One element ofBack to the Future Part III’s ending still doesn’t sit right with me. Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale’s iconic trilogy wraps up with Marty McFly, now safely back in 1985 with Jennifer, receiving a surprise visit from Doc Brown, who has constructed a time-traveling steam train to carry his new family through the time-space continuum. Marty and Doc’s heartwarming farewell ensures theBack to the Futuretrilogyends on an uplifting, wholesome note, with Doc reaffirming to his young friends - and, by extension, the audience - that their futures are whatever they make them.
Back to the Future Part IIInever explains exactly howDoc Brown builds a steam train time machinewhile trapped in 1885, although a comic sequel helpfully fills in that gap by attributing his invention to the hoverboard Marty left behind. The more important question, however, is not how Doc Brown constructs the decade-hopping locomotive, but why. From one perspective, Doc’s train can even be viewed as a betrayal of hisBack to the Futurecharacteracross the three movies.
Doc Brown Wanted To Destroy The DeLorean In Both Back To The Future Sequels
While Doc Brown is thrilled about his temporal tampering in 1985’s originalBack to the Futuremovie, he gradually comes to regret that decision in the sequels. After witnessing Biff’s manipulation of history using thesports almanac inBack to the Future Part II, Doc Brown resolutely decides that, after normality is restored and everyone is safely back home, the DeLorean should be destroyed. The line in question goes, “The risks are just too great, as this incident proves. And I was behaving responsibly. You can imagine the danger if the time machine were to fall into the wrong hands.”
A Sequel To Back To The Future 3 Exists And Made Christopher Lloyd’s Doc Brown The Main Character
Back to the Future 4 might never get made, but there is an official sequel to the original trilogy that made Doc Brown the star of the franchise.
More than just a fleeting concern,Doc Brown doubles down on decommissioning his time machine inBack to the Future Part III, insisting to Marty, “As soon as we return to 1985, we’ll destroy this infernal machine.” WhileBack to the Futureis hardly an introspective character study, Marty McFly and Doc Brown do each learn to become better versions of themselves over the course of the trilogy. Marty stops getting riled up by insults and “chicken” jibes, while Doc Brown recognizes that no one should have power over time, and his own scientific hubris must not take precedence over others' lives.
Doc Brown Wanting To Destroy The DeLorean Was Vital To His Story
Doc Brown Thought “What The Hell?”
The real issue withBack to the Future Part III’s ending, isn’t figuring out how Doc cobbles a time machine together in 1885, but why he performs a moral pivot and decides to build another time machine after previously declaring the DeLorean too dangerous to even exist.Back to the Future Part IIIfails to offer a suitable explanation.
Without a worthwhile explanation, it simply feels like Doc Brown relapses into old scientific habits.
Doc mutters something about needing to pick up Einstein, but the excuse doesn’t hold up. Christopher Lloyd’s character had already resigned himself to remaining in the Wild West at the start ofBack to the Future Part III, and gave no thought to Einstein then. In any case,Doc could trust that Marty would take good care of the dogin 1985.
The train featured alongside a newly-built DeLorean inBack to the Future: The AnimatedSeries, which took place afterPart III.
Without a worthwhile explanation, it simply feels like Doc Brown relapses into old scientific habits. Doc knows that building another time machine risks another almanac incident, or worse, but seemingly finds himself consumed by curiosity and the challenge of designing a DeLorean replacement in an era with minimal technology. If Doc Brown really does construct the flying steam train for selfish reasons, that completely negates the character journey he experiences acrossBack to the Future Part IIandPart III, in which he puts his own ambitions aside for the sake of protecting history.
Why Doc Brown Might Have Built A Time Machine Again In Back To The Future Part III’s Ending
There are a few ways Doc Brown’s DeLorean train can be reconciled with his insistence that time machines shouldn’t exist from earlier in theBack to the Futuretrilogy. IgnoringBack to the Future’s wider media released afterPart III,one could argue that Doc intends to destroy the trainafter making his single trip to 1985. Perhaps the idea is just to pick up Einstein, say one last farewell to Marty, then return to 1885 and send the train crashing over a canyon.
Perhaps he realized the best way to protect his new family was to remove them from the timeline completely.
It’s possible that Doc takes more precautions with his steam train than with the DeLorean. Having seen how easily Biff stole the car and changed history inBack to the Future Part II,Doc may ensure the train is harder for an outsider to commandeer. Stealing a locomotive is less straightforward than stealing a car, after all, so with a few security tweaks, Doc might rule out the possibility of his new time machine falling into the wrong hands.
Back To The Future Part III Hilariously Called Out The First Movie’s Most Famous Easter Egg
Doc references one of Marty’s biggest time travel mistakes in Back to the Future Part III, questioning why they weren’t more careful in 1985.
Finally, Doc Brown’s new time machine might have been necessary to protect his family. Clara Clayton, his wife, was supposed to die but for the intervention of Doc and Marty in 1885, meaning her survival already altered the natural flow of history. Doc and Clara having children together at the end ofBack to the Future Part IIIpushes the timeline even further off course, so perhaps he realized the best way to protect his new family was to remove them from the timeline completely and travel through the time vortex forever, never settling in one place long enough to affect history.
Back to the Future Part III
Cast
The final entry in Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale’s timeless trilogy, Back to the Future Part III wraps up Marty McFly and Doc Brown’s adventures through time when Marty travels to 1885’s Wild West to save his mentor, meeting Biff Tannen’s ancestor “Mad Dog” and almost changing the course of history once again along the way.
