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Credit: Universal StudiosThe Multiverse trend is showing no signs of slowing down. While the latest DC Universe installment, The Flash (2023), has tanked royally at the box office, the concept of exploring alternate dimensions, especially for superheroes, isn’t going anywhere in a hurry.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe will continue to lean into its Multiverse with the upcoming sequel, Deadpool 3 (2024), which will introduce Hugh Jackman’s Logan/Wolverine into the franchise, who will star alongside Ryan Reynolds’ titular “Merc with a Mouth.
Related: 5 Actresses Who Could Play Female Marty McFly In ‘Back to the Future’ Reboot
Meanwhile, Sony Pictures’ CG-animated Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) is due a follow-up next year with Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse (2024). Now, another franchise is jumping on the Multiverse “bandwagon.”
The Back to the Future franchise is obviously no stranger to time travel, but fans don’t often associate it with multiverses, alternate dimensions, or whatever you choose to call them.
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However, fans tend to forget that Back to the Future Part II (1989) takes place, for the most part, in an alternate timeline, which is further explored in IDW Publishing’s comic book series. Now, yet another Back to the Future installment tackles this concept.
In a short teaser for Back to the Future: The Musical (2020), which last week took a Broadway theater by storm, Doc Brown, played by Roger Bart from the UK version of the show, meets two versions of Marty McFly!
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In a video titled “Marty x Marty What in the Multiverse???”, shared on the production’s official Facebook page, Roger Bart’s time-traveling scientist wanders into an ethereal, featureless setting, where he encounters not one, but two Marty’s!
The first is Ben Joyce, who plays Marty McFly in the West End version of the show, which runs until October this year, and the second is Casey Likes, who plays Marty in the Broadway version, which officially opens on August 3.
Doc Brown looks understandably confused, as do the two versions of Marty, however, the production does not feature two separate performances from Marty, as the clip is simply referencing both performances, which, from August, will be playing simultaneously.
What’s particularly amusing about this short clip, though, is how it echoes a scene from Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), in which all three versions of Peter Parker/Spider-Man — Tom Holland, Andrew Garfield, and Tobey Maguire — point to one another in disbelief, a scene that has since been immortalized in GIFs and other animations.
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While there are no plans for a fourth Back to the Future film, the Multiverse concept could allow another theatrical Back to the Future installment to act as both a sequel and a reboot. The trouble, however, is that fans want neither.
Check out the trailer for Back to the Future: The Musical below, in which Christopher Lloyd passes the torch (or the flux capacitor) to the new Doc Brown, Roger Bart:
As per the official website, here’s the synopsis for the show:
Great Scott! The multi-award-winning Back to the Future: The Musical is changing Broadway musical theatre history.
When Marty McFly finds himself transported back to 1955 in a time machine built by the eccentric scientist Doc Brown, he accidentally changes the course of history. Now he’s in a race against time to fix the present, escape the past, and send himself… back to the future.
Experience this high-voltage comedy as the iconic story is adapted for the stage by the movie’s creators Bob Gale (Back to the Future trilogy) and Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump) and is directed by the Tony Award-winning John Rando.
Back to the Future the Musical features original music by multi-Grammy winners Alan Silvestri (Avengers: Endgame) and Glen Ballard (Michael Jackson’s Man in the Mirror), alongside hit songs from the movie including The Power of Love, Johnny B. Goode, Earth Angel and Back in Time.
When BACK TO THE FUTURE: THE MUSICAL hits 88mph, you’re gonna see some serious… entertainment.
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Written by Bob Gale, the writer and producer of the three Back to the Future films, with music and lyrics by composer Alan Silvestri (who also scored the films) and Glen Ballard, Back to the Future: The Musical is an excellent reboot of the iconic 1985 film of the same name, with an all-new cast and some fun alterations.
The cast for the Broadway show includes The Devil Wears Prada‘s Liana Hunt as Lorraine Baines, Les Miserables’ Nathaniel Hackmann as Biff Tannen, Ain’t Too Proud‘s Jelani Remy in the dual roles of Goldie Wilson and Marvin Berry, and Almost Famous’ Casey Likes as Marty McFly. Hugh Coles and Roger Bart reprise their roles from the West End version of the show as George McFly and Doc Brown, respectively, both of whom have now been replaced by Oliver Nicholas and Cory English in the UK.
Back to the Future: The Musical officially opens on Broadway on August 3.
A North American tour has been set for 2024.
Would you like to see a Back to the Future sequel explore the Multiverse? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!