Characters From '80s Movies Who Need Their Own Origin Stories

With the rise of multi- and extended cinematic universes, origin story films charting the life and times of a single character have become pretty standard fare in theaters. However, long before characters like Thanos or Tony Stark were household names, movies mostly introduced audiences to characters at the start of the film and then let them be at the end (unless a movie turned into a franchise, and even then protagonists were usually the focus). Until recently, backstory was either colored in through dialogue or flashback. While these are effective storytelling methods, there are plenty of characters who deserve their own fleshed-out origin story. So many, in fact, that some fans may feel it's a waste that the idea of origin movies didn't exist as such when their favorite films and franchises were introduced.

To pay homage to the great characters who arrived on screen before the age of endless spinoffs, here's a list of characters from the decade when genre, big action, and high-concept sci-fi blockbusters first arrived as we know them today: the 1980s.

1985's "Back to the Future" follows Marty McFly's attempts to return to the present after getting stranded 30 years in the past. Oh, and he has to ensure his parents fall in love before he returns to the present, or he will cease to exist. It's one of the greatest movie hooks of all time. The film was such a smash hit that it launched a franchise.

However, the movie series does leave a few pretty large questions unanswered, the biggest being Marty's relationship with partner-in-time-shenanigans Doc Brown (played by the iconic Christopher Lloyd). To quote the musings of comedian John Mulaney, "Back to the Future" never explains how or why Marty and Doc Brown, "a disgraced nuclear physicist," are friends. The movie trusts the audience to just go with it. Indeed, by the time Marty's driving Doc's atomic-powered DeLorean time machine, the audience is pretty much along for the ride.

While these holes in Doc and Marty's story are funny (their dynamic inspired "Rick and Morty"), they also set up an origin story movie for Doc beautifully. The movie could dive into Doc's past, explore his fall from scientific grace, and maybe shed some more light on his endearing friendship with a high schooler. At the very least, it could show audiences just how Doc managed to contact Libyan terrorists with plutonium connections from Hill Valley, CA. Considering the franchise netted nearly a billion box-office bucks, it's worth a producer's consideration. 

Snake Plissken from John Carpenter's "Escape From New York" is a character practically begging for an origin story. In the movie, Kurt Russell's Plissken is a former special forces soldier tasked with rescuing the US President after the President's plane crashes in New York City. Sounds like it's not such a big deal — after all, Sully Sullenberger managed just fine. However, in Carpenter's dystopian vision, the island of Manhattan has been converted into an open-air prison by America's fascist government. Not a place you want to linger in. 

Beyond being immensely entertaining, the movie also raises a lot of questions about its protagonist. Plissken is an eyepatch-wearing, snake-tattooed, only-in-the-'80s action hero with enough charisma to carry, well, a film franchise. But when audiences first meet the man, he's imprisoned by the Carpenter-verse's dystopian government. "For what?" some might ask. The answer's simple: He tried to rob the Federal Reserve. A botched robbery on the US banking system sure sounds like good fodder for a spinoff. Plus, the movie could explain how he lost his eye and what his time in the special forces was like. An origin movie would be a great opportunity to explore just how the US became a fascist state and when Snake discovered he was working for the bad guys before striking out on his own.

"Raiders of the Lost Ark" introduced audiences to the most iconic action hero to ever crack whips and punch Nazis: Indiana Jones. While the movie launched the globe-trotting adventurer franchise, it didn't explore Indy's most interesting love interest, Marion Ravenwood. Marion, played by the always-excellent Karen Allen, is an absolute firebrand of a human being. Her likability and believable chemistry with Harrison Ford are large parts of why the first movie works so well. Sadly, since she only appears in the first and fourth movie in the franchise, Marion's backstory is largely left unexplored.

But that oversight could be quickly remedied with an origin movie. The bits and pieces the audience gets about Marion's background are easily the stuff of prequel proportions. Her father was Abner Ravenwood, an archaeologist obsessed with recovering the Ark of the Covenant. Indy worked with Abner at one point and even had an illicit affair with Marion when they first crossed paths. Hollywood, we're begging you: Greenlight this picture. Fans of the Indy-verse would come out in droves to learn a bit more about the franchise's characters when they were young. Although the number of action movies with strong female leads is growing, we could always use more. On top of all that, Marion's origins could finally explain exactly how she came to be in a dive bar in Nepal and how she could out-drink a mountain man a few times her size.

Terry Gilliam's dystopian cult classic "Brazil" has a ton going for it. Its set design is one of a kind and Gilliam's vision of a dystopia dangerously bogged down by bureaucracy is chillingly absurd. And then there's an unexpected appearance from Robert De Niro. In the film, De Niro plays the terrorist Archibald "Harry" Tuttle. However, Tuttle isn't all that bad — he mostly just fixes air conditioning units for citizens who go ignored by the slow-moving and fascistic Central Services. It's a far cry from De Niro's typical gangster fare and a very endearing role. 

Tuttle's battle with "Brazil's" antagonistic government is not only a perfect example of the horrifying world Gilliam depicts in the film, but also makes up the movie's most interesting scenes. Part of this is due in no small part to De Niro's charisma, but the AC repairman/terrorist bit is so darkly funny it needs to be explored further. While this pick is probably the least likely to ever happen, there's a ton of potential for a Tuttle origin story.

The movie could give Gilliam, or another director, the chance to more deeply explore "Brazil's" fascinating world. Or, maybe Tuttle's origin movie could play out during the Central Service's rise to power. Either way, the opportunities a Tuttle movie presents for heady entertainment and grimly funny satire are endless.

When "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" premiered in 1988, critics marveled at both its technical achievement and singular vision, and what a vision it is. "Rabbit" depicts a universe where cartoons and the humans they entertain coexist. Put another way: In "Rabbit," when Daffy Duck isn't filming the latest Looney Toon, he's performing as a dueling pianist against Donald Duck in a local dive bar. Yeah, it's that awesome.

The movie plays like a film noir and follows the effort of PI Eddie Valiant (Bob Hoskins) to prove the innocence of the famous toon Roger Rabbit after Roger is framed for murder. Throughout the movie, characters remark on Valiant's tortured past. As the story unfolds, it's revealed that Valiant used to be a friend to toons until one killed his brother. While the movie explores Valiant's backstory through dialogue over the course of the film, a movie going back in time to follow Valiant's early gumshoe days could result in capital "E" entertainment.

A Valiant origin film makes all kinds of space for some epic toon action. Valiant could link up with different toons for various capers and give fans a ready-made excuse to go back to a unique film world. Valiant could help Foghorn Leghorn beat an underground boxing rap or investigate Prince Charming for having an affair. The possibilities are as wild as they are infinite.

Director David Lynch's "Blue Velvet" is both brilliant and deeply, deeply disturbing. In the movie, Lynch mixes bland suburban Americana with eccentricity, sexual perversion, and violence to make a convincing case that evil can take root anywhere. However, Lynch might not have achieved his vision without the help of Dennis Hopper, who played the film's deranged central antagonist: Frank Booth.

Frank is the boogeyman of movie villains. Anyone who's seen "Blue Velvet" will likely exit the viewing knowing Frank's not real and then check their closet for him before they go to sleep. He's not fun or distantly sympathetic, like the Joker or tragic Darth Vader; he's just awful. If any actor besides the late great Hopper had initially played the part, Frank wouldn't be on the list.

But Hopper's performance is so vile and charismatic, he turns Frank into a proverbial train wreck from which viewers just can't look away. There are so many questions that could be explored: How'd he get started on the gas tank and the split personalities? Whence his love of Pabst Blue Ribbon and hatred of Heineken? How did he collect such an, um, distinctive posse? These questions are why he's such a strong candidate for an origin movie. While the movie would have to be made without Hopper (RIP), Lynch's surrealist stylings could find a way to splice moments from the original movie in. Admittedly, it's a tall order, but Frank's one of the most memorable movie villains of all time and a rare character who makes the grotesque engaging to watch.

1982's "Blade Runner" has enjoyed more staying power than most science fiction films. It has influenced dystopian set design for decades, it has been reflected in countless movie scores, and it was even followed up by a stellar sequel, "Blade Runner 2049," in 2017. "Blade Runner" depicts a future in which massive corporations and governments enslave humanoid androids, known as "Replicants," to do all the jobs humans won't do. Replicants are programmed to die in four years to prevent revolution. Blade Runners are agents who kill replicants who break protocol. The movie follows the titular agent as he traces a new batch of particularly dangerous targets.

While there's a lot to love about this movie, many fans point to the film's closing monologue from antagonist Roy Batty as the high-water mark of the film. During the monologue delivered before his death, Batty reveals he's "seen things you people wouldn't believe" and proceeds to list some of the incredible events he's experienced due to the peculiar circumstances of his existence. Given the sci-fi radicalness of the events he describes — "attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion" and "C-beams glittering near the Tannhäuser Gate" — it's not a stretch to imagine most audiences have been clamoring for these events to be depicted since the film's release. CGI technology is better than ever these days, so these events could be convincingly rendered. Dutch actor Rutger Hauer and his piercing gaze are sadly no longer around, but we're sure a carefully chosen actor could bring the same robotic stoicism to the role. So in that spirit: Please make a Roy Batty origin movie, before interest in the "Blade Runner" franchise is inevitably lost to time, like tears in rain.