Popular Fan Theories That Have Finally Been Confirmed
When it comes to movies and television shows, we've all got our theories about the stuff no one else is noticing—a story's hidden layers, the creator's true intentions, and what the whole thing really means. There's just something incredibly gratifying about getting deep into the weeds of your favorite entertainment and examining the finest details of an intricate story, only to connect the dots on an obscure plot point that takes on an entirely new significance once you hold it up and really look at it from a different perspective. Of course, it's then even more gratifying when an actor or director comes right out and tells you that—believe it or not—you were right! Unfortunately, this doesn't always happen... but when it does, you can expect a lot of minds to be seriously blown. Here's a look at some fan theories that actors and directors actually came out and confirmed, offering sweet vindication for some of the most passionate fans of their work.
Logan's ending was foretold in The Wolverine
The Wolverine in 2013 secretly spoiled the ending of 2017's R-rated Logan. At least, if you were paying close attention. According to Movie Pilot
, the correct fan theory was proposed by Twitter user @_moegonzales3_, and the subtle spoiler goes a little something like this. In one scene from The Wolverine
, Yukio, a mutant clairvoyant, tells the title character, "I see you on your back, there's blood everywhere. You're holding your own heart in your hand."
Now, fast forward to Logan and—spoiler alert—the title character does indeed die lying on his back, covered in blood... though he's not holding his literal heart in his hand. Instead, in a scene powerful enough to bring even the manliest of men to tears, Wolverine himself dies holding the hand of his cloned "daughter," X-23—also known as Laura. And then everyone in the theater wept.
Sure, it would be easy to write these two scenes' connection off as merely a fortunate coincidence. However, director James Mangold actually confirmed that the two scenes being linked was, in fact, always what he had in mind. When @_moegonzales3_ tweeted to Mangold: "you had this set up the whole time?!?!?!?!?!?!?" Mangold tweeted back: "And the prize goes to Maurice!"
Cha-ching! Fan theory confirmed.
Stan Lee is a Watcher
Anyone who regularly watches Marvel movies is undoubtedly accustomed to the regular Stan Lee cameo. The comic book legend has made an appearance in almost every Marvel movie ever made. Lee's cameos have always been written off as merely nods to the Marvel man, as there's not really any canonical way to describe how Lee could appear in so many different places at so many different times. Or is there?
As fans pointed out, there is actually one way Lee could legitimately fit into all those films. For it to work, Lee must be one of The Watchers—a race of aliens who observe and compile information on everything the universe has to offer, while strictly refraining from interfering. But, of course, this would be absurd, and Lee himself even denied it.
Well, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 director James Gunn decided to have a little fun and make it legit. In the 2017 film, Gunn added scenes where Lee is regaling The Watchers with stories of his adventures. The director then confirmed to RadioTimes that said scenes were related to the fan theory.
"I mean, you know there's a lot of cool stuff that the fans come up with. A lot of stuff I don't agree with, you know people have ideas about what they think should happen in the MCU. But I find the idea that Stan Lee is a Watcher, or that he works for the Watchers, is just a fun little nod to the fans."
Furthermore, Lee is even credited as "Watcher Informant." As far as everyone's concerned, it's canon now.
Automobiles overthrew humans in Cars
While most people wouldn't think too deeply about a Pixar movie starring talking cars, some adults—and maybe even some kids—left theaters with a disturbing thought: where are the humans?
After all, it's not like humans never inhabited the world of Cars. Proof of human existence is littered throughout the entire movie. Aside from the fact that the cars themselves have handles, as ScreenCrush points out, the action clearly takes place on Earth, with recognizable landmarks like Route 66 and Hollywood. Heck, we even see the American flag! So, what exactly happened to us?
One fan theory proposed that the cars themselves eliminated humans. And as it turns out, that's exactly what happened. According to Jay Ward, the Creative Director of the Cars universe, the anthropomorphic automobiles simply didn't need the dead weight.
"Imagine in the near-future when the cars keep getting smarter and smarter and after one day they just go, 'Why do we need human beings anymore? They're just slowing us down. It's just extra weight, let's get rid of them.' But the car takes on the personality of the last person who drove it... There you go."
Now do you still want that hybrid? On the bright side, at least we know which cars Larry the Cable Guy, Jay Leno, and Owen Wilson will drive before the automobile uprising occurs.
Superman is haunted by those he could not save
Remember that epic battle in 2013's Man of Steel, where Superman and General Zod duke it out? Do you know how many innocent people died during that titanic slugfest? According to director Zack Snyder, "probably 5,000 people or something like that" died in Man of Steel. After such a massacre, few people could live as though nothing ever happened, and even a Kryptonian like Superman carries demons.
In the first act of Batman v. Superman, the Man of Steel himself saves a girl from a burning factory, and is then surrounded by people dressed like skeletons in celebration of the Day of the Dead, who all try to get their hands on the superhero. As one clever fan going by the name of The Kingslayer noticed, this scene was deeply symbolic.
"Plus the symbolism of Clark being dragged down by the people who died during him and Zod's fight, symbolised by people dressed in skeletons, honoring the dead (maybe that's just my overthinking) still, superduper scene."
Snyder himself took the time to comment "no no that's right" on the original post. And he wasn't just being nice, either. Snyder intentionally wanted to put focus on the human cost of these super battles, stating "it's not just fun to crash around in a city. There's a human price. And I think that's the thing that weighs on Superman."
Frozen's Anna and Elsa are Tarzan's sisters
When Frozen co-directors Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck took to Reddit for an Ask Us Anything, they blew everyone's minds when they revealed that, despite the film's opening montage, Anna and Elsa's parents didn't actually die at sea. Instead, Buck stated the protagonists' parents "got washed up on a shore in a jungle island. The queen gave birth to a baby boy. They build a treehouse. They get eaten by a leopard..." Now, where have we heard that story before?
Disney fans made the Tarzan connection immediately, spawning the theory that feral child is actually the brother of Frozen's Anna and Elsa. As ridiculous (or not ridiculous) as that might sound, Buck confirmed the theory in an interview with MTV.
"I said, 'Of course Anna and Elsa's parents didn't die.' Yes, there was a shipwreck, but they were at sea a little bit longer than we think they were because the mother was pregnant, and she gave birth on the boat, to a little boy. They get shipwrecked, and somehow they really washed way far away from the Scandinavian waters, and they end up in the jungle. They end up building a tree house and a leopard kills them, so their baby boy is raised by gorillas. So in my little head, Anna and Elsa's brother is Tarzan."
Spider-Man made his MCU debut in Iron Man II
There's been a long-running theory amongst fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe that Peter Parker showed up even earlier than Captain America: Civil War. As the theory goes, the little kid who dressed like Iron Man and mean mugged a robot at the Stark Expo in Iron Man 2 is actually a young Peter Parker. Iron Man 2 was released in 2010, after all, and everyone's favorite neighborhood web slinger is only in his mid-teens in 2017's Spider-Man: Homecoming. Furthermore, the aforementioned Stark Expo takes place in Parker's hometown of Queens.
Still, because we never actually get to see the identity of the masked kid in question, it's easy to dismiss this fan theory as just a theory. Making it even more unlikely is the fact that the Spider-Man brand was still, at that time, clamped firmly in Sony's vice-grip.
Luckily, Tom Holland himself stepped in to save the day and confirm this awesome idea as MCU canon. The actor who plays Spidey told HuffPost, "It is Peter Parker." When pressed, Holland doubled down, saying "I can confirm that, that is Peter Parker." When pressed even further, Holland tripled down and spilled the beans.
"I can confirm that as of today. I literally had a conversation with Kevin Feige only 20 minutes ago. Maybe I've just done a big, old spoiler, but it's out there now. It's cool. I like the idea that Peter Parker has been in the universe since the beginning."
Chief is a demi-god in Wonder Woman
When Wonder Woman hit theaters, moviegoers everywhere were impressed by both Gal Gadot's performance and the overall quality of the film. Some, of course, even left the cinema with a few clever fan theories—perhaps the biggest one involving the supporting character Chief.
Chief doesn't get a particularly large amount of screen time in Wonder Woman, but one specific scene has led to the popular fan theory that he is actually a demi-god. When Diana first meets Chief, they have a brief conversation in Blackfoot. Some of the conversation doesn't receive English subtitles, including the part where Chief apparently introduces himself as Napi, who—according to Native American lore—is a god of creation. So, does that mean Chief is, in fact, a demi-god?
Well, according to Chief's actor, Eugene Brave Rock, the character is just that. When io9's Beth Elderkin took to Twitter to ask Brave Rock if "the character of the Chief is a demi-god as well, or was [the conversation] an inside joke between him and WW," the actor answered back "Blackfoot culture hero and Demi-god." And just like that, it was a theory no longer.
Not only is this another example of a cool tidbit discovered by fans and confirmed by an actor, but this means we almost certainly haven't seen the last of Chief in the Wonder Woman series.
Gilmore Girls' Rory and Caeser were classmates
When you think about fan theories, your mind probably jumps to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Or Disney. Or Game of Thrones. It probably doesn't make the leap immediately to Gilmore Girls. But don't be fooled! The famous 2000s WB and CW show has a hardcore following, some of whom have dug into every minute detail the show has to offer. And with said hardcore digging comes some pretty hardcore fan theories—including one which offered up the idea that the show's main character, Rory, and Luke's chef, Caeser, were classmates.
The actor behind Caeser himself, Aris Alvarado, blew Gilmore Girls fans' minds wide open when he confirmed that this wild theory is indeed true. In Season 1, Episode 9, titled "Rory's Dance," we can briefly see someone who looks an awful lot like Caeser chillin' at a table with the rest of Rory's classmates. "That was Caesar," Alvarado declared to the crowd at the Gilmore Girls Fan Festival in the IRL Stars Hollow. "It's funny because [the internet] just discovered that. I've been waiting, I never wanted to say anything [so I could] see who was going to find me one day!"
Consider yourself found, Alvarado. Nothing gets by Gilmore Girls fans! Nothing.
The peddler in Aladdin is actually the Genie
There's a lot of Disney theories floating around in the ether. One of the most popular ones out there, however, is that the Genie in Aladdin is actually the peddler from the beginning of the film. As it turns out, that one is completely true!
When discussing fan theories with E! News, Aladdin director Ron Clements let the cat out of the bag—or, perhaps, the genie out of the lamp—when it comes to the popular fan theory. "I saw something that speculates that the peddler at the beginning of Aladdin is the Genie," Clements mentioned. "That's true! That was the whole intention, originally." Still skeptical? Well, you shouldn't be. "We even had that at the end of the movie, where he would reveal himself to be the Genie," Clements continued, "and of course Robin [Williams] did the voice of the peddler. Just through story changes and some editing, we lost the reveal at the end. So, that's an urban legend that actually is true."
Nevertheless, don't get too excited. Not all of your Aladdin theories are true. For instance, the film's title character never said "take off your clothes"—as debunked by Scott Weinger. But hey, not every conspiracy can be a winner!