Your first question, like mine, is probably "But didn't the 300 Spartans buy the farm at the end of the original movie?" Well, yes, and valiantly. All but narrator Dilios. So you'd think that would take the sequel into more prequel territory, but Snyder, who is determined to bring solely Frank Miller's vision to life (Miller will write and illustrate the graphic novel first, and only upon its completion will work on the script begin), said that it will essentially be both a sequel and a prequel. According to Dark Horizons, the story will take place between the first film's Battle of Thermopylae and the Battle of Plataea -- the battle that narrator Dilios is at while re-telling the story of King Leonidas and the mighty Spartans to a new group of warriors at the end of 300. A year's worth of story to tell. Not exactly a lot of time between one giant battle and the next for the men of Sparta, but their profession is, after all, HA-OOH!

So: Awesome! More beefcake for me, more action for the boys and more fodder for my alma mater (the Spartans of Michigan State) to roll on their big screen before football games. Everybody wins!