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| caption = [[Michael J. Fox]] as Marty McFly
| caption = [[Michael J. Fox]] as Marty McFly
| first = ''[[Back to the Future]]'' (1985)
| first = ''[[Back to the Future]]'' (1985)
| last = ''[[Back to the Future Part III]]'' (1990)
| last = [[Back to the Future: The Game|''Back to the Future: The Game'' – Episode V: "Outatime"]] (2011)
| creator = [[Robert Zemeckis]]<br /> [[Bob Gale]]
| creator = [[Robert Zemeckis]]<br>[[Bob Gale]]
| portrayer = [[Michael J. Fox]]
| portrayer = [[Michael J. Fox]]
| voice = {{Plainlist|
| voice = {{Plainlist|

Revision as of 19:32, 14 May 2024

Marty McFly
Back to the Future character
Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly
First appearanceBack to the Future (1985)
Last appearanceBack to the Future: The Game – Episode V: "Outatime" (2011)
Created byRobert Zemeckis
Bob Gale
Portrayed byMichael J. Fox
Voiced by
In-universe information
Full nameMartin Seamus McFly
NicknameMarty
Occupation
  • Student
  • Singer
  • Musician
  • Lab Assistant for Dr. E Brown Enterprises
FamilyGeorge McFly (father)
Lorraine Baines-McFly (mother)
Dave McFly (brother)
Linda McFly (sister)
Stella Baines (grandmother)
Sam Baines (grandfather)
Milton Baines (uncle)
Toby Baines (uncle)
Joey Baines (uncle)
Sally Baines (aunt)
Ellen Baines (aunt)
Biff Tannen (stepfather; alternate timeline)
SpouseJennifer Parker McFly
ChildrenMarty McFly Jr. (son)
Marlene McFly (daughter)
RelativesSeamus McFly (great-great grandfather)
Maggie McFly (great-great grandmother)
William McFly (great-grandfather)
HomeHill Valley, California
NationalityIrish American
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • Electric guitar
Associated acts
  • The Pinheads
  • Marvin Berry and the Starlighters
Pseudonyms
Time travel
Original time1985
Years visited1885, 1955, 1985 (alternate timeline), 2015

Martin Seamus "Marty" McFly is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Back to the Future franchise. He is a high school student who accidentally becomes a time traveler and alters history after his friend Emmett Brown invents a DeLorean time machine.

Canadian actor Michael J. Fox portrays him in the film trilogy, while various actors have portrayed or voiced him in other media. In the animated series, David Kaufman voices him, and in the video game developed and published by Telltale Games, he is voiced by A.J. LoCascio, while Fox makes vocal cameos as his future counterparts. Olly Dobson played him in the original stage musical adaptation (the West End production), and Casey Likes currently plays him in the Broadway production.[1]

In 2019, Empire magazine selected McFly as the 12th Greatest Movie Character of All Time.[2]

Biography

Marty McFly is the Back to the Future protagonist. Born in Hill Valley, California, he is a part of the McFly family of Irish descent. Little is known about the character's life before the first Back to the Future film, except that he set fire to the living room rug when he was 8 years old (in a statement of Marty's to his future parents).[3] Despite never explicitly being explained in the film, Bob Zemeckis confirmed that Marty met his friend Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown when he was around 14 after hearing that Brown was a dangerous lunatic. Marty wanted to go and see what it was all about for himself. He snuck into Doc's lab and was fascinated by all his inventions. When Doc caught him, he was glad to have someone interested in his work, and their friendship began.[4]

In the first film, in 1985, Marty plays guitar with his group The Pinheads[3] and likes listening to Huey Lewis and the News, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Van Halen, and Michael Jackson. In the film, he is also a talented skateboarder and proves to be an excellent pistol shot, a skill he has honed by playing shooting games such as Wild Gunman at his local 7-Eleven.[5][6]

In an alternate timeline shown in Back to the Future Part II, a hand injury has left Marty unable to play the guitar. This injury occurs in 1985 after Marty accepts his school nemesis Douglas J. Needles' challenge to a road race after being labeled a "chicken" and crashes into a Rolls-Royce. In 1885, Biff Tannen's great-grandfather, Buford, goads Marty into a showdown, which Marty wins despite refusing to draw a gun against Buford. Once he returns to 1985, he remembers this event and his great-great-grandfather Seamus McFly's advice and drops out of Needles' challenge, avoiding the collision that would have ruined his prospects for success as a guitarist.

Movie events and time travel

For the complete plot of the trilogy, see Back to the Future, Back to the Future Part II, and Back to the Future Part III.

In the first film, Back to the Future, Dr. Brown shows Marty the time machine, in the form of a DeLorean, which he had invented after stealing plutonium (used as fuel for the vehicle's time circuits) from Libyan terrorists, who wanted him to build a nuclear weapon. During this exchange, the enraged terrorists shoot the doctor, and Marty escapes from them in the time machine, accidentally traveling back to 1955. There, he encounters his teenage parents and disrupts how they meet. Marty contacts the 1955 Dr. Brown and, with his help, reunites his parents and travels back to an alternate 1985, where his father, George, is a novelist, and Biff, his father's high school bully, becomes their caretaker. He also discovers that Dr. Brown is still alive because he had worn a bulletproof vest after Marty warned him about his fate in 1955.

In the second film, Back to the Future Part II, Dr. Brown brings Marty and Jennifer to 2015. They had married, and their teenage son, Marty Jr, was arrested, costing the whole McFly family. Jennifer is knocked unconscious by Brown, and Marty (from 1985) disguises himself as his son and comes into contact with the elder Biff. His son is supposed to meet Biff's grandson, Griff, who forces him to commit a crime with Griff and his gang. The disguised Marty prevents this from happening and gets into a hoverboard dash, resulting in Griff and his crew getting arrested instead of Marty Jr. Jennifer, who was left behind, is taken back to her 2015 home by the police after tracing her there using her fingerprints. Marty and Dr. Brown rescue her while, unbeknownst to them, Elder Biff steals their time machine and returns to 1955, where he gives his younger self an Almanac from the future to use for gambling. When they all return to 1985, they discover that Hill Valley is now a dystopia, with Biff becoming extraordinarily rich and corrupt. He had forcefully married Marty's mother, Lorraine, and secretly murdered Marty's father. He also legalized gambling in the process of becoming known as the 'Luckiest Man on Earth.' Marty and Dr. Brown return to 1955 again to steal the Almanac from 1955 Biff, in which they succeed. Dr. Brown, however, is sent to 1885 after lightning strikes the DeLorean. Marty receives a letter from Brown, written on September 1, 1885.

In the third film, Back to the Future Part III, Marty re-contacts 1955 Dr. Brown and informs him of everything that has happened. Together they discover that someone killed the doctor six days after he wrote the letter and that he had hidden the DeLorean in a mineshaft. Together, Marty and Doc (from 1955), dig up the DeLorean. Marty goes back to 1885 in an attempt to save Doc and meets his great-great-grandparents, Seamus and Maggie, and their son, his great-grandfather. He searches for Dr. Brown and finds out he has become a blacksmith. Marty crosses paths with "Mad Dog" Tannen, Biff's great-grandfather, and gets into a brawl with him. While they plan their escape, Marty and Dr. Brown meet Clara Clayton, a teacher, and the doctor falls in love with her. During the festival, "Mad Dog" and Marty agree on a one-on-one showdown Monday morning; however, that is the day Marty is meant to travel back to 1985. During the showdown, Marty defeats "Mad Dog" and proceeds the plan with the doctor. Finally, Dr. Brown decides to stay in 1885 with Clara while Marty travels back to 1985. The time machine is destroyed by an oncoming train, with Marty barely escaping. He reunites with Jennifer and decides not to race Needles, which would have cost him his music career.

Family

In the Back to the Future film franchise, Marty McFly is the youngest of three children of George McFly and Lorraine Baines-McFly. He has a brother, Dave McFly, and a sister, Linda McFly. In addition, he has uncles Milton, Toby, and Joey, as well as aunts Sally and Ellen (Ellen was born in 1956, so the first movie did not feature her). Joey served a prison sentence in 1985, and the court denied his parole again. In the first movie, Lorraine is 17 (nearly 18), Milton is 12, Sally is 6, Toby is 4, and Joey is 1. Ellen was born a year later.

Marty's secondary entourage consists of his girlfriend, Jennifer Parker, and best friend, Emmett Brown, a scientist Marty and Jennifer call "Doc." There is an implication that Marty is ashamed of his family and does not spend much time at home, preferring to hang out with Doc, Jennifer, or the guys in Marty's band, The Pinheads.[3] However, Marty's relationships with his family change after he returns from 1955, with him no longer being alienated by his parents and his father working as a local college professor and a successful novelist in the alternate timeline he inadvertently created. Marty meets his great-great paternal grandparents, Seamus and Maggie, too, when stranded in 1885. He also meets their infant son William, Marty's great-grandfather. Through his interaction with Seamus and Maggie, Marty discovers that Seamus had a brother named Martin, thus Marty's great-great-granduncle, who died after being goaded into a fight and killed in Virginia City, Nevada.

By 2015, Marty married his girlfriend Jennifer and had two children, Martin "Marty" Jr. and Marlene.

Aliases

Marty has had many aliases throughout the Back to the Future series, usually because of meeting his relatives in the past, such as Lorraine mistakenly thinking his name is "Calvin Klein" due to that being Marty's brand of underwear. In the first film, Marty uses the alias "Darth Vader, an extraterrestrial from the Planet Vulcan" while wearing a radiation suit to attempt to coerce George into asking Lorraine out to the dance. In Part III, Marty uses the name "Clint Eastwood" when asked by Maggie McFly and later by Buford Tannen. In Back to the Future: The Game, he uses one of three aliases; "Sonny Crockett," "Harry Callahan," or "Michael Corleone."

Production

Eric Stoltz was originally cast as Marty McFly in Back to the Future. His view of the movie clashed, however, with that of the director, Robert Zemeckis. While the film was to become a sci-fi comedy (and box office smash hit), Stoltz had read the script from a more serious angle, apparently focusing on the tragic consequences of going back to live a life that was not one's own. Five weeks into shooting, Zemeckis replaced Stoltz with Michael J. Fox.[7][8]

Other appearances

Influence

Morty Smith of the American animated series Rick and Morty (originally voiced by Justin Roiland) began as a parody of Marty McFly.[11]

Japanese pro wrestler Kushida dresses as Marty McFly as part of his ring character.[12]

References

  1. ^ "Casey Likes Will Star in Back to the Future On Broadway". March 1, 2023.
  2. ^ "Empire's The 100 Greatest Movie Characters". Empire. Retrieved 2010-05-21.
  3. ^ a b c Back to the Future (DVD). 1985.
  4. ^ "How Marty McFly and Doc Brown Became Friends". Mental Floss. 2011-08-16. Retrieved 2018-01-23.
  5. ^ Back to the Future Part II. 1989.
  6. ^ Back to the Future Part III. 1990.
  7. ^ "Why original Marty McFly Eric Stoltz was fired from Back to the Future". Digital Spy. June 29, 2015. Retrieved June 18, 2018. [verification needed]
  8. ^ "Never-before-seen footage of Eric Stoltz as Marty McFly in Back To The Future", IO9, October 12, 2010, retrieved October 10, 2011
  9. ^ Hilliard, Kyle (April 25, 2023). "Funko Fusion Teaser Features Properties Like The Thing, Child's Play 2, Jurassic World, And More". Game Informer. Retrieved November 18, 2023.
  10. ^ Lawson, Sean (May 9, 2023). "Funko Fusion guide — every character and IP in the upcoming PS5 game". TrueTrophies. Retrieved November 18, 2023.
  11. ^ Plante, Corey (2017-04-26). "'Rick and Morty' Exists Because Its Creators Are Huge Trolls". Inverse. Retrieved 2022-03-03.
  12. ^ Toro, Carlos (2022-10-04). "KUSHIDA: Back to the Future in Japan". Monthly Puroresu. Retrieved 2023-01-21.
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