Co-Creator of “Back to the Future” Explains How Marty and Doc Became Friends

The mystery has been solved!  No, I'm not talking about what the hell was up with that mysterious island; I'm talking about the timeless (pun completely intended) question every "BTTF" enthusiast asks themselves at some stage.

In a blog posted recently at mentalfloss.com, "Back to the Future" co-creator Bob Gale decided to lay to rest the mysterious origins surrounding the historic friendship between a crazy scientist and a teenaged, wannabe rockstar.

As a self-proclaimed "BTTF" geek, I admit that I have spent an embarrassing and inexcusable amount of time pondering the answer to that very question.  The theory I spent more time coming up with dealt with Doc seeking for Marty sometime during Marty's youth after the two had their initial encounter with each other back in November 1955.  It's a time-travel movie.  Makes sense, right? 

Turns out the real answer isn't that interesting, or complicated for that matter.  According to co-creator Bob Gale, he and director Robert Zemekis simply believed the pair were destined to be friends considering their common black-sheep status in society.  Marty's "slacker" tendencies coupled with Doc's eccentricities and hair-brained scientific theories are a match made in time-travel heaven apparently.

The backstory would have been Doc walking in on a young Marty breaking into the lab and being pleased at how intrigued Marty was with some of Doc's ideas.  Cut to Doc giving Marty a part-time job as a lab assistant and the rest, not to sound even more cliched, is history.

Now if we could just figure out what exactly it was that made Walt so special, I'll be able to rest easier at night.