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Back to the Future 4 might never get made, but there is an official sequel to the original Back to the Future trilogy that made Christopher Lloyd’s Doc Brown the star of the franchise. Robert Zemeckis has made it perfectly clear that he’s not interested in continuing the Back to the Future series with a fourth movie, and he won’t let any other filmmaker or money-grubbing studio do it for him. This is probably for the best — those legacy sequels rarely work out — but it is a shame that this story is over.
It would’ve been a joy to see Doc and Marty McFly share the screen one last time for one last time-traveling adventure. The franchise has continued in the form of video games and a stage musical, but none of them have been a direct continuation of the cinematic saga; it’s not the same as a fourth movie would’ve been. There’s only been one Back to the Future project that officially kept the story going beyond the end of Back to the Future Part III — and it made Doc the main character.
Back To The Future’s Animated Series Was Set After Part III And Focused On Doc Brown’s Family
Doc And His Family Moved To A Farm In Hill Valley In The Early 1990s
At the end of Back to the Future Part III, the DeLorean is destroyed, Marty is returned to his original timeline, and the future isn’t written, so his story is over. But then, Doc appears in a time-traveling steam locomotive with his wife Clara and their two sons, Jules and Verne. After staying in the Old West, he turned a train into a time machine and plans to embark on time-traveling adventures with his family. This didn’t lead into a sequel, but it did lead into an animated series that continued the story of Doc and his family.
Mary Steenburgen and Thomas F. Wilson reprised their roles from the movie trilogy in the TV show.
From 1991 to 1992, Back to the Future: The Animated Series ran for two seasons of 13 episodes each on CBS. Marty and Jennifer occasionally appeared on the show (with new actors inhabiting the roles), but it primarily focused on the Brown family. The show revealed that, after the events of Part III, the Browns settled down on a farm in Hill Valley in the early ‘90s. Doc rebuilt the DeLorean, now with fewer faults, and the show sent him to such exciting historical eras as the Middle Ages, the American Civil War, Ancient Egypt, and prehistoric times.
Christopher Lloyd Reprised His Role As Doc Brown For The Animated Show (But In Live-Action)
Lloyd Appeared In The Live-Action Segments That Opened And Closed Each Episode
In the animated segments of the Back to the Future TV series, Doc was voiced by Dan Castellaneta, best known as the voice of Homer Simpson. But in the live-action segments that opened and closed each episode, Lloyd reprised his role as Doc. It wasn’t quite the same as seeing Lloyd share the screen with Michael J. Fox again in Spin City, which was a really heartwarming reunion, but it was great to see him back in that role. Having Lloyd back in the lab coat helped to legitimize the cartoon as an official entry in the franchise.
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It’s a shame that Marty didn’t appear in these live-action segments, because Doc’s friendship with Marty was the backbone of the franchise, and Lloyd’s unparalleled on-screen chemistry with Fox carried the movies. But Doc got an interesting new sidekick in the form of Bill Nye. Nye appeared as Doc’s lab assistant in these live-action sequences. This was many viewers’ first introduction to Nye, and he proved to be so popular that it eventually led to Nye getting his own show. It’s amazing to think that Nye has a TV career thanks to a little-known Back to the Future spinoff.
Is The Back To The Future Animated Show Canon?
It’s Technically An Alternate Timeline
The question of whether or not the Back to the Future TV show is technically canon within the franchise is a little tricky. In an interview with Telltale Games, Back to the Future co-creator Bob Gale declared that “only the movies are canon.” He said that everything outside the film trilogy — novels, video games, amusement park rides, and, indeed, the animated series — are all just what-if scenarios outside the official canon.
Back to the Future co-creator Bob Gale declared that “only the movies are canon.”
He compared this to alternate DC Comics storylines like “What If Krypton Never Exploded?” or “What If Lois Lane Married Lex Luthor?” These storylines weren’t a part of the official Superman canon; they were just fun, non-canonical experiments to see what would happen if they were. This concept has recently been explored in Marvel’s animated series What If…?, which explores alternate outcomes to storylines from the MCU’s movies and TV shows. But all of those episodes are technically canonical to the MCU; they just take place in alternate timelines in the Marvel multiverse.
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Gale suggested that this could be the case with Back to the Future’s spinoffs. While he doesn’t consider these multimedia projects to be a part of the official canon, he did tease that they “might be canon in some alternate universe.” So, the cartoon might be canonical, but it doesn’t take place in the same continuity as the movies. Frankly, it doesn’t really matter if the Back to the Future TV show is technically canonical or not; it depends on how each fan wants to look at it.
The Animated Show Is The Closest Thing To Back To The Future 4 We’ll Ever Get
An Actual Back To The Future 4 Would Be A Bad Idea
As a story that takes place after the ending of Back to the Future Part III — with Lloyd reprising his role as Doc, no less — the Back to the Future animated series is probably the closest thing to Back to the Future 4 that will ever get made. Zemeckis has no interest in making a fourth movie and it’s probably been too long to bring Lloyd and Fox back together for another adventure as Doc and Marty anyway. Thankfully, Zemeckis has safeguards in place to prevent Universal from going ahead with a sequel without him.
And it’s probably for the best that Back to the Future 4 will never get made. There’s no way that a fourth film could live up to the classic original trilogy; like most legacy sequels getting made these days, it would just be a shallow money-grab by the studio to cash in on the audience’s nostalgia for their old favorites. And a reboot or remake recasting the roles of Doc and Marty would be even worse. For now, anyone who really wants to see what happened to Doc and Marty next, the Back to the Future animated series is there.
Source: Telltale Games
Back to the Future
“Back to the Future” is a science fiction adventure franchise that follows the time-traveling adventures of Marty McFly and Dr. Emmett “Doc” Brown. Created by Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale, the series is known for its clever use of time travel, memorable characters, and iconic DeLorean time machine. The franchise explores themes of causality, destiny, and the impact of individual actions on the future. Its blend of humor, heart, and innovative storytelling has made it a beloved classic in film history.
- Created by
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Robert Zemeckis
, Bob Gale - TV Show(s)
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Back To The Future
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