It’s one of the best-loved movies, but have you ever wondered why Marty McFly couldn’t start the DeLorean time machine in Back to the Future? Well, a popular new fan theory argues it’s thanks to interference from past and future versions of the same car that appear and disappear around the same point in time. Reddit user CB2001 argues: “Now, no one ever questioned why the DeLorean’s engine in the first film cut off as Marty attempts to head back to 1985 from 1955, or why it cuts off again when he gets there.”
The fan continued: “There is a possibility: the DeLorean time machine gets interference (the best word I can think of to describe it) from other DeLorean time machines.
“Think about this: When Marty attempts to head back to 1985, he gets into place and everything is set. Then the engine cuts off.
“Maybe the reason why is that at roughly the same moment in time (by a few minutes at least), the future DeLorean (as seen in Back To The Future Part 2) gets struck by lightning and is sent back in time to 1885.
“Somehow, when the DeLorean travels, it emits something that interferes with the engine of other nearby time-travelling DeLoreans.
“And it takes time for this interference to dissipate (which explains how Marty was able to start the engine again only a few minutes after it cut off).
“When he gets back to 1985, it is at 1:24AM, three minutes after the DeLorean’s first-time jump.”
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The theorist added: “This is what causes the DeLorean to conk out again shortly after arriving, because whatever the interference that was generated by the previous DeLorean’s time jump was still in the area and hadn’t completely dissipated when the Libyans drove by.
“The only time that one DeLorean time machine doesn’t affect any other is the one residing inside of the cave that Doc put in there in 1885.”
Meanwhile, Back to the Future screenwriter Bob Gale has confirmed a Marty McFly multiverse theory, similar to the rules of time travel in Avengers Endgame.
Speaking with Games Radar, he confirmed that there are infinite versions of Marty McFly across the Back to the Future trilogy.
He said: “People wonder [about] the end of Back to the Future – Marty comes back and the world is a little different for him. His father is a famous author, not the nerd that got picked on.”
Gale added: “What does Marty remember about his past?
“Does he remember the past where his dad was a nerd? Does he have new memories of this?”
“Are there infinite universes? Sure. Why not? That’s the definition of infinity, right?
“It can just go on and on and on and on.
“Is it possible that there’s an entire universe and the only difference between that universe and ours is that I’m wearing a black t-shirt right now instead of a grey one?”