michael Myers's previous bloodbath is erased, with the character shown to be in captivity for the last 40 years. Meanwhile, Laurie is not only alive and well, but has gone on to have a family. Her daughter and granddaughter appear alongside her as the film's protagonists.

Jigsaw

With its constant flashbacks and nonlinear storytelling, the Saw timeline is notoriously difficult to follow, even for longtime fans. But the franchise stretches all believability by retroactively adding Logan Nelson as Jigsaw's first chronological apprentice. The first entry clearly depicts Jigsaw making use of the reverse-bear trap, yet the eighth installment retcons this by claiming he and Logan had designed it together.

Logan's reveal as the next Jigsaw also disrupts the series's continuity moving forward. The character is never mentioned in Spiral, which takes place years later and suggests the Jigsaw killings stopped after John Kramer's death. Saw X, a midquel, features Jigsaw's two more prominent apprentices, Amanda and Hoffman, yet fails to mention Logan once more.

Karate Kid: Legends

Daniel LaRusso undergoes significant character development in Netflix's Cobra Kai, as he grapples with the pressure of living up to Mr. Miyagi's legacy. However, in Karate Kid: Legends - set three years after Cobra Kai - he's back to being indecisive and reluctant, once again struggling to balance his past with his present.

As it is, viewers can easily skip the entirety of Cobra Kai and jump from 2010's The Karate Kid to Legends. The only notable link between the Netflix series and Legends is a cameo by Johnny Lawrence, who shares a scene with Daniel. But even this seems more like two old acquaintances catching up than a genuine continuation of Cobra Kai's story.

X-Men: First Class

The X-Men series is notoriously awful at maintaining continuity, placing several characters in timelines and roles that clash wildly with previous films. Chief among them are Professor X and Magneto, whose portrayals in X-Men: First Class bear little resemblance to their established history in the original trilogy.

X-Men: The Last Stand shows Professor X and Magneto as older allies meeting a young Jean Grey, with Xavier able to walk. However, First Class shows their falling out all the way back in the '60s. Professor X and Mystique are established as surrogate siblings, a connection that is never hinted at in the original trilogy. Additionally, Emma Frost, who appears as a young adult in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, plays a villainous telepath completely unrelated to her role in the previous film.

Rocky Balboa

Rocky V features the protagonist suffering from extreme damage following his fight with Ivan Drago. His injuries are so severe that Rocky struggles to function in everyday life and is forced into retirement. Cut to Rocky Balboa 16 years later, and the old-timer is cleared to fight once more.

The film completely disregards Rocky V's primary plotline, acting as if the brain damage never happened. It also carries over the previous entry's own timeline issue, where Rocky's son is aged up beyond reason. This time around, Robert is in his 30s, when he should logically be significantly younger.

Superman Returns

The Superman franchise was revived nearly two decades after its previous entry with Superman Returns. Here, the titular protagonist is said to have been missing for five years, during which several events unfolded that clash with the continuity of Superman III, Superman IV, and Supergirl.

Rather than attempting to reconcile its inconsistencies, the film elects to ignore every entry except the first two Richard Donner films. As a result, Superman is supposed to have left Earth to travel into deep space searching for Krypton, while Lex Luthor returns after marrying a rich widow - plot developments that only make sense in this selectively rebooted continuity.

Ballerina

John Wick seemingly meets his end in John Wick: Chapter 4, but returns in Ballerina, which is set between the third and fourth Wick films. This raises questions since John is supposed to be on the run during this time. Even more confusingly, he shows up uninjured and unconcerned about his own problems, engaging in a fight against Eve Macarro at the Director's behest.

John's motivations are hard to pinpoint, and his willingness to partake in a conflict that has nothing to do with him feels out of character. Ballerina never explains why he's there - beyond a vague nod to the Director calling in a favor - instead reducing John to a glorified cameo role.