Fan-Made Theories That Are Actually True
From film to television to comic books, fans develop their own theories about characters and plot points to help them make sense of stories as a whole. While most are simply dismissed as mere theories, there have been some instances in which creators, directors, and writers have proven these theories to be true. From the annihilation of the human race in Cars to how Breaking Bad is directly connected to The Walking Dead, these are some crazy fan theories that actually turned out to be true. But we must warn you, there are quite a few spoilers ahead!
The Wolverine Predicts The End Of Logan
Hugh Jackman's Wolverine is a favorite among the X-Men mutants and only die-hard fans would've noticed the connection between 2013's The Wolverine and 2017's Logan. At the end of The Wolverine, a clairvoyant mutant named Yukio tells Logan, "I see you on your back, there's blood everywhere. You're holding your own heart in your hand."
Indeed, in Logan, the title character dies on his back, covered in blood, holding the hand of X-23, his cloned "daughter." When a fan tweeted at director James Mangold if this connection was intentional, he confirmed that it was.
Stan Lee Is One Of The Watchers
Marvel movie fanatics could always count on a cameo by the late, great Stan Lee. In every Marvel movie filmed before his passing in November 2018, Lee makes an appearance as a random character, leading many fans to believe that he is one of The Watchers.
The Watchers are an alien race whose purpose is to watch over the Marvel multiverses but are strictly prohibited from interfering. Lee has previously denied this theory but in a post-credits scene for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Lee is seen talking to robed extraterrestrials about his adventures. He was even credited as a "Watcher Informant."
The Cars In Cars Eliminated The Human Race
If you've ever seen any of the films from Disney Pixar's Cars franchise, then you know that these anthropomorphic cars dominate the universe they live in with not a single human in sight. The movies often portray famous landmarks, so clearly they are still on Earth which has led fans to believe the cars themselves overthrew the human race.
Cars creative director Jay Ward confirmed this theory, saying that cars became so smart they didn't need us anymore. Because they considered us extra weight, they somehow got rid of us but each car took on the personality of the last human who drove it.
Tarzan Is Anna And Elsa's Brother
Frozen co-directors Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck suggested on Reddit that Anna and Elsa's parents didn't simply die at sea. In Buck's opinion, their parents "got washed up on a shore in a jungle island," leading many fans to believe that Anna and Elsa might have a long-lost brother named Tarzan.
In an interview with MTV, Buck stood by this theory, suggesting the Frozen mother was pregnant when they got shipwrecked: "[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."
Superman Is Haunted By Those He Couldn't Save
2013's Man of Steel culminates in an epic battle between Superman and General Zod that takes place across Metropolis, in which thousands of innocent humans lose their lives. At the beginning of 2016's Batman v Superman, Superman is surrounded by people dressed as skeletons on Day of the Dead.
One fan pointed out that this symbolizes Clark Kent's guilt over those who lost their lives in his battle with Zod. Director Zack Snyder confirmed this theory saying, "[It's] not much fun to crash around in a city. There's a human price. And I think that's the thing that weighs on Superman."
Peter Parker Debuts In Iron Man 2
Spider-Man doesn't make his debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe until Captain America: Civil War, but some fans think he made a cameo much earlier than that. In 2010's Iron Man 2, there's a kid dressed like Iron Man who mean mugs a robot at the Stark Expo in Queens and many fans believe that this was a young Peter Parker.
At that time, the Spider-Man brand was still under Sony, but the theory makes sense considering Peter Parker is just a teen in 2017's Spider-Man: Homecoming. Actor Tom Holland has confirmed this theory on multiple occasions.
Rory And Caesar From Gilmore Girls Were Classmates
Outside of film, there have been plenty of fan theories surrounding peoples' favorite television shows, like Gilmore Girls. You wouldn't think this classic WB/CW show would generate any theories of its own, but there's a wild idea that Caesar, the chef at Luke's diner, was once classmates with Rory at Chilton.
At a Gilmore Girls fan fest in the real Stars Hollow, actor Aris Alvarado confirmed the theory. One fan caught a glimpse of him in a season one episode that takes place at a dance in Chilton, years before he apparently started working at Luke's.
The Peddler In Aladdin Is The Genie
Many fans believe that Genie from 1992's Aladdin is actually the peddler at the beginning of the movie. As it would turn out, this fan theory is completely true. Director Ron Clements confirmed this theory in an interview with E! News.
"I saw something that speculates that the peddler at the beginning of Aladdin is the Genie... That's true! That was the whole intention, originally. We even had that at the end of the movie, where he would reveal himself to be the Genie 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."
RoboCop Is About Jesus Christ
After watching 1987's RoboCop some viewers speculated that the film is an allegory of the story of Jesus Christ. In a crime-ridden Detroit of the near future, police officer Alex Murphy is murdered by a gang of criminals, but brought back to life by a corporation as the cyborg law enforcer, RoboCop.
Director Paul Verhoeven confirmed fans' speculations. "The point of RoboCop, of course, is it is a Christ story. It is about a guy who gets crucified in the first 50 minutes, and then is resurrected in the next 50 minutes, and then is like the supercop of the world," he once said.
Harry Potter's Dumbledore Is Death
Though she never confirms if it's true, J.K. Rowling has said one of her favorite Harry Potter fan theories is the idea that Dumbledore is Death. In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Hermoine recounts "The Tale of the Three Brothers," who come across Death while crossing a river. Death feels cheated when they use their wands to cross the river alive.
To congratulate them, Death gives one brother a wand, another a stone, and the last an invisibility cloak. Many fans made the correlation of these brothers between Voldemort, Severus Snape, and Harry Potter, believing Dumbledore to be Death personified since he owned all three gifts.
Deckard Is A Replicant In Blade Runner
In 1982's Blade Runner, the dystopian future contains bio-engineered humans known as replicants, who aren't supposed to live more than four years. Harrison Ford plays Deckard, a "blade runner" sent to kill replicants who are on Earth illegally.
Fans believe that Deckard himself is also a replicant, a theory that director Ridley Scott has confirmed. In an interview from 2002, Scott explains a scene in which Deckard has a dream about a unicorn, which is never referenced again until he finds an origami unicorn at the end of the film. This suggests his memories are lost since he never really had any to begin with.
Breaking Bad Causes The Walking Dead
It turns out that Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead may have more in common than having been aired on the same network. Fans have found numerous clues that the AMC shows may actually share the same universe, especially since The Walking Dead contains multiple references to Breaking Bad, like Walt's Dodge car and Merle's stash of blue meth.
At Comic-Con 2018, creator Robert Kirkman confirmed that The Walking Dead's zombie outbreak was indeed caused by Heisenberg's produce. He may have been joking when he said it, but it was all the fans needed to hear.
Quentin Tarantino Films Share A Universe
Quentin Tarantino fans have always wondered if all of his films were connected somehow. For one, almost all of his films feature Red Apple Cigarettes, which could just be a Tarantino calling card. But it is interesting that characters from different movies share the same last names, such as Pete Hicox from The Hateful Eight and Lt. Archie Hicox from Inglorious Basterds.
Tarantino himself somewhat confirmed the truth on The Project: "There are actually two separate universes. There’s the realer than real universe, and all the characters inhabit that one. Then there’s this “movie” universe, so From Dusk Till Dawn and Kill Bill take place in this special movie universe."
Chief Is Another Demi-God In Wonder Woman
In 2017's Wonder Woman, we see Diana Prince covertly thwarting the spread of deadly gas along the Western Front during World War I with the help of a spy, a marksman, and a smuggler named Chief Napi. When Chief introduces himself, he and Diana have an un-subtitled conversation in Blackfoot, leading many to believe Chief is a demi-god.
Additionally, according to Native American folklore, Napi is a god of creation. The actor who plays him, Eugene Brave Rock, confirmed this theory when a fan asked him about it head-on. He replied that Chief was a "Blackfoot culture hero and Demi-god."
Daredevil And The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Are Related
What would Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Daredevil have in common? A lot, actually. While the pizza-loving turtles seem to have little in common with the Marvel comic superhero, it would turn out that their origin stories match up.
The turtles and Daredevil both reside in New York City's Hell's Kitchen and they also received their abilities after exposure to acid that leaked from a truck accident. TMNT creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird actually wrote the turtles' origin story in connection to the Daredevil comic, which is something fans quickly noticed.
Klingons Experimented With Genetic Mutation
Over several decades Star Trek has amassed a cacophony of fans who've developed many theories about the show itself. One theory involves the Klingons, whose distinctive forehead ridges we know today are apparently a result of genetic mutation experiments.
The Klingons' modern-day look is in stark contrast to how they looked when the show first started but that's because as the show got more popular, a bigger budget allowed the makeup department to create more elaborate looks. By then, the theory was already in place so writers for Star Trek: Enterprise wrote it into the series' canon.
Spirited Away Was A Reference To Prostitution
Hayao Miyazaki's Academy-Award winning film, Spirited Away, introduces a young girl named Chihiro, who gets trapped in the spirit world and is forced to work in a bathhouse to save her parents.
Many have pointed out the film's parallels to prostitution, especially since the Japanese version of the film refers to Chihiro as "yuna," which is Japanese for girls who performed "favors" for men. Miyazaki acknowledged the theory once, saying, "I think the most appropriate way to symbolize the modern world is the sex industry. Hasn't Japanese society become like the sex industry?"
Leprosy Is A Theme In Princess Mononoke
Another Studio Ghibli film that has a fan theory attached to it is Princess Mononoke. There is one scene in which the protagonist, Ashitaka, meets workers with bloody bandages at an abandoned factory, suggesting that they have leprosy.
In the Japanese version, these characters are called "gyobyo," which translates to "incurable disease" or "suffering the consequences." Miyazaki admitted that that's what inspired those characters. "While making Princess Mononoke, I thought I had to depict people who are ill with what's clearly called an incurable disease, but who are living as best they can," he said. At that time, he visited actual patients afflicted with Hansen's disease.
Adventure Time Is A Post-Apocalyptic Wasteland
Adventure Time has made adults feel good about watching cartoons again, especially since it deals with darker themes. The show takes place in a fantasy world called the Land of Ooo, but some fans have speculated that the Land of Ooo was actually a post-apocalyptic Earth.
Creator Pendleton Ward didn't intend it that way but liked the idea so much that he made it the show's canon. He wrote the theory into the show, which often makes references to a great "Mushroom War," alluding to mushroom clouds that happened as a result of a nuclear war.
Jesus Christ Could Be An Engineer From Prometheus
2012's Prometheus is another film that fans believe to be a nod to the story of Jesus Christ. This theory was also confirmed by Ridley Scott, who suggested that the Engineers created humanity on Earth.
"If you look at it as an 'our children are misbehaving down there' scenario there are moments where it looks like we've gone out of control... And [humans] were given a long run. A thousand years before their disintegration actually started to happen. And you can say, 'Let's send down one more of our emissaries to see if he can stop it'" he told Movies.com.
