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.
#21 None Of The Events In Evil Dead (2013) Are Supernatural. Instead, All Of The Characters Are Just High From Spiked Well Water
At the beginning of the film, we see Mia dump her drugs into the well outside of the cabin. Since the cabin is in the middle of the woods, it can be assumed that the well is the main source of water for the structure.
So, my theory is that there is no supernatural force acting upon them or the cabin, but instead, each character is reacting to the drugs they unknowingly have in their systems, having ingested them through the water.
At the end of the film, only one character remains alive: Mia. This is, in part, due to the fact that she is a recovering addict, so her system is used to the toxin.
64points
From our perspective, the more fleshed-out the fictional world, the better. When you have a clear understanding of the logic that binds the world, story, and all of its characters together, then it’s easier to make interpretations and speculations. When there’s internal consistency in the logic of the fictional world, you can extrapolate and explore a whole bunch of hypothetical scenarios.
Internal consistency doesn’t necessarily mean grim realistism, however. As we’ve written on Bored Panda before, these fictional worlds can be truly fantastical—full of dragons, aliens, and space monsters—but all the moving parts have to be grounded and make sense, otherwise, you’ll lose your audience which is already willing suspending its disbelief. If magic is real, it follows certain rules. Similarly, characters tend to have clear goals and motivations: if they suddenly start behaving strangely, the audience will notice that and call out the creators. Alternatively, someone might just come up with a solid fan theory to explain this unusual behavior…
When you’re done enjoying the article, drop by the comment section to let everyone know which of these posts you agree with and to share your own theories about your fave films.
#22 At Gandalf's Suggestion The Dwarves Ate All Of Bilbo's Food So Nothing Would Be Expired And Rotting When He Returned
Unfortunately I have no substantial evidence but it seems rather absurd that w every dwarf came in and immediately started requesting snacks and beverages. I find it hard to believe 13/13 dwarves are rude and demanding after the claiming to be "at his service", even if they did intend to pay him back. I think Gandalf may have suggested it was in their best interest to arrive with a hearty appetite with an alterior motive, other than to snicker at Bilbo's predicament.
WantDiscussion, Todd Eyre - © 2012 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc. (US, Canada & New Line Foreign Territories)201
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#23 In The First Incredibles, Mr. Incredible Only Won His First Fight With The Omnidroid Because He Was Never Intended To Fight It In The First Place
When Mr. Incredible and Frozone are being listened to, it’s indicated that Frozone was the initial target that Syndrome wanted to attract. During the next scene, while rescuing people from the fire, Frozone mentions that he can’t use his powers because it’s too hot and he’s dehydrated.
It’s only after observing them that the plan changes, and Mirage decides to go after Mr. Incredible instead.
When Mr. Incredible arrives at the island, it seems like he is simply dodging all of the Omnidroid’s attacks when he falls into the volcano. Later, however, Mr. Incredible asks why he was attracted to the volcano— I theorize this is because he realizes the Omnidroid was directing him to the volcano.
My theory is that the Omnidroid was so easily defeated by Mr. Incredible because it was the Omnidroid created to defeat Frozone. We find out that a large number Supers have been defeated because the Omnidroid learns as it fights— but it would also make sense that Syndrome would program them with methods intended to defeat the Supers. I believe that the Omnidroid, when realizing it was outmatched, immediately began funneling Mr. Incredible to the volcano because that was the strategy it was programmed with to fight Frozone (his anticipated opponent). Thus, the only reason Mr. Incredible is able to defeat the first Omnidroid is because it was never designed for his fighting style. Similarly, had Frozone remained the target its likely he would have been funneled to the volcano and defeated by the Omnidroid.
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60points
#24 Spider-Man: The Reason Why Peter Parker, A Teenager From A Poor Family With Likely No Experience In Sewing, Can Easily Produce And Repair High Quality Costumes
As stated in the title, something people constantly bring up as a plot hole of sorts with most incarnations of the character is how he can both create and easily repair high quality costume as a teenager with likely no other experience in sewing or costume production/design in general. I think a solution to this is that the bite gave him another power; seamstry skills on par that of a spider spinning it’s own webs. This could also be spun (pun intended) to apply to how he knows how to easily produce non-organic webbing.
EDIT: A lot of people are saying this doesn’t need an explanation because him being poor would probably give him experience in sewing, or how over the years he would probably improve and get costumes the quality of the Spider-Man PS4 suit as an example, but I meant this as an explanation more towards the universes like the Raimi one for example, where his first ever costume is an INSANELY high quality outfit with raised webbing and the like, that an 18 year old with sewing experience gained mostly from having to repair old clothes ABSOLUTELY could not make. In other universes, like the MCU, where their first suit looks like it WAS made by a teenager with some sewing experience, I wouldn’t say this is the case.
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58points
#25 Terminator: Why The T-800 Asks For The Futuristic Gun In The First Film
I recently had a thought about Arnold's line in the gun shop scene where he asks for a "phased plasma rifle in the 40-watt range." For a long time, I thought it was just kind of a joke since he's from the future, but I think there was actually a reason behind it.
In the scene, Arnold can see each gun before he asks for it. He asks for the 12-gauge auto loader shotgun, and a .45 pistol with laser sight. He asks for his plasma rifle and the owner's response is "Hey, just what ya see, pal." He asks for an Uzi for good measure, then loads the shotgun and shoots the owner.
Why would he ask for a gun that hadn't been invented yet? We know from Kyle that Skynet's records are incomplete which is why the T-800 doesn't know exactly which Sarah Connor to go after. It's reasonable to think that Skynet's records on the development and availability of weaponry were also limited in some way. Arnold asks for the plasma rifle because he isn't actually sure if it is available in this time or not.
Now, a phased plasma rifle would probably make terminating Sarah pretty easy, but I don't think that's why he asked since any of the other weapons he selected would easily be capable of doing the job. The real reason he asked the gun shop owner is to make sure that the owner wouldn't be able to pose a threat to him when he stole all the other guns.
When Sarah asks Reese if he can stop the Terminator, he says "With these weapons, I don't know," suggesting that in the future, there are weapons which can take down T-800s. When the shop owner confirms for Arnold that he doesn't have any phased plasma rifles hidden behind the counter, Arnold knows there is no threat to him or his mission and he can continue with his planned theft.
His question was actually a technique to ascertain the threat level posed by the shop owner before he moved to shoot him.
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53points
#26 In Kung Fu Panda, Tai Lung The Villain Was Never Denied The Scroll Or His Destiny Of Being The Dragon Warrior
The denying of the scroll to him was just a test, he was supposed to accept the denial with humility. At that point, he would have proven his humility and been granted the scroll.
To test whether an acolyte was worthy of completing their training, the dojo will deny an acolyte the scroll at the end to test what kind of person they really are. If an acolyte had truly learned the art of balance and inner peace in addition to his physical training, he would have accepted the denial with humility. In doing so, the acolyte would then prove that he is perfect inside and out, and at that point, the master would then explain that it was just a test and grant him the scroll. Tai Lung failed this test by reacting with anger and hatred. That was why he was never granted the scroll: not because he was not worthy, but because he proved himself unworthy. For all his prowess, tai lung failed the most important test in the end, the test of whether he could exercise his great power with great responsibility. This was clearly hinted strongly by the movie by the fact that the scroll was empty.
50points
#27 The Office (Us): Bob Vance, Vance Refrigeration
For ever, I thought he was just an oddball who introduced himself that way. This is why Ryan's joke (What kind of work are you in, Bob?) landed well.
But Bob isn't marketing to the people at Dunder Mifflin. He's marketing to the cameras, and getting free television advertisement.
Sorry if this was painfully obvious to everybody else, but if it's not explicitly spelled out in the show somewhere, I'm calling it a fan theory.
47points
#28 Doc Brown's Mind-Reading Helmet In Back To The Future (1985) Actually Did Work
Remember in the first film when Marty goes to Doc Brown's house to get his help getting back to 1985?
So my theory is — if you think about everything Brown says — his helmet actually works!
He says Marty has come a great distance, which...obviously. Then, he mentioned the Saturday evening post (which is the paper Marty got out of the trash), then he mentioned making a donation (Marty gave the clock tower lady a quarter as a donation), and THEN he mentioned the coast guard youth auxiliary (Marty had lied to his grandparents and said he was in the coast guard).
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44points
#29 Futurama: Suicide Booths Are So Popular Because That's Basically One Of The Few Ways People Can Die
Upon first seeing suicide booths, it looks like some dark humor and nothing more. As the series progresses though, it becomes more clear that it's basically the only way for people to die. People use suicide booths because they've just lived a lifetime and simply want to end.
Youth-anizing allows for reversal of age (and maturity levels), so nobody dies from old age if they don't want to. Medical care is so great that it's reasonable to live to 160, and then you get taken to the Near Death Star, where you presumably live basically forever in a shared virtual reality. Speaking of healthcare, it's so great that it's almost impossible to die from an accident. Even incompetent doctors like Zoidberg can save a person from complete dismemberment. Even decapitation is a pretty trivial injury.
Basically, the only ways to die are complete disintegration, eaten alive, or suicide booth. And it seems in this world, people aren't as adventurous as the main cast, so the grand majority of people will die by suicide (assuming the die at all and don't have implied immortality on the Near Death Star).
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43points
#30 Waterworld (1995) And The Mad Max Films All Take Place In The Same Post-Apocalypse Universe
In Waterworld, the characters assume that the entire earth is covered in water — hence the title. BUT, even if all the ice on Earth melted, there would still be a majority of land above sea level. So my theory is that Waterworld takes place in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, but these people simply don't have the means to travel far enough in any direction to find land.
And this same theory fits with the Mad Max films, as well. If a nuclear apocalypse wiped out society, melted all the ice caps, and severely altered the climate, Australia would be a huge wasteland. So, like with Waterworld, if Mad Max takes place in the middle of the country, these people may never have known that the ocean was only 500 miles away the whole time.
The aesthetic of these universes are VERY similar, both using the remnants of our fallen society to build theirs. They both have wild bands of warlords ruling large swaths of territory, and groups of people trying to live peacefully. With the collapse of society, the change in climate, and all of the violence, I think it's reasonable to think that people wouldn't be able to travel very far to explore their altered world.
And hey, maybe if they did, we could get an epic crossover where Max and The Mariner team up to fight wild bands of marauders!
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41points
#31 How I Met Your Mother: Barney Is Nowhere Near As Bad As Ted Makes Him Out To Be. Ted Is An Annoying Douche And Exaggerates Barneys Stories To Make Himself Look Better
Ok so I don't really have much proof to this but it's just a theory I've had for a while now. Ted does a lot of c**ppy things during the run of the show that and something I think is important is that Ted is the one telling the story to his kids. We only ever hear one perspective on the whole thing. Why would you tell your own children (especially your daughter) that someone they've called "Uncle Barney" their whole lives repeatedly lies to women in an attempt to sleep with them? I mean a lot of Barneys antics border on rape and I feel if I heard my dad bragging about my uncle pulling this sh*t I would cut contact with him. And I feel a lot of episodes where Teds doing something bad he immediately swaps to a story about Barney doing something worse which makes me feel like he was trying to make himself look better. Also lets remember that we see the other members of the gang talking about really private sh*t that they shouldn't know but do anyway like intimate details about their sex lives that they definitely would not have told Ted yet he's the one telling the story. anyway just thought id share. thoughts?
38points
#32 MCU: Reason Why Ragnarok Was So Good Was Because Marvel Gave Up On Thor
A common complaint from directors are that Marvel is very restrictive about the IP which led to Edgar Wright and Scott Derikson leaving Antman and Dr Strange 2.
Hemsworth was also at that point tired of 'serious' Thor.
So I theorise that for non flagship (i.e not Iron Man or Cap) characters they allowed some freedom to the directors. In the case of the supposedly final Thor movie they let a comedy director take over and change the tone of the character completely.
Might also explain why the first Dr Strange was allowed to be so trippy and why Captain Marvel was so generic
That may mean that the more creative movies in the future will come from C or D list characters. Squirrel Girl please.
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36points
#33 The "I have the high ground" moment in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005) is a lot deeper than it appears, and calls back to another iconic prequel moment
Obi-Wan is dueling his apprentice, Anakin Skywalker. Obi-Wan is one of the premier duelists of the Jedi Order, and taught Anakin everything he knows about the art.
Eventually, they are dueling on top of some scrap metal floating on a lava river. We see that the river is leading to a lava-fall, and so the duel must end here one way or another. Obi-Wan leaps from the scrap to an embankment of volcanic gravel and turns back to Anakin, who is now stuck on the aforementioned scrap. Staying on the scrap is suicide. Jumping onto the gravel below Obi-Wan entails high risk, as the lava river continues to rise. Even if he were to land the jump, the duel would not be over and Anakin would be at a disadvantage
But there is a third option: To jump over Obi-Wan. As we know, Anakin took this path despite Obi-Wan pleading with him not to and (spiritually) died there on Mustafar, becoming Vader.
So, why did Anakin think to jump over Obi-Wan? Well, to answer that we have to look back at another duel: The first duel between Obi-Wan and Darth Maul. At the end of this duel, Maul has killed Qui-Gon Jin and has effectively defeated Obi-Wan. He stands above the then-Padawan, who dangles over a pit. Maul is overconfident, and lets Obi-Wan marinate in hopelessness. Using the force, Obi-Wan then leaps out of this hole and summons his fallen master's lightsaber. In mid-air, he ignites the green blade and bisects Maul.
Pretty heroic, right? Sounds like the kind of story that literally every Jedi ever would be asking Obi-Wan to tell over and over again.
Of course Anakin would have heard this story, but — every time Obi-Wan retold that duel — I think he saw a different outcome. This time, Maul doesn't turn around to face him, he simply turns his lightsaber around and impales Obi-Wan on it in mid-air. He likely never confided in Anakin his fears of that movement's failure, since he'd hyped the story up so much. If he said anything, it was probably that the move was 'too brash' or 'too risky' to duplicate, but Anakin was never a good listener.
So, Obi-Wan turned to Anakin and said 'It's over, I have the high ground' because he, just like Anakin now, had once been in a position where success required a massive vertical leap over your opponent, and he now understood the risk that move entailed and how he could counter it.
Obi-Wan then begged Anakin not to jump, saying, 'Don't try it,' but Anakin, in his hatred and overconfidence, felt Obi-Wan's fear and thought he had finally found a situation where he could best his master, using his master's own move against him.
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36points
#34 Morgan Freeman's Character In Bruce Almighty (2003) Is Not God At All, But Satan
The entire premise of the movie is that Bruce grew to resent and hate God, so God gives Bruce his powers to prove that being 'almighty' is harder than it looks — but let's look at the situation objectively:
Satan would see a much greater opportunity in a mortal growing to hate God. That would allow him to tempt and manipulate the person more than normal. Not only that, but God is supposed to be omnipotent, whereas the being that Bruce met had clearly defined limitations (related to free will). Also, the things that Bruce used the given powers for made me question if they came from God. He made a monkey crawl out of a guy's butt (then jump back in) and, in a deleted scene, he lit Evan Baxter on FIRE with a look of pure maliciousness!
Bruce's abuse of these powers eventually caused the city to descend into absolute chaos. I highly doubt that God would allow so many people to get hurt just because one news anchor had a crisis of faith?
So, my theory is that Morgan Freeman's character is not God at all, but Satan. The story makes much more sense if you think of Freeman's character as some kind of evil demon giving Bruce exactly what he wished for and taking pleasure in the chaos that ensued. I think he just happened to accidentally renew Bruce's faith in the process.
34points
#35 Bojack Horseman Is Just An Extremely Elaborate Elsetup For The World's Greatest "A Horse Walks Into A Bar" Joke
A few seasons from now, whenever the show doesn't get renewed, at the end of the series finale bojack is going to walk into a bar. At this point everyone he loves will have died or abandon him. The bartender asks "why the long face?", then CUT TO BLACK Suprannos style ending.
32points
#36 Michael Myers Killed His Sister Because She And Her Boyfriend Stole His Mask In Halloween (1978)
In the opening scene, you see Michael spying on Judith and her boyfriend. The boyfriend pulls out a clown mask to spook Judith. A minute later, Michael picks up that mask and wears it when he kills her.
BUT — when we cut away to finally reveal the boy behind the mask — he's in a full-body clown costume. It seems as though the mask was a part of his outfit all along...So, why did Judith's boyfriend have it instead of Michael?
Obvious answer: The bratty teens stole Michael's mask as a joke to mock him.
Given this mask's prominent role in the scene — and his mask's massive role throughout the series as a whole — it makes sense that this would be the final straw that pushed Michael over the edge. After all, it wouldn't take much for the personification of evil itself.
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30points
#37 The Last Airbender: Bloodbending Is Why Katara's Mother Died
Of course, this whole thing is a spoiler for Season 3 of Avatar: the Last Airbender. In the beginning, the Fire Nation was repeatedly attacking the Southern Water Tribe to capture Waterbenders, and possibly the next avatar (but that's someone else's post). Only capture, and imprison. The last raid, Kya's killer said they weren't doing that anymore. What happened to change that policy? Hama.
The last Waterbender that they captured. During her brutal imprisonment, she created bloodbending, like Toph created metalbending during her own imprisonment, funny that. And like Toph, Hama used her creation to escape in spectacular fashion.
I'm thinking that The Fire Nation has learned from this defeat, much like the defeat they learned from in "The Northern Air Temple." No more capturing Waterbenders, they're too scary. Better to just kill them.
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29points
#38 MCU: Thanos 'Adopted' Gamora Specifically As A Sacrifice For The Soul Stone, But When He Grew Too Attatched To Her, He Adopted Nebula To Be Sacrificed By Gamora Instead
Thanos knew the price that had to be paid for the Soul Stone, which is why he 'adopted' Gamora, knowing that he had no family or loved ones of his own. However, in raising her, he found himself genuinely coming to love her and could not bring himself to harm her, so instead, he adpoted Nebula and planed for the pair to seek out the Soul Stone together with the intention of Gamora sacrificing her sister.
This is why he constantly pit the two against each other in combat, to be absolutely certain that Gamora would always be the victor. Everytime that Nebula lost, he would replace a part of her body with cybernetics, not to make her stronger, but actually the opposite, making sure she would always be at a handicap against her sister, as well as fostering a deep resentment in Nebula, ensuring she would be willing to fight to the death even if Gamora tried to refuse. This is also why Nebula seemed to know the price of the Soul Stone but not Gamora. In Infinity War Nebula comments that Thanos returned from Vormir with the Stone and not Gamora and instantly knew her sister was dead, and in Endgame, when Clint and Natasha set off for Vormir, she states that she hopes the pair do not fall out on the way.
I also suspect that Thanos probably had a similar plan in place for Proxima Midnight and Corvus Glaive if Nebula and Gamora failed.
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28points
#39 Squidward Is Secretly Great At The Clarinet, Just Too Poor To Afford A Good One
The jump in musical instrument quality from low range to mid range is far more noticeable than from mid to high for most instruments, but there is often a dirt cheap end. These might even be made of plastic, either intended as a toy or an actual instrument. At this very low level, you'd be lucky if it even played half in tune and wasn't airy. Plastic recorders on the low end are decent because they're in such high supply, but most instruments aren't in demand enough to be made well in plastic to a good quality.
I believe that Squidward, as poor as he is working at a dead-end Cashier job, cannot afford to save up for even a low-mid range instrument. His dead-end job and its terrible pay with the greedy Mr Krabs isn't enough for better. His plastic, cheap, airy, or even second hand (is it damaged?) clarinet is to blame, not his skill.
Supporting evidence is everywhere but the most recent and obvious one is episode Krusty Koncessionaires when he once played a high-end clarinet intended for use in a concert and it was beautiful. "I can't believe it. This really is the best clarinet ever made!" he says after playing.
So my theory is, if he could afford an upgrade, his music wouldn't be at all so raspy.
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27points
#40 Parasite (2019) And Snowpiercer (2013) Take Place In The Same Universe And "Namgoong" Is The Same Person In Both Movies
In Parasite, the architect that built the house was named 'Namgoong.' They never say his last name and we never see him, so we don't truly know who he was. In the movie, they make a big deal about his architecture, specifically the bunker, so he has experience with security design and planning.
In Snowpiercer, we meet a man named 'Namgoong Minsu,' the security specialist who designed all the door systems on the train. They use him to get to the front of the train by making him disable the door locks.
My theory is, basically, that the 'Namgoong' in both movies is the same person. That is, Namgoong Minsu in Snowpiercer designed the house in Parasite.
He already had the security knowledge to create the hidden door for the bunker of the house, and we know that he was popular, so it would make sense that, in the future, Wilford would hire a man of good renown to design the doors on the train. Maybe in exchange for free passage or something of the like?
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25points
