Return to Altered 1985
From dystopian ruin to sunrise: one photograph proves everything changed.
The 'Return to Altered 1985' is the payoff of the first Back to the Future film: after the lightning strike sends him back from 1955, Marty McFly wakes the next morning in a 1985 that his actions in the past have changed. It confirms that George standing up to Biff in 1955 changed the McFly family's future.
Quick Facts
- Protagonist
- Marty McFly
- Key ally
- Dr. Emmett Brown
- Vehicle
- DeLorean Time Machine
- Primary location
- Hill Valley, California
- Timeline status
- Restored (Improved)
- Preceding event
- Saving the Photo; Altering 1955
Lore & Background
In the new 1985, Marty's father is a confident and successful science fiction author, his mother is fit and happy, his siblings are successful, and Biff is a servile valet in George's employ.
Reader's Guide
Their immediate priority: verify history corrected itself. Confirmation comes from Biff, who is now an auto detailer rather than George's supervisor, and from Marty's two older siblings, who have better lives. As Marty reunites with Jennifer, Doc suddenly reappears in the DeLorean, insisting they return with him to the future to save their children from terrible fates.
More in Films & Narrative Arcs
Elsewhere in Back to the Future
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