There’s always a ton of secrecy surrounding new entries into popular franchises, whether they be movies, books, video games, or any number of formats. So it was no surprise to learn that the new Hunger Games novel from Suzanne Collins, Sunrise on the Reaping, was completely shrouded in secrecy ahead of its release. Fans knew the book would be about Haymitch Abernathy and the 50th Hunger Games, and that’s about it. But advance copies of the book weren’t sent out to critics ahead of release. There’s a movie already on the schedule for 2026 but absolutely no casting information yet. That’s because there were a ton of secrets hidden with the new novel’s pages.
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Everyone expected Sunrise on the Reaping to have some interesting nuggets about the backstory of Haymitch. What nobody suspected, though, was just how deeply connected to the original Hunger Games trilogy the book would actually be. Now that Sunrise on the Reaping has been released, fans are discovering just how many surprises were waiting for them.
If you haven’t read Sunrise on the Reaping and don’t want to know anything about the book, consider this your final spoiler warning. We won’t be talking about specific plot details or how the book ends or anything like that, but this article is going to discuss many of the secrets and surprises that have been purposefully left out of the marketing material ahead of the Sunrise on the Reaping launch.
So we’ve always known this book would be about Haymitch, and we knew that President Snow would obviously be involved. What we didn’t know is that most of the major characters from the original Hunger Games books (particularly Catching Fire) would be so important to Haymitch’s story. Seriously, every couple of chapters in this book you’re introduced to the younger version of a character that you already know.
In the very first chapter, you’re introduced to two of Haymitch’s friends from District 12: Burdock and Asterid. They don’t play huge roles in the story of the book but die-hard Hunger Games fans will likely piece together that they are the eventual parents of Katniss Everdeen.
Once Haymitch is reaped into the Games, more and more of his eventual allies from the events of Catching Fire start to pop up. First and foremost is Plutarch Heavensbee, who we know is a major force behind the Second Rebellion and is named Head Gamemaker ahead of the 75th Hunger Games. In Sunrise on the Reaping, he is a wealthy citizen of the Capitol and the person in charge of documenting Haymitch’s journey for television. He’s one of the biggest characters in the entire book and readers do get the chance to see the seeds of the rebel leader Plutarch being planted.
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Plutarch is far from the only member of the eventual rebellion to help Haymitch along in Sunrise on the Reaping. Since District 12 had no living mentors at the time, two victors from other districts were assigned to Haymitch and his peers. Those two former winners were none other than Mags and Wiress. Mags, from District 4, won the 11th Hunger Games and eventually joined the 75th Hunger Games by volunteering in place of Annie. Wiress, from District 3, won the 49th games, just one year before Haymitch was reaped.
Of course, it wouldn’t be right to have Wiress without her partner in crime, Beetee, and he plays a critical role in Sunrise on the Reaping. It would be something of a spoiler to dig into the specifics of how he factors into the story, but Beetee is much more than just a cameo.
Just when you think the surprise appearances are over, right before the actual games begin, readers are introduced to the one and only Effie Trinket. From the moment Katniss and Peeta are reaped in The Hunger Games, readers are made aware that there is a longstanding history between Haymitch and Effie. It makes sense, given that he has to mentor every single District 12 competitor for 25 years. But this book gets to explore the very start of their relationship, and how Effie’s role in the Hunger Games came to be.
So if you’ve been wondering why there has been very little in the way of casting for the Sunrise on the Reaping movie, despite the fact that it will go into production this year, it’s because many of the key characters that need to be cast are young versions of people we’ve already seen on-screen. Announcing any of those cast members would spoil the surprises of the book.
That said, can we all start petitioning for Cooper Hoffman to land the role of a young Plutarch? The late Phillip Seymour Hoffman played Plutarch in three of the four Hunger Games movies, and Cooper is a spitting image of his father. It would be great to see him in the role, keeping the character in the family. The same can be said for President Snow and actor Kiefer Sutherland, who is the same age as the version of the character in Sunrise on the Reaping. Remember, Donald Sutherland originated the live-action version of Snow in all four Hunger Games movies, before Tom Bltyh played him The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
What did you think of Sunrise on the Reaping? Are you excited to see how the film comes together? Let us know in the comments!
