Let us be the first to say that we endorse the act of indulging in the art of the fan theory; imagination makes the world go round, and especially when it comes to some of history’s most beloved blockbuster sagas – itself a cultural apex of imagination – we would go as far as to say it’s a natural response.
But the imagination can go anywhere, and that includes some particularly dark corners, ones that can be accessed even when faced with Robert Zemeckis’ flagship sci-fi franchise Back to the Future, which, even with some of its rocky subject matter, is chiefly known as a barrel of fun across many generations.
You’re not allowed to have nice things on the internet, and one user on r/FanTheories has ensured that that rule extends to the adventures of Marty McFly with a wickedly depressing fan theory.
The long and short of it is that, in looking to explain Marty’s evolution into a hothead in Part II and III in particular, the user points to Marty having witnessed the violent death of Doc Brown in the first film as the reason for his more easily-provoked nature, arguing that such an event would have left the protagonist with a heinous case of PTSD that manifested in a myriad of forms.
While responders were mostly on board with the believability of the theory, it didn’t quite hold up against the much more blatant, lighter possibility that Marty’s sensitivity to cowardice accusations stem from having George McFly as a father, with responders further arguing that either version of George could have contributed.
We suppose the moral of the story is to take no shame in your love for fan theories if you so happen to harbor it, but don’t discount the value in having something just for yourself, either.