Film Theory: Does Marty McFly Actually DIE In Back To The Future?

In the first movie, the 1955 Doc has no time machine, so he can’t be on hand to help Marty. As a result, the teenager almost gets himself wiped out - he’s a kid entrusted with getting his parents to bang, what more can you really expect of him? There’s absolutely no way Doc would have allowed that to happen if it was in his control.

In the same movie, Marty is also REALLY bad at not messing with the timeline, because Doc can’t do anything to guide him from a position of knowledge. In other words, he has no guardian angel who has seen it happen before and can make sure he avoids calamitous things like almost vanishing from existence on stage. You know, things that could really ruin your day or jeopardise the entire fabric of the universe or something.

But the first sequel is an entirely different matter, because Doc has his DeLorean and it’s absolutely no accident that he turns up twice at incredibly convenient times to save Marty right at the last minute. It’s almost like he knew exactly when to be there to ensure that Marty wasn’t killed, like he had access to a magical sports almanac detailing all of the major events in Marty’s life to the precise second.

Which he sort of does, since he’s there to witness them before using his time machine to go back and ensure that they go the way he needs them to. Think about how precisely he maps the future - he knows when the rain is going to stop to the very second, not just because the weather service is more efficient, but because he’s been there before (to find out what happens to the McFly kids).

So, about those times when Marty “dies” and Doc has to go back and change the timeline.