Watching movies is actually only a fraction of the fun. Cinephiles also love discussing the plot, trading insights, looking for ways they’d have improved things, and reading way too much into some details. However, some details lead to some genuinely genius insights. Coming up with strange interpretations of the film’s story and characters is honestly very enjoyable.
That’s where the r/FanTheories subreddit comes in. An online community of nearly 2.1 million internet users, the group invites people to share their theories, interpretations, and speculations about their favorite creative works, from films to books and beyond. We’ve collected some of the community’s most interesting movie theories that might just blow your mind and change how you see your favorite flicks forever. Check them out below!
We reached out to the friendly team running the r/FanTheories community, and one of the moderators was kind enough to answer Bored Panda's questions. You'll find their insights as you read on.
#1 Jurassic Park: Why The Dilophosaurus Doesn't Attack Nedry When They First Meet
When Nedry first encounters the Dilophosaurus it seems curious and almost playful. Then, seemingly out of the blue, it shifts gears and things rapidly spiral downward for our beloved corporate espionage character. I always thought it was just sizing him up before eating him, as in it always saw him as prey. But upon watching it for the millionth time this morning I noticed an important detail:
The Hood
When they first come face to face, Nedry has his hood up and it's spread wide around his face. His poncho is bright yellow, just like the Dilo's hood flaps. As Dr. Grant said, dinosaurs and man just got thrown into the mix together and we have no idea what will happen. A dinosaur has no idea what a rain poncho is, so when it first saw Nedry, all it saw was a giant figure with a huge hood around it's face. Now bear in mind all of the park's dinosaurs are female. I believe that the Dilophosaurus thought Nedry was a male, and more specifically a potential mate. That's why it followed him like a puppy and made those little cooing noises at him. That is until he tripped, causing his hood to fall down. Once the female Dilophosaurus realized Nedry's ruse it became aggressive, putting up it's own hood in a threat display, hissing, and spitting venom in his face. And the rest is history.
270points
#2 In Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone (2001), If You Want To Get Into Gryffindor, You Have To Specifically Ask The Sorting Hat
When Harry put on the hat, it mentioned all of the houses as options, but Slytherin in particular. Harry got into Gryffindor because he asked. He didn't specifically ask for Gryffindor, but he ruled out Slytherin, and didn't fit in the other two houses. Same for Hermione: We find out in the books that the hat actually wanted to put her into Ravenclaw, but she asked for Gryffindor.
When all of the Gryffindors first come in, none of them actually seem to have the main trait of the house (bravery): Neville is cowardly, Ginny is shy and meek, etc. Whereas, with the other houses, you can tell who belongs in them right away: Malfoy is clearly arrogant and cunning, Luna is clearly clever, etc.
So, my theory is that Godric Gryffindor set up the Sorting Hat purposefully so that it would never simply choose Gryffindor.
Think about it! We know that the Sorting Hat will sometimes shout out a house instantly, but we never see this occur with Gryffindor. So the test for Gryffindor isn't if someone is brave already, it's if they have the bravery to make this massive choice for themselves.
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199points
#3 Harry Potter: The Reason Dementors Are So Interested In Harry Is Because He Has 1.125 Of A Soul
Not much more to it than the title really. The 1/8th of Voldemort's soul that attached itself to Harry means he has more soul than everyone else (with the possible exception of James Brown), Dementors go "sh*t yeah, 1.125 for the price of 1, gotta get me some of that".
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184points
Bored Panda was curious to learn more about the roots of the popular online group. "The original creator sub actually deleted their account and hasn't been part of the mod team for a while so I can't say for sure what actually led to them making it," one of the moderators was very open with Bored Panda that the inspiration behind r/FanTheories is shrouded in mystery.
"My view though is that I love when people bring creativity back to creative works they love," they shared.
"I was already participating in some similar discussions on IRC [Internet Relay Chat], so I was drawn to the sub when I saw it had started."
#4 Willy Wonka Did Not Give Charlie The Factory As A Reward. It Was A Punishment Just Like He Gave To All The Other Children, Except This One Was The Worst Of All.
Owning and running the chocolate factory was not a positive experience for Wonka. It took a very obvious toll on his mental health and made him basically unable to interact with other people. The trials he laid out were to see if the potential kids could take care of the factory. Augustus Gloop proved he would either eat or contaminate the product, Violet couldn't follow rules and let her own temptations disqualify her, Veruca was just mean and couldn't get along with the workers (squirrels), and Mike basically failed for the same reasons Violet did. All of these kids would probably either ruin the factory or sell it for cash.
But Charlie was the only one just gullible enough and innocent enough to take care of the factory and follow the rules forever, and Wonka saw that he was the only one suitable to push this hellish existence on. He'll be fine in the near future when his family is alive but when they're all eventually gone then he'll likely realize Wonka's factory was never a reward at all.
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174points
#5 Why Everyone In Guardians Of The Galaxy Sounds Like They're In A Pg-13 Film
The reason that the language in both Guardians of the Galaxy movies is frequently juvenile and all profanity seems limited to the constraints of a PG-13 film is because we're usually hearing it as Starlord hears it through his universal translator (mentioned onscreen in the first movie's mugshot scene).
Starlord was taken from Earth when he was eight. He probably stopped actually learning English shortly after, since it's unlikely that he had anyone else to actually speak it with. As such, his language (and all language he hears) is going to seem juvenile. Additionally, any profanity he knows probably came from movies and TV shows he saw before he was kidnapped.
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157points
#6 The Lion King: Simba Caused The Drought
This is probably something that is super obvious to everyone, but it was a revelation to me today when I watched Lion King with my son, so....
Simba caused the drought in Pride Rock. The past kings, like Mufasa, are in the sky. Specifically the clouds as shown by Mufasa talking to Simba when he is with Timon and Pumba. The clouds, which carry the rain, left to follow the rightful king when he left Pride Rock.
Simba spends years with Timon and Pumba in an apparent tropical jungle that obviously gets plenty of rainfall. When he is shown going back towards Pride Rock, the clouds roll in behind him. They seemingly follow the rightful king back to the pridelands and it begins raining shortly after.
For years, it bugged me how Scar taking power somehow caused a drought. It really wasn't Scar seizing control or the hyena population explosion that caused a weather issue, but the rightful leader abandoning his people and taking the wisdom of the elders with him.
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145points
We were very interested to hear the moderator's thoughts on what it is that lies at the core of a good, solid fan theory about any creative work.
"The ones that take the work seriously," the Reddit user said.
"Connecting the actors' ones and other joke things like that are fun, but the best ones to me are deep dives that try to extrapolate out more information about the story as best they can with the information provided," they explained their point of view.
#7 Harry Potter: Someone's Death Was Already Spoiled In The Third Movie
So we all know Dumbledore dies in the sixth movie. But there are hints that his death was already spoiled in the third movie. There is a christmas dinner with various people involved. Finally Sibyll Trelawny joins the party. Before she sits down she is frightened because there are already 12 people sitting at the table and 13 people sitting at the same table brings misery. She does not sit down and mentiones that the first of those 13 persons to stand up would die. In order to calm her, Dumbledore stands up and leaves the table. But we later get to know that Ron's rat was just Peter Pattigrew who transformeed himself. Knowing that Ron carried his rat in his pocket most of the time, that'd mean there were already 13 people at the table. As Dumbledore leaves as the first of those 13 people, his fate was sealed.
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136points
#8 Batman’s Other Rule....
So for most of the modern comic book iteration of Batman, his rule is no guns... no killing. But I’ve noticed in the animated series and the Rockstar game series, he also does not call the villain by their villainous monicker. I believe this is a way to connect with any possible humanity left in his opponents. He calls Penguin, Cobblepot, Two Face, Harvey or Dent... Poison Ivy , Dr. Isley or Pamela... he only calls Joker by the only identity he has. Ultimately, I feel like Batman has an almost unshakable hope. Hope that someday, all these “villains” can be rehabilitated. Which is why he wants to trust in the system.
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136points
#9 MCU: The Real Reason Red Skull Got Deformed And Captain America Didn’t
Bacteria is the answer. In the scene of the transformation of skinny Steve Rogers into big buff Captain America there is a small joke where Erskine injects him penicillin beforehand. The penicillin shot was much more important than it seems, because human body is full of bacteria, and the Super Serum would enhance microbes as well, therefore they should be killed beforehand.
In the movie it is shown that Johan “red skull” Schmidt injected the serum by himself, it worked but it also enhanced the bacteria, the grow in such a way that they destroyed the skin of his face (and maybe entire body), and it would have killed him if he wasn’t enhanced as well, so his body is in a constant battle against super microbes and that messed up his face
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131points
Meanwhile, we asked the mod about the reasons for the popularity of the subreddit itself.
"Judging by the stats, the growth of the sub is mostly down to the growth of Reddit as a platform in general," they noted.
"Our subscriber rank peaked in 2017 at 153rd. I think the raw numbers just come from being a general place for fa ntheories on Reddit and fan theories have kept relevance because people will always enjoy discussing works they enjoy."
#10 Groot’s Real Name Is Tree
In Avengers: Infinity War it’s established that Thor speaks Groot. When Thor introduces Groot to Cap he says this is my friend, Tree. Therefore Groot’s real name is Tree.
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128points
#11 Inside Out: Why Riley's Parents Don't Have Joy Piloting Their Headquarters
People on r/movies were talking about Inside Out (2015) and this aspect, but there were so many comments that instead of letting mine get buried, I thought I’d post here.
Okay, so, Riley’s parents don’t have Joy piloting their emotions the way Riley does. The mom has Sadness and the dad has Anger.
Now this isn’t some edgy “the mom is depressed and the dad has a temper” theory.
It’s the fact that the movie shows, as you age your emotions become more complex (shown by Riley’s emotions being able to created fused memories at the end)
These deeper and more mature emotions pilot the parents!
The Dad’s anger is actually protectiveness, an expected fatherly trait.
The Mom’s sadness is empathy, an expected motherly trait, and the message of the movie (that sadness is the key to empathy)
Sadness made Bing Bong feel better through empathy, and the mother has empathy as her main emotion to better connect with her child.
Riley had Anger piloting during the hockey game at the end because it’s protectiveness / competitiveness, and fathers have to protect their family.
This isn’t really a theory, more an observation, but I’ve had to point this out a lot since people I know would always be like “lol the mom is depressed”
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120points
#12 Star Wars: Darth Vader Has His Mic Stuck On 'Transmit', Hence The Heavy Breathing Sound. The Longer It Goes On, The More Scared Everyone Is To Tell Him
We've all been there; you forget to hit mute and say something embarrassing on a conference call. Vader has been doing this ever since he got back from Mustafar.
After watching him force-choke a dude, everyone was too scared to tell him. The longer it goes on, the less likely it is someone will say something.
Proof: xckhooooo tckhaaaaa, xckhooooo tckhaaaaa
116points
The r/FanTheories subreddit has been around for more than a decade. Created back in 2012, it has become an inseparable part of Reddit and internet culture as a whole. However, the group isn’t focused on just theories about movies or TV shows: fans can share their speculations about any creative works that they know and love, whether that’s books, video games, music, or anything else that isn’t about real life. This time, however, we’re focusing mainly on films.
However, if you want to be a trusted member of this large community, then you have to abide by the rules. The moderators have a very detailed page listing what everyone should keep in mind. So before you start posting and commenting, it’d probably be a good idea to have a read.
The main things to keep in mind in terms of the rules are fairly straightforward. For one, you have to treat others like you would like to be treated. There’s a zero-tolerance approach to people behaving like jerks and insulting others.
#13 Guardians Of The Galaxy 2: Drax Can’t See Things That Don’t Move And Realizing This Gives Him The Invisibility Idea
In the epic opening battle scene of Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2, Baby Groot is getting his groove on when Drax comes flying in and lands inches behind him. We see Baby Groot freeze, at which point Drax seems to no longer see him. Almost like he vanished. I think he then came to the realization that things that don’t move or move incredibly slowly are essentially invisible. Similar to how the vision of the T-Rex is described. What he doesn’t realize, however, is that other species don’t have this same handicap. So when he tries his hilarious invisibility bit in the following Avengers movie, he’s unable to comprehend why it’s absolutely absurd to the others. He’s convinced of a reality that simply isn’t so for everyone else.
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112points
#14 Avatar: The Last Airbender: Iroh's Love For Making Tea Represents His Belief In The Idea Of The 4 Elements Working Together In Harmony To Make A Better World
Throughout the show, Iroh has shown his actions that seem silly or weird have a double, deeper meaning when we know more about Iroh and I think his love of Tea is a perfect example of that.
It clicked with me when we see Iroh explain to Zuko how that learning from all 4 elements helps to create a more rounded view of the world and be a better person.
To make Tea, you need all 4 elements to work together to it succeed, you need the clay for the teapots and cups, the water for the substance of the tea, Fire to heat up the Tea and the air blown on the hot tea to cool it so you can drink it (even if you leave it out to cool naturally, it would get cold and taste worse to drink). If you take one element out, tea is either impossible or worse without it.
It's just fascinating thought and the depth of Iroh that people may dismiss if anybody looked at him on a surface level.
109points
#15 "The Joker" Isn't Technically A Person At All, But A Toxin
This theory isn't about the movie Joker (2019), but more about the Joker as a character in GENERAL across all media:
Anyway, in the Batman: Arkham City video game, the Joker's plan is to donate his toxic blood to hospitals all across Gotham, which will infect people with his 'disease.' In the game Batman: Arkham Knight, we see at least three different people who have been infected with the Joker's blood.
Now, it's been a while since I've last seen gameplay for Arkham Knight, but I believe the infected people start to behave EXACTLY like the Joker and take on his psychotic mannerisms while wearing clown-like face paint.
Also, in an old Batman comic, Batman sits upon the 'mobius chair' — a chair that gives you the ABSOLUTE TRUTH. He asks the chair what the Joker's true identity is, and it's revealed that there have actually been three different 'Jokers.' A bit odd that three different people look and act exactly like the Joker to the point that Batman — the world's greatest detective — couldn't tell, wouldn't you agree?
So my theory is that 'the Joker' isn't a person at all, but rather...a poison. A toxin. What we know as 'the Joker' is just a side effect that happens when you get exposed to that specific toxin.
96points
Meanwhile, if you don’t like a fan theory or you completely disagree with it, try to offer some constructive criticism. Nobody likes being insulted. Similarly, you shouldn’t call someone names just because they disagree with your theory. It’s understandable that people are passionate about their ideas and the fictional worlds they’ve loved for years, but try to keep all of the discussions civil.
In the meantime, make sure that you’ve fleshed out your theory as much as you can. You need to provide some solid evidence and back up your claims as best as possible. “We typically accept posts if they have at least 1-3 paragraphs' worth of evidence. Anything that is just one to a few sentences will be removed,” the moderators warn.
And that makes perfect sense. A community about fan theories really should have high standards when it comes to what theories end up being featured. If there’s no evidence to back up your claims, then it’s not a theory but wishful thinking (and possibly an idea for writing some fan fiction!).
The mods also ask everyone to tag spoilers, put some effort into formatting posts, and flair their submissions.
#16 Lord Of The Rings: Aragorn And Legolas Are More Devastated Than Any Of The Fellowship When Gandalf Falls
In the LOTR movies there are these little details that only last for about a second. First when Aragorn witnesses Gandalf fall he freezes for a few seconds and almost takes an arrow to the face. It takes Boromir shouting at him to snap him out of it. Also when the sad music is playing and all the hobbits are crying we just see Legolas staring at the ground in disbelief. My theory is that Aragorn and Legolas where more distraught then any of the group but just didn't show it because they are hardened warriors but they are also educated and know who Gandalf is. In the LOTR lore, it is revealed that Gandalf isn't just some mysterious Wizard but something equivalent to an archangel like Saint Micheal and Satan. He and the rest of the wizards of Middle Earth are on the same power level as Sauron and Morgoth and Legolas and Aragorn know it because they were raised by the elves and were educated. To the Hobbits, losing Gandalf was like losing a grandfatherly figure and Gimli and Boromir, both hardened warriors themselves, are barely affected by it but to Aragorn and Legolas it was like watching Jesus die. What was probably going through boths' minds afterward was "we are truly f*cked now."
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91points
#17 James Bond: Why Bond Orders His Martinis "Shaken, Not Stirred"
Anyone with even a passing familiarity with the James Bond franchise knows he drinks his Martinis "shaken, not stirred". However, Martinis are typically made stirred, as shaking the drink causes the ice to break up, melt quicker and water down the Martini. As a result many Martini drinkers scoff at Bond's order as he is ordering a weaker drink and being pretentious about it. However, I theorise that Bond is ordering a weak drink deliberately so as to make it seem like he is drinking more than he actually is. This is because Bond is almost always on duty in both the books and films and needs to keep his wits about him, either to defend himself or not blab all his secrets to the bartender, but sometimes he will need to drink to maintain his cover. As a compromise he orders a weaker drink to give the appearance that he is more inebriated than he actually is, thus maintaining his cover and gaining an element of surprise over his targets. As for why he still orders them when he seemingly isn't working there are 2 possible answers for this. 1. Bond views himself as always on duty and so always orders the weaker drink, or 2. He just orders it out of habit, or genuinely enjoys the weaker drink
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84points
#18 Spongebob Squarepants: Spongebob Is Always Nice To Squidward Because He Knows That He’s Squidward’s Only Friend
So, it’s no secret that Spongebob clearly cares for Squidward. No matter how many times Squidward pushes Spongebob away, Spongebob always goes back to trying to be Squidward’s friend.
In the show, this is often presented like classic Spongebob naïveté/stupidity. That it’s obvious Squidward doesn’t want to be Spongebob’s friend but Spongebob is too naive to see it. However I don’t think that’s the case.
First, Squidward has no other friends. I think that’s obvious. He hates everything and thinks everyone is an idiot expect for him. I think Spongebob is really the only person (besides himself) that Squidward really cares about.
Evidence Squidward cares about Spongebob:
In the April Fools Episode, Squidward says, and I quote:
“I didn’t mean to hurt you, in fact Spongebob, I like you. I like living next store. I like hearing your fog horn alarm in the morning and your high pitched giggling at night.”
He then goes on to say he even likes Gary, Patrick, Sandy, and Mr. Krabs.
2. When Squidward moves away, he finds his new home to be too boring and misses Spongebob.
3. When a fish makes Spongebob cry Squidward knocks him in the face with a pizza.(pizza delivery episode)
4. In the Hash-Slinging Slasher, Squidward tells Spongebob “I’ve always kind of liked you!”
5. In the Christmas episode, Squidward pretends to be Santa and literally gives away all of his stuff just to make Spongebob happy
Basically, Squidward is grumpy, unhappy, and disappointed at where his life is at. He’s very posh and it’s clear he never expected to spend his life as a cashier. But deep down, he sort of likes his life. Though he tries not to admit it.
And I think Spongebob knows all of this. He knows
Squidward is unhappy and doesn’t have many friends
That deep down Squidward really does care for Spongebob
And for Spongebob, being the lovable sponge he is, that’s all he needs to know. He knows that Squidward needs a friend so no matter how many times he gets pushed away, Spongebob keeps going back to make Squidward happy.
TLDR: Spongebob cares for Squidward and feels bad for him, so he never stops trying to be Squidward’s friend.
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81points
When putting together a theory about your favorite film or TV show, it helps a lot if you can bounce some ideas off your friends or other fans. Look at the entire endeavor as a college essay or a submission to an academic journal: your arguments have to make sense, and if they don’t, you need to acknowledge that.
Glossing over some film facts that run counter to your hypothesis really won’t help your case. The odds are that if you’ve spotted some inconsistencies that ruin your theory, other fans will, too. So if your favorite theory is crumbling apart before your eyes, it’s time to go back to the drawing board. Who knows, you might find a creative way to explain all the inconsistencies or you might come up with a fresh new theory that’s even more powerful and mind-blowing than the previous one.
#19 In Harry Potter, The Poor Wizardry Of Ron And Neville Can Be Traced Back To Their Choice Of Wand
In the seventh book, its established that you need to win a wand's allegiance for it to function as intended. Ron uses his brother's old wand until the second book, where it breaks and he's essentially wandless for a year. Aside from a couple of fluke cases, we don't see Ron perform any magic which works as intended until the third book (where his parents get him a brand new wand). His poor results are put down to a lack of aptitude and effort, (or tree attack) but in the later books he's easily Harry's equal (outside of DADA). The same is true of Neville. He's renowned for being awful at magic throughout the series, and he's another character who uses a wand which didn't choose him (in this case, his father's). That wand gets broken in the fight at the Ministry, and once he has his new wand, he becomes the best student in the year at herbology and leads a revolution. He's even so good he ends up as a professor. The turning point could be seen to be during the DA, but bear in mind that he's just as bad at magic as ever, all through that fight. There are definitely holes in this theory, but compared to a lot of Harry Potter theories that are passed around the web, this fits the source material pretty well.
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80points
#20 Batman: The Bat-Signal Is Meant For Criminals, Not Batman
Think about it? It seems ineffective to call on a vigilante by shining a light in the sky. There is a huge chance he won't see it, or notice it in time for the crime to still be stopped. My theory is that the bat signal itself doesnt actually apply to batman, but rather it is a warning to criminals, like saying "we called him, nows your chance to drop everything, go home, and turn your life around", and there is a silent alarm mechanism within the signal that sends a signal directly to batman's computers
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69points