Three Takeaways From the Michael J. Fox/Christopher Lloyd Reunion
Great Scott! It’s hard to imagine anything making Nerd Internet lose its collective mind more than last weekend’s emotional Marty McFly/Doc Brown reunion at New York ComicCon. Their famous chemistry was still palpable, as was Michael J. Fox’s affection for Christopher Lloyd: “The best part of the movie was working with Chris.”
The fan interest flux capacitor is clearly at 88, even though we all know another Fox/Lloyd film is all but impossible. Fox’s long battle with Parkinson’s disease has led to two retirements from acting. Lloyd is a feisty 83, but another sci-fi comedy might be too much for an octogenarian. That didn’t stop the reunion from getting us thinking, however. Here are three takeaways from the historic meet-up.
It’s Your Kids, Marty!
The original Back to the Future ended on a cliffhanger, with Doc racing back in time to interrupt a kiss and harness Marty for another adventure.
It’s your kids, Marty! Something has got to be done about your kids!
Sure, Back to the Future II picked up this thread, with Fox starring again as both Marty and Marty Jr. in a story set in (gulp) 2015. But in our multiverse world full of time travel and parallel universes, there’s a cosmos full of reality-jumping adventures for future McFlys to partake in. Heck, if Top Gun: Maverick can make a billion at the box office, why not roll the dice with another 80's reboot? And while neither Fox nor Lloyd might have it in them to star, surely they could cameo and hand off the baton to a new generation of comic time travelers?
Rick and Morty Is Missing the Boat
It’s an open secret that Rick and Marty … er, Rick and Morty is loosely based on Back to the Future. And fan service has already been paid by casting Lloyd as a real-life Rick in a series of Adult Swim shorts.
But for a show that has featured several celebrity cameos, from John Oliver to David Cross to Key & Peele, how has the show not turned to Lloyd and Fox to voice doppelgangers for the show’s titular characters? Fox has done plenty of voice work in the past few years. We’re not sure what past episode holds the rating record, but we’re pretty certain a Lloyd/Fox voice-aganza would set the new mark.
We’ve Missed You, Michael J. Fox
We haven’t seen Fox in a big-screen comedy since 2000 (unless you count that voice work in movies like Stuart Little). It’s our loss. It’s not hard to imagine Fox taking part in a Wes Anderson joint like Moonrise Kingdom or The French Dispatch. He would have been a natural in a funny indie like Little Miss Sunshine, and it would have been fun to see what Judd Apatow would have done with him. A foul-mouthed Fox? We’re here for it. A dad in Booksmart? How about an improv turn in Best in Show or another Christopher Guest improv romp?
One of the reasons we love seeing Fox so much is because it’s a poignant reminder of the comedies that might have been.
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Top image: Today Show
