But would audience’s really be happy if a sequel came out and it relegated the original cast to supporting roles (cough Star Wars)? Well as much as we may like Marty and Doc to take the leading roles again, there are several problems. Firstly both of them are much older than they were when they filmed the originals, and in the case of Michael J Fox who plays Marty, he has long been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease which has affected his career over the years. This doesn’t mean Michael couldn’t return and he has taken on several roles and shows over the years, but it’s possible they may need to incorporate his condition into the character of Marty.
This does also raise another issue however, as Michael J Fox played both his son Marty Jr, and his daughter Marlene when we saw them in the future presented in Part 2. It would be strange to recast these characters if they were to be featured as the Doc’s children could be, and with Michael’s health condition possibly being visible in all of his performances as the various generations of McFly that may require more explanation than just incorporating his health into just one character.
If they were to recast Marty and Jennifer’s children it would actually have a much sadder in storyline implication. If there were different versions of Marty’s children in a new sequel it would imply that after the events of Part 2, that what we saw Marty do back in 1955 and then in 1885 in Part 3 have in fact altered the future so that the versions of Marty Jr and Marlene we saw in Part 2 were erased from time…
These are some of the thoughts that would need to go into a potential Back to the Future Part 4, but if these hurdles can’t be overcome we do actually have another official Back to the Future sequel that many haven’t experienced and that was the brilliant Back to the Future The Game that released on PC and games consoles in the PlayStation 3 era.
The game was released by Telltale games and was another of their The Walking Dead style story driven games which feature cinematic scenes and gameplay based around dialogue and decision making. This actually meant the project was much more like an interactive CGI movie rather than a traditional video game. There are actually videos out there where people have edited together footage of the game to make it watchable like a movie, and with Christopher Lloyd reprising the role of Doc, and a spot on impression of Michael J Fox (who does make a smaller appearance himself) by A.J Locascio this is probably as close to an official Back to the Future Part 4 that we may ever get.
So is that it? Or is there any other food for thought on this matter? Well yes. A few years ago Michael J Fox did speak about the possibility of a forth film, and said that he’d be interested in playing the Doc this time. This thought puts the idea more into the realm of reboot territory, and I think there were more confused frowns at this idea than excitement. People want to see Michael and Christopher back as Marty and Doc, and any recasting would likely receive a mixed reception at best.
This said, there is still the elephant in the room as far as remakes and recastings go. Back to the Future The Musical. A remake of sorts is due to hit theatres very soon and from what is known about it will retell the events of the first film on stage as a musical. Just as with many movies which inspire West End or Broadway shows, this won’t be seen as a part of the official series and is just an adaptation, although sure to be a crowd pleaser for fans of the movies. If it performs really well it could lead way for a film adaption, but this is super unlikely, but I guess never say never.
It doesn’t look likely that we’ll ever get a movie sequel to Back to the Future, but I’ll end this article with this thought for fans of the series to ponder on. Just as Marty and Doc ended up in an alternative 1985 in Part 2, there are almost certainly parallel time lines out there where there is a Back to the Future Part 4 that was made in 1994, and potential Parts 6, 7, 8 and so on. We just need to create a device to cross time and space to be able to find them.
