THE INTERNET IS awash with brilliant, speculative theories about movies and TV shows.
Some of them are beyond ridiculous – but others are certainly worthy of our consideration.
So, rearrange that tin foil hat and dig in to these:
1. The Pixar Theory
Theory: That all Pixar movies exist within the same universe.
Yes, this is the mother of all fan theories – and it even has its own website dedicated to explaining it.
It speculates that over thousands of years, each specific film in the Pixar catalogue is interconnected to each other in various ways. So, the magic discovered in Brave is the basis for superheroes to be possible in The Incredibles and toys to be sentient in Toy Story, for example.
It goes on and on, citing many connected plot points, like how corporations continue to destroy the environment in movies like Up and Finding Nemo – with machines taking over in Cars and Wall-E. It continues connecting movies to the point that there seems to be a direct timeline that they all exist within – and it’s absolutely plausible.
This theory is further boosted by the fact that there are an insane amount of hidden “easter eggs” planted in each Pixar movie that reference others in the canon. Could it be true? Well, Pixar are well known for their ridiculous attention to detail, and all of the movies do have central themes running through them.
We’ll believe anything when wearing a tin foil hat.
2. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
Theory: Will died in that fight in West Philadephia, and his time in Bel-Air is really just heaven.
This one is pretty simple, and made popular on the excellent Fan Theories subreddit.
That fight that Will got into on the B-Ball court in West Philly? Yeah, he died. And the rest of the story is simply him learning life lessons and living it up in Bel-Air as part of the afterlife.
The only problem? The most annoying theories are all basically: “IT WAS A DREAM ALL ALONG”.
So, while it could be true, this theory keeps some inauspicious company.
3. The Tarantino Universe
Theory: All Quentin Tarantino films exist within the one universe
Like Pixar, but with more blood.
Well known for his obsessive level of cinematic detail, this theory maintains that the characters and plots of Quentin Tarantino’s movies are all connected. Think about it for one second, John Travolta’s character in Pulp Fiction was called Vincent Vega. His brother? Vic Vega from Reservoir Dogs, played by Michael Madsen.
Take Inglorious Basterds and its character ‘The Bear Jew’ aka Donny Donowitz. In another Tarantino movie, True Romance, one of the main characters is movie producer… Lee Donowitz.
The theory goes on to conclude that this movie producer was the son of ‘The Bear Jew’ from Inglorious Basterds and all of the subsequent movies are set in the context that Hitler was gunned down in a theatre.
This would explain all Tarantino’s characters deification of pop culture and film, as well as their indifference to ultra violence – sure why wouldn’t they be that way, if World War II was won like that?
There are too many Tarantino-specific internal-universe references to mention here, but one final example shows how Django Unchained (set in 1858) links in with Kill Bill II (set in 2004):
There is also this gem from Pulp Fiction/Django that will leave you wanting to know everything you can about the Tarantino universe.
4. Richie Rich
Theory: The cartoon version of Casper the Friendly Ghost is actually the ghost of Richie Rich.
Could Richie Rich have died and started life as a ghost? A particularly friendly ghost, at that. Just look how similar they are, for starters.
Simpsons called it.
5. The Rock
Theory: Sean Connery’s character is James Bond.
The brilliantly over-the-top Nicolas Cage action movie about a group of soldiers holing up on Alcatraz and holding San Francisco to ransom is not without its charms. But it’s Sean Connery’s character that is the basis for this fan theory that has quite some evidence behind it: John Mason is British operative James Bond, caught during a mission and imprisoned by the US government.
The FBI detective in ‘The Rock’ describes Connery’s character as: “a British national, incarcerated on Alcatraz in 1962… escaped in ’63. This man has no identity, not in the United States or Great Britain. He does not exist.”
So he was free in 1961, when the events of Dr No were presumably filmed, and out in ’63 for the rest of Sean Connery’s films.
Described throughout as a “killer” and “lethal”, Mason was trained by British intelligence. Remind you of anyone? It’s not too much of a stretch to say that Mason was James Bond in the ’60s and was caught by the US whilst on a mission there.
Why is he called John Mason though? Well, that’s his real name – and it leads us on to our next theory…
6. James Bond is a code name
Theory: The code name ‘James Bond’ is assigned to each new agent taking over the 007 position – their real names are never revealed.
This would explain why there have been so many different Bonds spanning decades of action-packed spy missions. If you think about it, wouldn’t it be utterly mad to call a secret agent by his actual, real name all the time? It would surely be better to have a code name to use in real life interactions (James Bond) and another code name for official use over the phone or whatever (007). This fits in with the theory that John Mason from The Rock was actually James Bond in the ’60s before his incarceration.
It all makes sense now.
7. The Dark Knight
Theory: The Joker was a war veteran – “possibly special ops”.
Heath Ledger’s portrayal of the Joker in The Dark Knight is one of the most talked-about performances of the last decade. But little is known about the character’s origins in the Nolan franchise, as he lies about many facets of his own past. This theory puts forward the case that he is an ex -soldier, which would explain his detailed knowledge of explosives, tactical heists and armed combat.
He also gives Batman advice about interrogation techniques – “never start with the head. The victim gets all… fuzzy” whilst withstanding some himself. This theory would also explain where he got those scars, as well as his constant obsession with chaos.
Remember this quote? “If, tomorrow, I tell the press that, like, a gang banger will get shot, or a truckload of soldiers will be blown up, nobody panics, because it’s all “part of the plan.”
We’ve solved this one.
8. Willy Wonka
Theory: Willy Wonka makes his candy from children.
Great.
“Let’s ruin some childhood favourites forever!” – people on the internet.
Think about it for a second. A creepy, reclusive candy maker invites five “lucky” children into his factory - and only one survives. Not only that, but Wonka has the oompa-loompa’s singing specific songs about each kid’s fate right after they succumb. It’s almost like he’s planned it! Moving the theory along, he picks out Charlie as he is the most gullible, and therefore most easily manipulated so that he can take over the running of the business.
Not convinced? Just look at him.
These are all definitely true.
