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'Back to the Future' Theory: Parts II & III Never Happened?!

Whoa, this is heavy...

By Jonathan SimPublished 6 years ago 7 min read
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In 1985, Back to the Future hit the big screen, and it was an instant hit. I have to say, when I'm asked what my favorite movie is, it's a little hard because of the amount of movies I love, but Back to the Future is definitely my number one.

Then, they made two sequels which were pretty good, but weren't considered as good as the original. Even so, the Back to the Future trilogy will always be my favorite movie series.

But despite how much I love all three of these movies, I have come up with a stunning revelation: what if Back to the Futures Part II and III never actually happened?

Now, don't worry, this isn't some sort of bitter fan who hates these movies so much to the point where they want to throw these movies off of the BTTF canon, the way people are trying to throw Star Wars: The Last Jedi off the canon.

LIKE, COME ON, THIS MOVIE WASN'T THAT BAD! Damn...

No, this is just a theory. A theory that I've come up with that I think is plausible. So, let's get into this theory: the events of the second and third films were both part of a dream that Marty McFly had. It seems crazy, but as you read the evidence, get ready to say "Great Scott!"

So, on the night that Marty came back from the future, Doc drives him home, and he says goodbye to him, as Doc travels to the year 2015.

And that night, Marty ended up having a crazy dream after all that time travel he experienced. He dreams that when he wakes up, his family and Biff have all changed, but his father now looks like this:

Okay, come on. Why would George look like that?

Lorraine looks different because she stopped overeating, drinking, and smoking, which is why she looks so much younger. And nice auto detail Biff pretty much looks the same as mean supervisor Biff. But why doesn't George still look like this in 1985?

That's because the altered timeline that Marty is dreaming up isn't real. While Lorraine and Biff's changes do make sense, George's physical change doesn't.

And also, why are the McFlys so rich now? They got their 17-year-old son a 4x4!

While yes, Marty did give 1955 George new confidence, George didn't release his first novel until 1985. So, why should the families be so much more rich and why should the living room look any different from how it did in the original timeline?

See, in dreams, we build on reality. Marty wanted a 4x4 at the beginning of Back to the Future, so he dreams that he has a 4x4. And he dreams that everything in his family has changed, to the point where it's unbelievable.

Not only that, but his girlfriend comes in and who the f**k is that?!

That's not Jennifer. But Marty looks at this impersonator and doesn't even realize she's not his girlfriend. Even after he says, "let me look at you," he still doesn't even realize how different she looks. He sees something bizarre, and he just accepts it without question, which you have definitely done before in a dream.

Now, Marty, Doc, and Jennifer travel to the year 2015. There, they find old Lorraine, old Biff, old George, and... old Marty and old Jennifer?

Here's why this doesn't make sense: remember in the first Back to the Future when Einstein traveled one minute into the future? He disappeared in the time machine for one minute, and then reappeared one minute later in the time machine.

So, if Marty and Jennifer were traveling from 1985 to 2015, then they would be VANISHING from 1985 and REAPPEARING in 2015. That means there is no Marty or Jennifer in 1985 to grow into their older selves and have kids in 2015.

So, it makes no sense for there to be an old Marty, an old Jennifer, or any of their kids in 2015, because Marty and Jennifer vanished from 1985.

Marty also dreams of an extremely exaggerated version of 2015, in which flying cars are prominent, hoverboards ACTUALLY hover, and the fashion style is, well, not even close.

There are also some paradoxes with the time travel that die-hard BTTF fans like me already know about. If you don't know about them, try to watch this clip from The Big Bang Theory and understand it:

And Marty discovers that in 1985A, Biff murdered George and married Lorraine. But it was very obvious from the first movie that Lorraine felt no attraction to Biff at all.

So, yes. She would have been a single mother with three kids, but she could have married ANY MAN ON THE PLANET who wasn't Biff. I mean, Biff couldn't have been the only person on the planet who could have provided Lorraine with financial support. But Marty's dream doesn't have to make sense. Because it's a dream.

And also, why does Biff sound so different from how he sounded in the original 1985 when he was just a supervisor?

I mean, I get Biff becoming rich with the almanac, but your voice doesn't change the higher your net worth is. This was merely an exaggeration in Marty's mind from how mean Biff was in the original 1985 and in 1955.

Biff holds a gun to Marty and gives him the choice between death by lead poisoning or suicide. Marty jumps off the roof and lands on the roof of the DeLorean.

Now, don't get me wrong. This scene was one of my favorite scenes in cinematic history. But how did Doc know to be flying in the DeLorean at that time of night? He had no clue that Marty would need it to survive.

Marty and Doc go back to 1955, and we revisit the Enchantment Under the Sea Dance. If you watch the videos below, there are some timing issues between the original instance and the second one, which we can only assume happened because this is a dream.

Doc is in the DeLorean later in the evening and it gets struck by lightning, causing him to go back to 1885. But there is a major problem with this:

While, yes, the lightning bolt supplied the Flux-Capacitor with the 1.21 gigawatts needed to travel through time, the rule for time travel is, you need 1.21 gigawatts AND you need to be traveling at a speed of 88 mph.

And when Doc was in the DeLorean when it got struck, the DeLorean was barely moving. This illogical dream content was accepted without question, just like in all dreams. And well, I guess Marty's dream wanted a sequel.

Marty's dream would later contain what some may know as the Tombstone Paradox. And it goes like this:

In 1955, Marty sees Doc's tombstone and as a result, goes back to 1885 and saves Doc from being killed. Marty takes out a picture of the tombstone from his pocket and sees the tombstone vanish from the picture.

But here's the thing: if Doc wasn't killed in 1885, then that would mean there's no tombstone in 1955. This means that Marty wouldn't find a tombstone in 1955, and would have no reason to go back to 1885. And if Marty doesn't go to 1885, then Doc DOES get shot, and Marty DOES go back and... you get the picture?

This would, logically, create a paradox. But it doesn't happen. If this ACTUALLY happened, the universe would have blown up like the motherf**king Death Star.

So, this is pretty much concrete evidence that this all takes place in a dream. I mean, Marty's just a kid. He doesn't know the laws of time travel and is usually unaware of what could create a paradox.

The very fact that a paradox wasn't created the second that tombstone vanished from 1955 is pretty much concrete evidence. I probably don't even have to get into the fact that it's impossible for Doc to create an entire time machine out of a train with 1885 technology.

What I'm essentially saying with this theory is that it was all a dream. The stuff that happened was as cool as the stuff that happens in a dream, but also as illogical.

The next morning, on October 26, 1985, Marty should wake up and find his living room look almost the same, George look about the same, Lorraine healthy and fit, and everything that would be rational.

But as I finish this theory, just remember: your future is whatever you make it. So make it a good one.

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About the Creator

Jonathan Sim

Film critic. Lover of Pixar, Harry Potter, Star Wars, Marvel, DC, Back to the Future, and Lord of the Rings.

For business inquiries: [email protected]

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