'Mad Max' Is One Of The Four Horsemen And 9 More Reddit Fan Theories To Enhance Your Movie Viewing

By Jodi Smith | Lists | June 22, 2016 |

By Jodi Smith | Lists | June 22, 2016 |

You may remember my last post about the insight floating around subreddit Fan Theories. I’ve got 10 more Reddit-supplied fan theories that can make or break your movie viewing experience.

Do I have to tell you there are SPOILERS AHEAD SO PROCEED WITH CAUTION?

1. Mad Max is a Horseman of the Apocalypse, but we ended the world before he could do his job - KidCasey

If we take all the movies to be canon, Max possesses a few seemingly impossible features.

First, he does not age normally, if at all. In Mad Max the Oil crisis that has lead to the current state of decay is in progress. In The Road Warrior that crisis has run it’s course and society, at least where Max is, has completely collapsed. In Thunderdome we find that sometime during the latter days of the Oil crisis there was a nuclear exchange between unnamed powers, and that this happened long enough ago to be legend. In Fury Road (and the game), our society is a the stuff of tales even to the extremely elderly, and elements that have survived have drifted culturally and linguistically (guzzlene, Aquacola, remnants of Norse culture combined with the seeming worship of the roads and the vehicles that traverse them).

This puts Max generations outside of a normal human lifespan, possibly by centuries.

Second, Max is an agent of change. Though never the inciter of whatever incident in which he becomes embroiled, he nevertheless becomes the key figure in inciting change for the people around him (though notably, never for himself). Over and over he punishes the wicked, and either allows the righteous to seek a promised land, or in the case of Thunderdome, leads them there himself (though again it is not for him).

Third, on a chrome horse he rides. Max can operate any road vehicle with expertise equal to, and usually better than, anyone else we see. He also possesses many versions of the same vehicle, with no explanation of how he acquired not just a new car, but the same car, as it is nearly always destroyed.

Fourth, Max is unreasonably durable. Surviving and performing with apparently serious injuries time and again, and though not unique to him, he is an extraordinary combatant.
Conclusion. Max is a horseman in a now irrelevant apocalypse, though he is certainly not aware of that fact. He is driven to travel endlessly, unconsciously guiding the righteous toward salvation (though of a purely terrestrial kind) and punishing the wicked. He possesses supernatural longevity, likely until his purpose is fulfilled, and he also possesses several other seemingly supernatural traits (such as always being able to find another interceptor), though he seems to be aware of none of them. His true purpose subverted by our own self-destruction, he is doomed to wander.

EDIT: To answer the speculation of so many on which Horseman max represents in this theory, I believe Death fits the best. No matter what the scenario the thing that Max brings the most of is Death. That is the currency with which he most effects the change I described.

2. [High School Musical] The trilogy is set in a world where all crime is legal and the Social Contract doesn’t exist. - SkyWasTheRobot

This one is loooong, so I’ve trimmed it up a bit. You can read the entire theory by clicking on the theorist’s name above.

…a quote I found while sifting through the ‘High School Musical’ Wikipedia page…the quote comes from Kevin Carr during his review of the DVD for the film and it really intrigued me: the quote is effectively a defence of the film, stating “The filmmakers were just trying to tell a story. Sex, drugs and violence just didn’t factor into that equation”. The more and more I thought about that quote, the more and more I realised he was completely right…

…the Social Contract is an agreement between you and everyone around you to restrict some of your rights and privileges in exchange for a more fulfilling life. For example, you restrict your right to murder people in exchange for the right not-to-be-murdered…’High School Musical’ exists in an alternate…reality where the Social Contract and subsequent legal system did not come into existence, so people are allowed to do whatever they like whenever they like. So it’s kinda like ‘The Purge’, except with more basketball and better story.

…Our characters - including the characters we’re meant to be rooting for - repeatedly commit actions that would have resulted in legal consequences had they been done in our world. At the beginning of the second movie, our heroes completely trash their school out of excitement for summer vacation…

…the gang’s summer job is ridiculous: Mr. Fulton is effectively bribed by Sharpay to make these under-aged teenagers life a living hell….the teenagers themselves aren’t exactly saints…Those kids would have contaminated all the kitchen-wear with germs, but it doesn’t matter…At the end of the movie, the main characters reserve the pool of Lava Springs for their own party. …Was that party even allowed? Did they just steal the pool for a couple of hours? They could if they wanted to…And really think about the title of the song that plays during the climax: ‘All for One’?…That implies you’re only supposed to look out for yourself. Of course, in this universe, that’s what it’s like. Your only priority is looking out for number one.

While the earlier films hint at this anarchic world, the third and final film pretty much confirms it. One of the billion plot threads in that film concerns the fact that Troy was accepted into Juilliard despite not sending an application to go there. Eventually it’s revealed, after Troy gets hit repeatedly in the face by giant balls, that Ms. Darbus (Troy’s teacher) sent the application…Ms. Darbus pretended to be Troy, fashioned his signature and sent it off without his knowledge. In the ‘High School Musical’ world, that’s called charming. In the real world, that’s called fucking forgery…

…Earlier on in the film there’s also a scene in which Troy and Chad steal Rocketman’s clothings and leave him to run after them naked. Setting aside indecent exposure laws, our two main heroes stole a person’s clothings and made them run after them naked for fun…without any sort of Social Contract - nobody questions this act. It’s like a world without morals that don’t begin and end with ‘does that make ME happy?’.

Oh, and those music sequences we see constantly throughout the trilogy? Mass LSD trips…What the ‘High School Musical’ movies are trying to say is that, while it’s probably for the greater good that laws exist - if we didn’t have any laws - we would become instantly happier with our lives. Freedom and liberty may not be synonymous… but maybe that’s for the best.

Or maybe it’s just a film about basketball, I don’t know.

Tl;Dr: Imagine ‘The Breakfast Club’, ‘The Sound of Music’ and ‘The Purge’ had a weird mutant love child that went on to star the guy from ‘17 Again’.

3. Every Stan Lee cameo in the MCU is part of a bigger narrative about a man’s life being ruined by superheroes [Marvel Cinematic Universe] - PinstripeGuy

Let’s just go to the video, shall we?

4. [Jurassic World] The Raptors Never “Switched Sides” - Dazric

Near the climax of the film, Owen leads his trained but wild raptors on a hunt for the Indominus Rex. In the movie, the raptors had been portrayed more-or-less like real animals, specifically intelligent pack hunters, with Owen being considered the alpha and having control and authority over them. Being the first generation, they are probably not so good at communicating with him and understanding what he wants them to do, leaving them to try and guess at it. When they hunt the Indominus, it’s with people who they have seen Owen, their alpha, fight with, and who he is obviously hostile towards. When they finally find the I Rex and it appears they’re siding with her now, instead of turning to look at the humans in general, as they would if they were going to attack, they look at Owen specifically, probably for guidance or instruction on what to do.

When Hoskins has them start shooting, in the resulting confusion the raptor pack has to act on its own, and being still mostly wild animals, hunt the perceived threat that is the other humans. They do attempt to meet up with Owen, who, incorrectly, thinks the “raptors have a new alpha,” but they fail. One of them is killed by a rocket, but shortly before that, she appears as if she might defer to Owen with regards to the kill she had just made, with him being higher in the pecking order.

I have two more proofs, and I think they make it pretty conclusive. The raptor that kills Hoskins showed up when Hoskins was getting close to and being aggressive towards Owen. The raptor doesn’t surprise him or even look at Owen, instead she vocalizes,getting Hoskins’ attention, and then she immediately interposes herself between Hoskins and Owen, keeping her back to Owen in what is probably a defensive posture. She certainly wouldn’t have done it if she thought Owen was a potential threat. She later crashes through the glass after killing Hoskins to rejoin Owen, only stopping when the Dilophosaurus appears, engaging another threat.

My final, and possibly most important proof, goes back to the start and end of the raptors supposed “side change.” When they rejoin Owen against the Indominus, he never does anything to show or reassert dominance over the Indominus and the rest of the pack. He didn’t have to, because he had always been considered the alpha, because the Indominus /never/ did anything to assert dominance over him.

TL;DR: The raptors were always on Owen’s side, and three of the four died trying to protecting him.

Edit: It’s also possible that, since the Raptors had already accepted a non-raptor as the alpha, they thought that Owen’s goal was to bring the Indominus into the pack to fight the humans, who they had, again, seen him fight with. It makes more sense that the alpha would want you to fight his enemies than to fight the guy you just meant, who can also communicate, and who the alpha’s enemies are attacking too.

Edit 2: Some people have wondered why Blue went at the other trainer, and personally I think it’s because she was caught up in the panic and confusion of the fight, and didn’t immediately recognize him like she would have with Owen. As soon as he said her name, she backed off to look at him, instead of continuing to attack. We don’t see how she would react beyond that, because Owen calls her shortly thereafter.

5. [Demolition Man]Rejected McWhopper peace treaty will ultimately lead to Taco Bell winning the franchise wars. - KingGorilla

If you recently have heard, Burger King publicly offered a peace treaty of sorts with McDonalds and to ultimately create the McWhopper. Shortly after McDonald’s CEO rejects the proposed treaty. I predict that this will only heighten competition between the two which ultimately weakens both by attrition. This leaves Taco Bell in a prime position to dominate the market and, according to Demolition Man, ultimately win the franchise wars. We already know Taco Bell has declared war against McDonalds via their propaganda campaign Routine Republic. How this will affect Burger King I do not know yet.

6. [Star Wars Revenge of The Sith] Padme’s broken heart death wasn’t over Anakin… - Nadodan

Anakin’s attack on her was the final straw but Padme didn’t lose the will to live because of 1 Mad Man, no she loses the will to live because everything she’s worked for her entire life has crumbled and she knows it’s her fault or at least it seems that way. Let’s go through it, It’s because of the Naboo Blockade that Senator Palpatine became Chancellor.

Because of the Replacement she chose Jar Jar the Chancellor was able to gain the emergency powers.

And maybe had she been paying attention and worked with the Senators, she could have prevented it, but instead she was focused on her Secret husband and their children.

So let’s go back to the day she dies, she get’s to watch as Democracy dies to like she says “Thunderous applause”. So all her work as a Senator everything she’s done for her people becomes meaningless. Than she goes home and she’s informed that the man she loved is a madman whose killed children. She goes to Mustafar and learns he’s a Sith and the final nail in the coffin he attacks her, meaning the love she lost everything for is meaningless.

So she gives up, it’s too much. You could argue that the love for her children should have let her live on, but they’re a reminder, a reminder of her inaction, her preoccupations that led to her part in the Republic she lived for dying.

So it’s not just some fairy tale “Oh he didn’t love me so I can’t live” it’s a woman who’s lost the will to live because she’s lost everything else in the span of less than a day.

7. Home Alone - Peter McCallister is a criminal. - cubanesis

Home Alone is one of my favorite movies of all time and as such, I’ve seen it about a million times. Watching it over the years you start to realize things that didn’t pop out as a kid. One of the things I noticed was that Kevin’s dad, Peter, has something fishy going on. My theory is that he’s some kind of mid level criminal for the mob or something.

First, the very first time we see Peter is when Harry is dressed as a cop scoping the place out. Peter is WAY defensive in this interaction. All Harry does is ask If he’s the owner of the house and Peter jumps straight to “Am I in some Kind of trouble officer?”. The look in his face is on edge the whole time he’s talking to Harry.

Secondly, we never find out what he does. They don’t mention where he works, or his background, or anything. Now in the the book adaptation of the movie they say something about him being in “business”. That’s pretty vague. But Peter makes enough money to have a wife that doesn’t work and like 5 kids. He also has a house that is worth like 1.5 million.

This bring me to my next point. Harry calls the McCallister house “The Silver Tuna”, the big score, etc. They specifically target this neighborhood for the McCallister house. When we see in the house there’s nothing particularly valuable looking around. We don’t ever see them mention jewels, or a safe or anything like that, but still this house that Harry has only seen the entryway to is THE HOUSE to rob. This might have just been a remnant of the original story line where Uncle Frank hired Harry and Marve to rob the place, but without that abandoned story line, why are they targeting that house specifically?

Finally, this one is kind of weak, but look at how his family carries themselves. Kevin’s mom is a cold emotionally dead bitch who says terrible things to her 8 year old son. Buzz is a fucking psychopath, who is probably set up to follow in his dad’s footsteps. Uncle Franks is obviously a crook of some kind. Then there’s Kevin, who seems completely ok with killing two robbers. I don’t think his intent was to “bonk them on the noggin”. He was out for blood. I mean when I was 8 I knew that if I dropped an iron on someones head from 20 ft they would die. Plus, the whole family has terrible manners. Just look at the scene when Kevin’s mom is trying to use the pay phone in Paris and a woman is already using it. The whole family just muscles the poor woman off the phone.

That’s all my hard evidence, I know it’s not much, but watch the movie and how Kevin’s dad acts and carries himself. Also this jumps to the second film, but remember how much cash was in his bag that Kevin ended up with? He had thousands of dollars in cash. The early 90’s were the time of travelers checks, plus they weren’t leaving the country, so there wasn’t a ton of reason to bring that much cash, unless you’re a criminal who deals in cash.

8. Tommy Wiseau’s The Room is actually a game of The Sims - Wazula42

The more I think about this, the more it makes sense. This scene in particular feels like it took place in the Sims. Characters babble incoherently, they seem to forget what they’re doing mid-sentence, weird side characters appear and disappear with no real relevance to anything, and characters entertain themselves by doing simple things over and over again, such as throwing a football. Maybe the player was trying to buff their stats with that action so he made them do it over and over again.

9. [MCU] The Chitauri invasion repulsed by the Avengers was merely a diversion to the true invasion. - ParameciaAntic

In the comic books, the Chitauri are shapeshifters who infiltrate and pose as native species and then manipulate from behind the scenes. This was the true objective of their invasion. While the “battle” was raging, stealthed ships were pouring through the wormhole to deploy shapeshifting agents throughout the world. We have seen that stealth technology is fairly common in the MCU — the Dark Elves and even the humans of SHIELD have it. Surely shapeshifting agents of Thanos have access to it.

The head-on assault of the Chitauri on Manhattan makes no sense if their intention was to conquer the Earth by military might. In an invasion, the goal is to incapacitate the opposing forces’ ability to retaliate while securing strategically-important objectives. Random groups flying around shooting cars and buildings doesn’t achieve this.
The Chitauri’s behavior suggests more that they were trying to create chaos to distract Earth’s defenders. Loki intentionally orchestrated events to make sure that the Avengers were engaged in battle smack dab in the middle of one of the most populated areas of the planet. He couldn’t open the wormhole without drawing attention to it, so he did it in the most flamboyant way possible.

In the end, for the subterfuge to work, the invasion would have to appear as a failure. As the heroes celebrate their victory with shawarma, the true invasion is dispersing around the globe. Shapeshifting Chitauri begin establishing their cover, playing the long game for their conquest of the Earth.

10. My theory on the new Joker - KidCasey

So I have seen a lot of people either complaining or perplexed about Jared Leto’s Joker. However, I think I have the angle they are going with figured out.

I think this new Joker is a pop-culture sensation and celebrity.

This would explain why he drives a Lambo, has goofy tattoos, and a girlfriend.

I believe this for multiple reasons. First off, it would very cleverly play off the craze of Heath Ledger’s Joker. Before, during, and after TDK was in theatres you couldn’t go anywhere without seeing someone with a “Why so serious?” shirt. Practically half my friends that Halloween were the Joker with the messy makeup and makeshift suit. I believe the Joker of the new DCU is a celebrity and people are fascinated with him the same way they were with Ledger’s Joker, except he is real.

So all the stunts, pranks, and crimes he pulls are like publicity stunts. However, instead of posing nude or shaving his head, he creates high speed chases between himself in an obnoxious purple car and Batman in a fucking bat-shaped car or blows up city hall or kidnaps the mayor’s daughter. Who wouldn’t want to watch that? Media coverage would be nuts. And the Joker would love it. He would be making people insane, as is his recurring goal, by admiring and cheering for a mass murderer/thief/vandal. People would have the same fascination with him that they do with Ted Bundy or Manson, but he accepts it and plays into it. Most importantly he would love the attention.

Imagine the TMZ coverage: “Joker gets new tattoo; decapitates two police officers” or “Joker evades Batman again; gets new rims.” People would be clawing to emulate his tattoos and dye their hair green. They’d be fascinated with his and Harley’s relationship.
I also believe Harley’s story goes along with this. I believe she was a psychiatrist who secretly loved the Joker as much as everyone else. Her studying him led to her falling in love and wanting to be part of the whole spectacle. Her bubblegum appearance also plays into this pop-culture, “look at me, I’m crazy” theme.

Lastly, and the reason I really think this theory works is that this would piss Batman off more than anything. He represents justice, balance, and reason. Yet his murdering arch-nemesis is adored by the people he is trying to protect. If the Joker operates this way it would essentially turn all of Batman’s efforts into a joke. He would appear to be this terrible tyrant stopping a beloved public figure’s fun. It trivializes his entire endeavour to uphold justice. What would drive Batman insane faster than that?