A Way To Return To The Back To The Future Franchise
I understand people's reluctance to revisit the Back To The Future franchise. We already know that Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis are against the idea. When you look at what's happened with other beloved movie franchises in the last decade or so, it's completely understandable. Whether you want to call it woke or not, there is a sizable part of the fan base that is unhappy with the direction of several franchises.
I was browsing YouTube when I saw a video discussing what Back To The Future Part 2 could have been. It's important to remember that The Bobs were not keen on the idea of doing a sequel in the first place. The teaser ending was put in the first movie as a joke. When they realized they would have to go back and do a sequel, they weren't happy that the joke forced certain things into the story. For instance, they've said they didn't want the Jennifer character as part of the sequel.
The story Bob Gale drafted brought Marty and Doc into 1967. Marty was going to dress like a hippie as he tried to get the sports almanac back from Biff. In this story, it's explained that Biff inherited $25,000, so his older self was trying to give him a better idea of what to do with the money. There was a whole story of what would take place in 1967, and I find it interesting.
This gave me a thought that I know some people are going to be against. I'm not necessarily saying I'm for it either, just that it's interesting to consider. We are now in 2024, basically 40 years after the making of the original movie. There are plenty of things that we can explore in the past, and we can also look ahead to ideas of what the future could be.
My idea is that The Bobs are correct. The Marty McFly and Doc Brown story arc has been concluded. You have three very entertaining movies, plus you have the game, which many say is Part IV. Although it's not being called official cannon, I don't think it damaged the official cannon. Therefore, I consider it to be the fourth movie. That's the thing about art. We can interpret it and give it the meaning we choose to give it.
Doc and Marty don't need to be a part of a new Back To The Future. In fact, I wouldn't call this movie idea Back To The Future Part 4. I'd call it back to the Future with some other tagline, like Back In Time. We already know that Doc and Clara have two boys, Jules and Verne. We know that Marty and Jennifer have two kids. They would be the stars with new actors. In keeping with the spirit of the franchise, we can have a new Tannen family member.
We start with the premise that Jules and Verne find the schematics for the DeLorean time machine while snooping around their father's lab. Unbeknownst to Doc, they build a whole new time machine, and it works. We get Marty's kids involved with the story, and it starts there. Where do we go with it?
The 1990s are now 30 years ago. There's plenty of opportunity to look back nostalgically on that. We can go back to the 1960s. We can go to the time of prohibition. We can go to the Turn Of The Century. The point is, there are other stories to tell, and we could do so while leaving the original Doc and Marty story arc completely untouched.
In that way, The Bobs wouldn't have to worry about the integrity of the original franchise being messed with. They aren't likely to sign off on this either, but this movie would just be returning to the franchise. It wouldn't be a reboot of the original movie, nor would it be a sequel. It would be its own thing with a new story, still set in the BTTF universe. This story could be a whole new trilogy, set in Hill Valley .
The beautiful thing about time travel in movies is it opens up infinite possibilities. In fact, the ending of the alternate Back To The Future Part 2 had a new sequel teaser. This time, Doc wasn't going to explore the future when he left, he was going to explore other dimensions.
Some people say that Hollywood is out of ideas and we don't need to go back to old movie franchises. I don't disagree with that. After watching that video on YouTube, it clicked in my mind that we don't have to go anywhere near the original timeline of the original trilogy. Leave it alone and start something new. There are plenty of time travel stories to be told within Hill Valley. Maybe we can create the rival neighboring town that opens up the door to new jokes and scenery?
The Original Version Of Back To The Future Part 2
