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Movie Lovers Share Their All-Time Favorite Fan Theories From Popular Films

Outside of a cinema
photography of Cinema
Photo by Myke Simon on Unsplash

Reddit user froggysayshello asked: 'Movie buffs of Reddit, what is your favorite fan theory for any well-loved and popular movie?'

A great movie is one that you can watch over and over again, and can't stop talking about.

Indeed, some people have seen some movies so many times that they've begun to notice minute details that other viewers no doubt overlooked upon their first viewing.

While others have started in-depth analyses of the story and characters, namely what happened to all of them afterward, or what led them to where they are at the start of the film.

Otherwise known as fan theories.

Be it on the internet, or in your local coffee shop, some people simply can't stop talking about their favorite fan theories, from Andy's Mom being Jesse's original owner in the Toy Story films to the possibility that Danny and Sandy are dead at the end of Grease and driving up to heaven (...why else weren't they in Grease 2?...)


Redditor froggysayshello was eager to hear the favorite fan theories from the movie buffs of Reddit, leading them to ask:
"Movie buffs of Reddit, what is your favorite fan theory for any well-loved and popular movie?"

It Makes Sense That He Would Change His Identity...

"'Heavyweights' is a prequel to Dodgeball."

"Tony Perkiss = White Goodman"- drunkpilot2

High Five Ben Stiller GIFGiphy

You'd Think They Would Have At Least Introduced Themselves...

"'Lord of the Rings', Frodo doesn't know Legolas's name."

"He never once says it and in the end scene where everyone runs in to see Frodo in the hospital, Frodo yells out everyone's name in excitement as they come in....except for Legolas, who he just stares at smiling, then Gimli walks in and he's back to it yelling 'Gimli!'."- Grouchy_Cat8054

...But Does The Movies Actually Make Sense?...

"The Machines are the good guys in 'The Matrix'."

"If you watch 'The Animatrix' you see that the Machines tried to be democratic members of society and when the humans wouldn't let them create their own country."

"The humans then wage war against that nation."

"The Machines at any time could make the planet unlivable for humans but they never do."

"The humans actually have the bright idea to block out the sun because the Machines are primarily solar powered."

"The Machines convert to nuclear then win the war against humans."

"THEN start plugging humans into the Matrix, an inferior source of energy to nuclear."

"I believe the Machines put the humans in their to keep them safe from the hellscape they created."

"They never truly eradicate the humans that have escaped the Matrix."

"Just keep them powerless enough to protect themselves."

"When Agent Smith is ranting about how much humans disgust (in part 1) him the other agent is skeeved out, and even says, 'What are you doing?'."

"Agent Smith is an outlier, threatening what the Machines collectively want."

"The Machines even ally with the humans against Agent Smith."

"An alliance the Machines readily accept because they always wanted to get along with humans."

"They call off the attack on Zion, ending the cycle of destruction and rebuilding."

"They have no reason to honor Neo's terms after he dies, but they do because they wanted peace all along."

"Allowing the humans the belief that Neo fostered a peace and they should relegate their conflict with the Machines to inside the Matrix works perfectly for them."

"No human or machine deaths."

"Humans that can sense the Matrix get segregated."

"Zion and the machine nation coexist."

"It's everything they ever wanted."- NucularRobit

"I've always loved the idea that the reason the CGI fight scenes between Neo and Agent Smith in 'Matrix Reloaded' and 'Revelations' looks so weird and 'bad', is that they are moving so fast that the Matrix is having trouble rendering them."- Righteous_Itch

the matrix 90s GIFGiphy

Certainly Opens The Door For Volume 3...

"Bill didn’t die at the end of 'Kill Bill'."

"Both he and Beatrix knew that the 5-point palm exploding heart technique was fake."

"Using it on him was Beatrix’s way of saying 'if you play along and play dead, I’ll just take my daughter and go'.”- Rhodie114

Explains Why He Didn't Attend 'Rushmore'"...

"Napoleon Dynamite is what poor people are like in the Wes Anderson universe."- natelopez53

Still Doesn't Mean it's Watchable...

"The movie 'Batman & Robin' was actually an in-universe movie made by people that live in Gotham City."- Mr--Imp

george clooney batman GIF by MauditGiphy

Theory, Or Fact?

"The 'Mad Max' movies all tell the same story."

"Max is a mythological figure in the post-apocalyptic wasteland, who in reality was maybe once a cop or something similar as society was breaking down."

"However as subsequent generations have lost more and more of society that was pre-collapse, subsequent generational retellings of the story have verged away more wildly from the truth."

"The bones of the story is that he is a man stricken by grief who adopts a small community in need and fights of a gang of vehicular maniacs but does not remain with them in the end."- WhapXI·

Of All The Names He Could Have Chosen...

"Shrek didn't have a name and made it up on the spot when Donkey asked him."- I_might_be_weasel

"I'll Be Back" makes so much more sense...

"That 'Terminator 1' wasn't the first pass through the timeline and John Connor deliberately chose his own father to give himself a better chance."- Astramancer_

terminator GIFGiphy

Backstory For A Board Game...

"While not a well loved or popular movie, my theory on the 'Battleship' movie is a cheap alien production company is attempting to film some sort of nature documentary or reality tv show on earth and ends up being killed by the humans."

"They have advanced weapon technology, but they don't really know how to use it correctly."

"In fact, much of it is automated."

"Upon losing the communications ship, the system goes into a defensive mode, deploying the isolation dome and neutralizing any potential threats from the locals."

"By the time the aliens deactivate it, they've destroyed a bunch of local population and military."

"The aliens feel that this ruins any potential chance to reach out for help from the humans and decide to just go with maintaining security and securing local resources in order to call for help."

"Eventually the humans wipe them all out, and when news of their demise reaches the alien society it is met with the same contempt as someone petting a Bison at Yellowstone."- BMLortz

What Would Jar Jar say?

"Palpatine used Padme’s life force to keep Vader alive and that’s why she dies."

"Not sadness."- chesterforbes

They're All Connected... Through Violence...

"That Mr. Pink in 'Reservoir Dogs' survives his escape and is on the run living as a waiter at the 50s restaurant in Pulp Fiction."

"Same universe, at least."- Witty_Cost_9917

reservoir dogs GIFGiphy

One of the main reasons people watch movies is to open their imaginations and escape into a world far different from their own.

Making broadening that world all the more fun.

That being said, anyone who wants to stay in the world of Batman and Robin might have too much time on their hands...

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