‘Back to the Future 4’ Would Likely Use De-Aging To Re-Create Younger Marty McFly and Doc Brown

Back to the Future director Robert Zemeckis just got one step closer to a fourth film.

Though we live in a time where sequels and reboots absolutely dominate the cinema landscape and have done so for many years, the idea of a fourth film in the Back to the Future series, whether a sequel or a reboot, thankfully, seems very unlikely.

For most fans of the beloved franchise, this is good news. While Back to the Future Part II (1989) and Back to the Future Part III (1990) don’t quite live up to the original 1985 film (though still great), it’s still a near-perfect trilogy that should remain sacred like time itself.

Does Back to the Future Need a Legacy Sequel?

More often than not, long-awaited sequels ruin what has come before by bringing back the original cast, now much older and therefore nowhere near as fun to watch, for a half-hearted outing that seldom captures the charm, authenticity, and quality of their predecessors.

Star Wars and Indiana Jones are just a few out of countless examples. And reboots are usually no better. If we’re talking specifically about ’80s properties like Back to the Future, the reviled 2016 Ghostbusters reboot should remain a cautionary tale.

Gale Doesn’t Want Back to the Future IV

Fortunately, the creators of the Back to the Future trilogy, writer/producer Bob Gale and writer/director Robert Zemeckis, have gone on record (numerous times) to condemn the idea of a fourth film in whatever form, whether sequel, reboot, or other.

In 2020, Gale told BBC News, rather bluntly, “You know, you don’t sell your kids into prostitution. It was the wrong thing to do. We put ‘The End’ at the end of part three.”

He added, “Plus, Michael J Fox isn’t in the shape to do a movie, and nobody wants to see Marty McFly having Parkinson’s disease, and nobody wants to see another actor playing Marty McFly if it’s supposed to be a continuation.”

Of course, Fox’s condition, which continues to worsen, has completely hindered his life for over 30 years. Still, it hasn’t stopped him from becoming a true beacon of hope for others like him; founding the Michael J Fox foundation in 2000 to help fund important research.

While the Back to the Future films were followed by a cartoon, comic books, and a game, Gale said in a 2010 interview (via The Telltale Blog), “Only the movies are canon. Everything else fits into the ‘what-if?’ category, or might be canon in some alternate universe.”

But now, a fourth Back to the Future movie suddenly doesn’t seem so unlikely. Director Robert Zemeckis, who helmed the three iconic sci-fi comedy movies, may agree with Gale, but at the same time, he seems to be inching closer to Back to the Future Part IV.

While his new film, Here (2024), which stars Tom Hanks and Robin Wright in the lead roles, isn’t related to Back to the Future, check out the new trailer below and we’ll dive into why this means a new film featuring Marty McFly and Doc Brown is now more likely than ever.

Robert Zemeckis’s New Movie, Here

Here is an American lifetime drama movie based on a graphic novel of the same name. Per Wikipedia, the description reads, “The story covers the events of a single spot of land and its inhabitants, spanning from the past to well into the future.”

Whether the premise of this film interest you or not, we think you’ll agree that the “de-aged” Tom Hanks and Robin Wright (yes, Robert Zemeckis has reunited Forrest and his girlfriend Jenny from his iconic 1994 film Forrest Gump) look surprisingly believable.

While many of us have already become desensitized to this form of moviemaking magic in recent years, thanks to the like of Marvel and Star Wars and countless online “Deepfake” videos, Here appears to have taken things up a notch in terms of quality and realism.

As such, this has us wondering whether Back to the Future IV can work in the same way.

In fact, director Robert Zemeckis is no stranger to using groundbreaking digital technology to create or drastically alter characters in his films. The question is, do they point towards an inevitable Back to the Future sequel? Let’s take a look at some of those films.

Related: 5 Actresses Who Could Play Female Marty McFly In ‘Back to the Future’ Reboot

Welcome to Marwen

Robert Zemeckis’ 2018 drama Welcome to Marwen (2018) stars Steve Carell as a man struggling with PTSD after a physical assault. To cope with his trauma, Mark Hogancamp imagines a world in which he’s a warplane pilot/action figure, along with many others.

While the FX — which capture the actors’ likeness albeit it in doll-like form — are a little unnerving, they’re still impressive. We’re not suggesting Back to the Future IV takes a leaf out of this book, but it proves Zemeckis has a penchant for digital likeness.

Related: ‘Back to the Future Part 4’ Trailer With Tom Holland Explained

The Polar Express

2004’s The Polar Express is a Christmas classic, but it’s still criticized for its “uncanny valley” effect, as many audiences find the almost-realistic characters that populate the film, most of which are portrayed by Tom Hanks in motion-capture performance, quite creepy.

However, surprisingly, last year, Zemeckis announced that a sequel to the Christmas classic is in early development. If an “un-sequel-izable” film like The Polar Express can get a sequel, then surely it’s just “a matter of time” before Back to the Future IV happens.

But could a new film in the beloved sci-fi series work using the same technology as The Polar Express, albeit more refined to modern-day standards, work? Perhaps we’re best off waiting to see how the sequel to the 2004 Christmas film turns out first.

Related: ‘The Polar Express’ May Share Its Universe With 3 Iconic Franchises!

A Christmas Carol (2009)

Robert Zemeckis returned to world of CG animation and motion capture with the 2009 big screen adaptation of Charles Dickens’ timeless classic “A Christmas Carol.” This time, Jim Carrey steps into the role of the frugal merry-less miser Ebenezer Scrooge.

The animation might be a notch above that of The Polar Express, however, the actors’ likenesses (Jim Carrey, Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, and Robin Wright) here have been deliberately exaggerated and altered, likely to create a grander sense of escapism.

Still, it’s yet another example that Zemeckis is no stranger to using digital VFX to re-create actors, whether it’s semi-photorealistic or something slightly more fantastical. Again, it leaves us wondering whether Back to the Future IV should take this route.

Here

We all adore Michael J Fox and Christopher Lloyd, and whenever they show up in interviews (or on stage at the Glastonbury Festival in the UK), our hearts leap with joy. But seeing them in a new Back to the Future as they are probably wouldn’t go down well with most fans.

That’s not to say seeing them return wouldn’t warm hearts, but we only need to look at the recent return of Mark Hamill’s Luke Skywalker and Harrison Ford’s Han Solo/Indiana Jones to realize that seeing beloved actors reprise their roles just doesn’t feel as magical as it used to.

Sadly, Fox, 63, and Lloyd, 85, are perhaps too old for more time-traveling adventures.

However, if they were to return in a “de-aged” form like Mark Hamill did with Luke Skywalker in The Mandalorian (2019) and The Book of Boba Fett (2021), and Harrison Ford’s latest Indy outing in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023), or Tom Hanks and Robin Wright in Here, fans might be a lot more receptive to the idea of a sequel.

Related: ‘Back to the Future’ Sequels May Not Exist in Same Timeline as First Movie, Cast Member Suggests

Would Michael J Fox and Christopher Lloyd Return?

Whether Michael J Fox (Marty McFly) and Christopher Lloyd (Doc Emmett Brown) would want to return to provide motion capture performance and digital likeness is another matter. However, the stars have already given their opinions on the possibility of a fourth film.

While Lloyd seems interested in returning to Back to the Future, telling The Hollywood Reporter in 2015 that he “would love to do Doc again, no question,” Fox told Variety last year, “I’m not fanatical,” adding, “Do what you want. It’s your movie. I got paid already.”

In an interview with Entertainment Tonight in 2022, Fox pitched his own idea for a remake of the original 1985 film, putting forward the idea of a female-led Back to the Future reboot, saying, “I actually had this thought that if they did the movie again, they should do it with a girl as Marty. I mean, a different perspective on it would be good.”

A Back to the Future Sequel or a Reboot?

While neither is likely to happen, fans would undoubtedly prefer a fourth film in the Back to the Future series as opposed to a reboot of the 1985 film. As we’ve already said, Ghostbusters: Answer the Call (2016) should be viewed as a cautionary tale.

The 2016 film’s poor box office performance led to the original timeline being established with the legacy sequel Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021). If another film in the Back to the Future series ever ends up on the table, the filmmakers should avoid a reboot altogether.

Here is scheduled for theatrical release on November 15, 2024.

Would you like to see the Back to the Future film series continue with a de-aged Michael J Fox and Christopher Lloyd? Or perhaps a photorealistic CG-animated sequel that captures the actors’ likenesses, similar to The Polar Express? Let us know down below!