Unraveling the Mysteries: Guess who's back in Panem? Brace yourselves for an unexpected twist in 'The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes'!

Ahead of the release of The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, Jennifer Lawrence expressed her desire to reprise the role of Katniss.

“If Katniss ever could ever come back into my life, 100%,” she said in June 2023 and, naturally, this led to fervent speculation from Hunger Games fans that Lawrence might make an appearance in the prequel movie.

Given that The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes is set before Katniss was even born, one theory was that she might appear as Katniss’s grandmother. Lawrence shut this down quickly, joking that the theory came from the fact she’s “49 in Hollywood years”.

But was it all a ruse? Now that The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes is out in cinemas, we now know whether Jennifer Lawrence does make an appearance as Katniss.

If you’re avoiding even mild spoilers though, then look away now.

LionsgateIs Jennifer Lawrence in the new Hunger Games movie?

We’ll cut to the chase: Jennifer Lawrence is not in The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes as Katniss or any other relative of Katniss.

There are nods to Katniss in the movie, such as Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) seeing a bow and arrow in the arena, as well as Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler) talking about the flower that Katniss is named after and doing the Katniss bow at the reaping.

However, unsurprisingly since it’s set 64 years before the first movie, Katniss does not make an appearance and neither do any other established Hunger Games characters, beyond Coriolanus and Tigris (Hunter Schafer).

But since Lucy Gray and Katniss appear to share a connection, such as Lucy Gray being the person to write ‘The Hanging Tree’, are the two characters related?

LionsgateIs Katniss related to Lucy Gray?

There’s no confirmation in The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes about whether Katniss is related to Lucy Gray or any of the other prequel characters.

However, since the book came out in 2020, Hunger Games fans have had a theory about who Katniss is related to. It’s another member of the Covey group that Lucy Gray is part of, but it’s not her – it’s Maude Ivory.

Maude Ivory, played by Vaughan Reilly in the movie, is the cousin of Lucy Gray and she shares some key characteristics with Katniss. Namely, Maude Ivory can memorise music after only one listen, much like Katniss can.

Why is that relevant? Well, we now know Lucy Gray wrote ‘The Hanging Tree’ which could only be performed once before being banned. And yet, decades later, Katniss was taught the song by her father, so how did he know it?

This hasn’t been officially confirmed in the book or the movie, but director Francis Lawrence appeared to confirm the theory in an interview with EW, saying: “I think Maude Ivory, the youngest in the Covey, is related to the Everdeens in the grand mythology of everything.”

He might have just been repeating a theory he’s heard or a genuine confirmation, but either way, it’s good enough for us.