In "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes," Rachel Zegler's Lucy Gray Baird character becomes the franchise's new Katniss Everdeen by being the tribute for District 12 in the 10th annual Hunger Games. The film's director, Frances Lawrence, told Vanity Fair, "This is not with judgment, but Lucy Gray is the anti-Katniss." Baird is also a musical performer from her District, one known for being a community of artist types. The director went on to say that Tom Blyth's Coriolanus Snow "Has never met a girl like this before." He continued that the two form a "kind of love story set in a different kind of a world in a different time."
The director noted that the film will also feature a new look to the dystopian future shown in the film. District 12, the Capitol, and the Arena have all been redesigned for the upcoming film. Nevertheless, there will still be things that ring familiar for long-time fans of the series. Lawrence said, "You get a little background of Katniss. You will obviously get a lot of the background of Snow, the history of the Games, the history of some of the music, where songs like 'The Hanging Tree' actually come from." So even though Jennifer Lawrence won't be returning to the role that made her an A-lister, her presence will still be felt in the film.
