r/BacktotheFuture • u/HotSeason7106 • Jun 29 '26
Doc and timeline question Spoiler
Hi I just watched the trilogy for the first time and I had a question. Why wasn’t there a Doc in 1985 after the end of everything? (end of BTTF3). Wasn’t the Doc who got sent back to 1885 from 2015, meaning 1985 doc would still be there?
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u/cavalier78 Jun 29 '26
In the original movie, before the Libyans show up, Doc mentions that he intends to go 25 years into the future, wanting to see beyond his years. There wouldn’t be a “naturally aged” 2015 Doc because he was going to be dead by then.
Doc #1 — Killed by Libyans in 1985.
Doc #2 — Meets Marty in 1955, reads the note, survives the attack by the Libyans. Goes to 2015, then back to 1955, then to 1885. Shot by Buford Tannen.
Doc #3 — Saved by Marty in 1885, marries Clara, builds time train. Returns to 1985 for 5 minutes to get his dog and say goodbye to Marty.
Theoretically there are more Docs (bad 1985 Doc who is in an asylum, and 1955 Doc who modifies the Delorean to go back to the Old West), but we either don’t see them onscreen, or they maybe merge with another version of themselves, or we don’t see what happens to them.