Marty McFly
Encyclopedia
Martin Seamus "Marty" McFly, Sr. is the protagonist
in the Back to the Future film trilogy
, and is portrayed by actor Michael J. Fox
. Marty was also the protagonist in the animated series
where he was voiced by David Kaufman
. In the videogame
by Telltale Games
, he is voiced by AJ LoCascio.
Eric Stoltz
was originally cast as Marty McFly, but after five weeks of shooting scenes for the first film, director Robert Zemeckis
and executive producer Steven Spielberg
chose to re-cast the role to Fox.
in 1968 to a family of Irish descent. Little is known about Marty's life prior to the first Back to the Future
film, except for the fact that he accidentally set his parents' living room rug on fire when he was 8 (which we know from a statement of Marty's to his future parents).
In 1985, Marty plays lead guitar
with his group The Pinheads and likes listening to Huey Lewis and the News
, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
, and Van Halen
. He is also a talented skateboarder and proven to be an excellent shot with a gun, honed by endlessly playing shooting games such as Wild Gunman
at his local 7-Eleven
.
Although Marty is often accident prone and sometimes thought to lack critical thinking skills, he is nevertheless brave in the face of danger and can be very resourceful and clever. He has shown some good and basic street fighting skills in the movies. He often throws punches in hand-to-hand confrontations. His major character flaw is his pride, which causes him to take unnecessary risks to show others that he is not chicken, as demonstrated throughout various points throughout the trilogy. However, in the third film
, when his ancestor Seamus McFly points out that Seamus's brother, Martin, was killed in an argument where someone questioned his bravery, Marty began to re-think his stance on what other people thought of him. This was highlighted when Marty refused to race Needles, despite Needles goading him into a race, thus avoiding the "automobile accident" involving the Rolls Royce, therefore changing his future for the better.
, a scientist
whom Marty and Jennifer call "Doc." There is an impression that Marty is embarrassed by his family and does not spend much time at home, preferring to hang out with Doc, Jennifer, or the guys in his band, The Pinheads.
How exactly Marty and Doc met has never been explained, although a draft script for the first film states that, in 1983, Doc turned up at Marty's garage one day and offered him $50 a week, plus free beer
and use of his record collection, to clean his garage. This explanation is not accepted by most fans, as it contradicts the characterizations of Marty and Doc as seen in the finished film. Writers Robert Zemeckis
and Bob Gale
say they once considered expanding on their relationship, but decided against it, reasoning that children and adolescents are often drawn to eccentric or mysterious neighbors.
By 2015, Marty has married his girlfriend Jennifer and they had twins, Martin "Marty" Jr. and Marlene, who were born on April 28, 1998 (both played by Michael J. Fox). However, the events at the end of Back To The Future Part III, where Marty avoided the race with Needles, may affect the outcome of events as seen in Part II.
, Marty and Jennifer study at Hill Valley College after graduating from Hill Valley High School. Marty spends a lot of time visiting the Brown house where Doc, Clara, and their sons now live. He continues to travel through time alongside Jennifer, Doc, and the rest of the Brown family on many of their adventures, in the process learning a lot about his family's ancestry and future.
The animated series says that Marty has not completely overcome his "chicken" problem established in the films. For instance, in the episode "Roman Holiday", Bifficus Antanneny taunts Marty into a chariot race by calling him "pullus," the Latin word for "chicken."
An episode set in 2091 ("Solar Sailors") establishes that Marty's music becomes famous to Elvis
-like proportions, as there are Marty impersonators mimicking his act on stage. His great-granddaughter Marta remarks, "If only my great-grandfather was still alive to see that his music continues on..."
The British band McFly
was named after Marty McFly because the vocalist Tom Fletcher
is a fan of the Back to the Future trilogy
.
Relient K
wrote a song about Marty McFly called "Hello McFly" on their eponymous first album
.
New Found Glory
did a song based on Marty McFly called "Back To The Future" under their side-project International Superheroes of Hardcore
Canadian skate punk
band "Darryl's Grocery Bag" wrote a song about the character entitled "Marty", which was released on the 1998 compilation "Wet Feet", put out by the independent Canadian label "Meter Records". The song starts out with a voice snippet of Biff Tannen from the first "Back To The Future" movie.
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
in the Back to the Future film trilogy
Back to the Future trilogy
The Back to the Future trilogy is a comedic science fiction adventure film series written by Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis, directed by Zemeckis, produced by Amblin Entertainment and distributed by Universal Pictures. The main plot follows the adventures of a high school student Marty McFly and...
, and is portrayed by actor Michael J. Fox
Michael J. Fox
Michael J. Fox, OC is a Canadian American actor, author, producer, activist and voice-over artist. With a film and television career spanning from the late 1970s, Fox's roles have included Marty McFly from the Back to the Future trilogy ; Alex P...
. Marty was also the protagonist in the animated series
Back to the Future: The Animated Series
Back to the Future: The Animated Series is an animated series for television based on the Back to the Future trilogy of feature films. The series lasted two seasons, each featuring 13 episodes, and ran on CBS from September 7, 1991 to November 28, 1992. It reran until August 14, 1993...
where he was voiced by David Kaufman
David Kaufman (actor)
David Kaufman is an American voice-over artist and character actor, best known for his roles as the voice of Danny Fenton on Danny Phantom, the voice of Maggie's brother Aldrin on The Buzz on Maggie, and the voice of Marty McFly, Michael J...
. In the videogame
Back to the Future: The Game
Back to the Future: The Game is a graphic adventure video game based on the Back to the Future film franchise. The game was developed by Telltale Games as part of a licensing deal with Universal Pictures. Bob Gale, co-creator, co-writer and co-producer of the film trilogy, assisted Telltale in...
by Telltale Games
Telltale Games
Telltale Games is a leading independent digital first publisher and game developer founded in June 2004 as Telltale, Incorporated. Based in San Rafael, California, the studio includes designers formerly employed by LucasArts...
, he is voiced by AJ LoCascio.
Eric Stoltz
Eric Stoltz
Eric Hamilton Stoltz is an American actor, director and producer. He is widely known for playing the role of Rocky Dennis in the biographical drama film Mask, which earned him the nomination for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture...
was originally cast as Marty McFly, but after five weeks of shooting scenes for the first film, director Robert Zemeckis
Robert Zemeckis
Robert Lee Zemeckis is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Zemeckis first came to public attention in the 1980s as the director of the comedic time-travel Back to the Future film series, as well as the Academy Award-winning live-action/animation epic Who Framed Roger Rabbit ,...
and executive producer Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
chose to re-cast the role to Fox.
Biography
Marty was born in Hill Valley, CaliforniaCalifornia
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
in 1968 to a family of Irish descent. Little is known about Marty's life prior to the first Back to the Future
Back to the Future
Back to the Future is a 1985 American science-fiction adventure film. It was directed by Robert Zemeckis, written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale, produced by Steven Spielberg, and starred Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover and Thomas F. Wilson. The film tells the story of...
film, except for the fact that he accidentally set his parents' living room rug on fire when he was 8 (which we know from a statement of Marty's to his future parents).
In 1985, Marty plays lead guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
with his group The Pinheads and likes listening to Huey Lewis and the News
Huey Lewis and the News
Huey Lewis and the News is an American rock band based in San Francisco, California. They had a run of hit singles during the 1980s and early 1990s, eventually scoring a total of 19 top-ten singles across the Billboard Hot 100, Adult Contemporary and Mainstream Rock charts...
, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers are an American rock band from Gainesville, Florida. They were formed in 1976 by Tom Petty , Mike Campbell , Benmont Tench , , Ron Blair and Stan Lynch...
, and Van Halen
Van Halen
Van Halen is an American hard rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. The band has enjoyed success since the release of its debut album, Van Halen, . As of 2007 Van Halen has sold 80 million albums worldwide and has had the most #1 hits on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart...
. He is also a talented skateboarder and proven to be an excellent shot with a gun, honed by endlessly playing shooting games such as Wild Gunman
Wild Gunman
is a light gun shooter game created by Nintendo.-Early version:The original version of Wild Gunman was one of Nintendo's electro-mechanical arcade games created by Gunpei Yokoi and released in 1974. It consisted of a light gun connected to a 16mm projection screen...
at his local 7-Eleven
7-Eleven
7-Eleven is part of an international chain of convenience stores, operating under Seven-Eleven Japan Co. Ltd, which in turn is owned by Seven & I Holdings Co...
.
Although Marty is often accident prone and sometimes thought to lack critical thinking skills, he is nevertheless brave in the face of danger and can be very resourceful and clever. He has shown some good and basic street fighting skills in the movies. He often throws punches in hand-to-hand confrontations. His major character flaw is his pride, which causes him to take unnecessary risks to show others that he is not chicken, as demonstrated throughout various points throughout the trilogy. However, in the third film
Back to the Future Part III
Back to the Future Part III is a 1990 American science fiction comedy Western film. It is the third installment of the Back to the Future trilogy. The film was directed by Robert Zemeckis and starred Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Mary Steenburgen, Thomas F. Wilson and Lea Thompson. The film...
, when his ancestor Seamus McFly points out that Seamus's brother, Martin, was killed in an argument where someone questioned his bravery, Marty began to re-think his stance on what other people thought of him. This was highlighted when Marty refused to race Needles, despite Needles goading him into a race, thus avoiding the "automobile accident" involving the Rolls Royce, therefore changing his future for the better.
Family
Marty is the youngest of three children from George and Lorraine McFly. He has a brother Dave and a sister Linda. His secondary entourage consists of girlfriend Jennifer Parker and best friend Emmett BrownEmmett Brown
Doctor Emmett Lathrop "Doc" Brown, Ph.D. is a fictional character and one of the lead characters in the Back to the Future film trilogy, in which he is the inventor of the first time machine, which he builds out of a DeLorean sports car...
, a scientist
Scientist
A scientist in a broad sense is one engaging in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge. In a more restricted sense, a scientist is an individual who uses the scientific method. The person may be an expert in one or more areas of science. This article focuses on the more restricted use of the word...
whom Marty and Jennifer call "Doc." There is an impression that Marty is embarrassed by his family and does not spend much time at home, preferring to hang out with Doc, Jennifer, or the guys in his band, The Pinheads.
How exactly Marty and Doc met has never been explained, although a draft script for the first film states that, in 1983, Doc turned up at Marty's garage one day and offered him $50 a week, plus free beer
Beer
Beer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...
and use of his record collection, to clean his garage. This explanation is not accepted by most fans, as it contradicts the characterizations of Marty and Doc as seen in the finished film. Writers Robert Zemeckis
Robert Zemeckis
Robert Lee Zemeckis is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Zemeckis first came to public attention in the 1980s as the director of the comedic time-travel Back to the Future film series, as well as the Academy Award-winning live-action/animation epic Who Framed Roger Rabbit ,...
and Bob Gale
Bob Gale
Michael Robert "Bob" Gale is an American screenwriter who co-wrote the science fiction film Back to the Future with writing partner Robert Zemeckis, and the screenplays for the film's two sequels. Gale also co-produced all three films....
say they once considered expanding on their relationship, but decided against it, reasoning that children and adolescents are often drawn to eccentric or mysterious neighbors.
By 2015, Marty has married his girlfriend Jennifer and they had twins, Martin "Marty" Jr. and Marlene, who were born on April 28, 1998 (both played by Michael J. Fox). However, the events at the end of Back To The Future Part III, where Marty avoided the race with Needles, may affect the outcome of events as seen in Part II.
Back to the Future: The Animated Series
In the animated seriesBack to the Future: The Animated Series
Back to the Future: The Animated Series is an animated series for television based on the Back to the Future trilogy of feature films. The series lasted two seasons, each featuring 13 episodes, and ran on CBS from September 7, 1991 to November 28, 1992. It reran until August 14, 1993...
, Marty and Jennifer study at Hill Valley College after graduating from Hill Valley High School. Marty spends a lot of time visiting the Brown house where Doc, Clara, and their sons now live. He continues to travel through time alongside Jennifer, Doc, and the rest of the Brown family on many of their adventures, in the process learning a lot about his family's ancestry and future.
The animated series says that Marty has not completely overcome his "chicken" problem established in the films. For instance, in the episode "Roman Holiday", Bifficus Antanneny taunts Marty into a chariot race by calling him "pullus," the Latin word for "chicken."
An episode set in 2091 ("Solar Sailors") establishes that Marty's music becomes famous to Elvis
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
-like proportions, as there are Marty impersonators mimicking his act on stage. His great-granddaughter Marta remarks, "If only my great-grandfather was still alive to see that his music continues on..."
Legacy
In 2008, Marty McFly was selected by Empire magazine as the 39th greatest movie character of all time.The British band McFly
McFly
McFly are an English pop rock band who first found fame in 2004. The band consists of Tom Fletcher , Danny Jones , Dougie Poynter and Harry Judd . They were signed to the Island Records label from their 2004 launch until December 2007, before creating their own label, Super Records...
was named after Marty McFly because the vocalist Tom Fletcher
Tom Fletcher
Thomas Michael "Tom" Fletcher is an English singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is best known as one of the lead vocalists and guitarists of English pop rock band McFly, in addition to being the group's founder and principal songwriter...
is a fan of the Back to the Future trilogy
Back to the Future trilogy
The Back to the Future trilogy is a comedic science fiction adventure film series written by Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis, directed by Zemeckis, produced by Amblin Entertainment and distributed by Universal Pictures. The main plot follows the adventures of a high school student Marty McFly and...
.
Relient K
Relient K
Relient K is an American rock band formed in 1998 in Canton, Ohio by Matt Thiessen, Brian Pittman, and Matt Hoopes during the band's junior year in high school and their time at Malone University...
wrote a song about Marty McFly called "Hello McFly" on their eponymous first album
Relient K (album)
Relient K is the first full-length album released by punk group Relient K. Many of the tracks are newer versions of those found on their 1998 demo All Work & No Play. Typical of early Relient K albums, the lyrics use pop culture references for teaching and to illustrate Biblical principles...
.
New Found Glory
New Found Glory
New Found Glory is an American rock band from Coral Springs, Florida. Formed in the summer of 1997, founding members were lead vocalist Jordan Pundik, guitarists Chad Gilbert and Steve Klein, bassist Ian Grushka and drummer Joe Marino...
did a song based on Marty McFly called "Back To The Future" under their side-project International Superheroes of Hardcore
Canadian skate punk
Skate punk
Skate punk is a sub genre of punk rock, originally a derivative of the West Coast hardcore punk scene, that is named after its popularity among skateboarders and association with skateboarding culture. Skate punk most commonly describes the sound of melodic hardcore bands from the 1990s with an...
band "Darryl's Grocery Bag" wrote a song about the character entitled "Marty", which was released on the 1998 compilation "Wet Feet", put out by the independent Canadian label "Meter Records". The song starts out with a voice snippet of Biff Tannen from the first "Back To The Future" movie.