There was no Reddit or Twitter back in 1996. So when a young DC fan from Missouri named Geoff wanted to present his fan theory about the new Superboy to the world, he simply wrote to the comic’s letters page.
“I’d love to see a meeting between Superboy and Supergirl. It’s been a while,” wrote the 15-year-old fanboy after waxing lyrical on the “surprise, action and intrigue” featured in the latest instalment of the young Kal-El’s colourful adventures. “Also chalk up another vote for the Robin/Superboy crossover.
“Last thought … I think I know who Superboy is a clone of. How about Lex Luthor? All the pieces fit, and it would have some great ramifications.”
The editor of Superboy #26, volume three, wrote back somewhat snidely: “Superboy and Supergirl – check! Robin/Superboy – check! Lex Luthor as DNA donor – BZZZZ! I’m sorry. Two out of three ain’t bad though (right, Meatloaf?)”
The above exchange would most likely have been forgotten by all but the teenager himself had Geoff’s surname not been Johns. Seven years later and now in the employ of DC, the young man would write his clone Luthor storyline into the 2003 relaunch of Teen Titans. Another seven years on and Johns became the president and chief creative officer of DC Comics; in May he was put in joint charge of the new DC Expanded Universe, including upcoming superhero epics Justice League, Wonder Woman and Aquaman.
Few would argue that Johns had the last laugh at the editor who pooh-poohed his clone Luther Superboy pitch. But I’m using the story to illustrate how the gap between a strong fan theory and a Hollywood screenplay might not be as wide as some might think. If you reckon the Johns story is a one-off, how about a young Steven Moffat posting a Doctor Who concept in an internet chatroom in 1995 that he would later go on to use in the show himself?
Then there are the fan theories that came true, like Jon Snow’s resurrection in Game of Thrones, or the writing into canon of the theory behind the Klingons’ sudden development of raised cranial ridges between the end of Star Trek: The Original Series and their next appearance in 1979’s Star Trek: The Motion Picture. We can also include JK Rowling’s decision to back the popular fan theory that Dumbledore from the Harry Potter books and movies is death himself (advance warning, link-clickers, this one’s rather a long story), not to mention JJ Abrams’ embarrassment when fans worked out that Benedict Cumberbatch really was playing Khan six months ahead of the release of 2013’s Star Trek Into Darkness.
For Star Wars film-makers such as Rian Johnson, writer and director of the upcoming Episode VIII, the existence of fan theories must represent a minefield. We’re still well over a year from the release of the second instalment of the new trilogy and there are already dozens of new ones hitting the internet every week.
More than any other film series, Star Wars lends itself to online guessing games, because the original trilogy was responsible for quite possibly the most mind-blowing twist in movie history, the revelation in 1980’s The Empire Strikes Back of Darth Vader’s true identity as Anakin Skywalker, father of Luke. With Episode VIII, like Empire, being the middle instalment in the new triptych, fans have already convinced themselves that another cerebellum-twisting revelation is on the way.
I’ve read theories along the lines that Daisy Ridley’s Rey is the reincarnation of Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker, presumably thereby allowing for the immortal Mark Hamill line: “No, Rey, you are my father!” in the new instalment. I’ve read that Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren is in fact a double agent, who has been working for Luke all along in a plan to infiltrate the First Order’s power base and kill Supreme Leader Snoke. Then there’s the one that the team of Rebel grunts led by Felicity Jones’ Jyn Erso in the upcoming Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, are somehow going to morph into the evil Knights of Ren by the time Episode VIII rolls around. And these are just some of the less far-out concepts.
The problem for Johnson and Lucasfilm is that the fan theory brigade are not just monkeys with typewriters, glacially working their way towards the inevitable truth with all the pace and urgency of the Sarlacc’s digestion system. With the way Reddit, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and a thousand fan forums are throwing up, filtering and pushing new ideas into the public consciousness, they are effectively acting like some kind of giant, super-powered fanboy hive mind (a much more Star Trek-y concept, I know) – and someone is bound to hit on the truth about Episode VIII sooner or later. The only way for the film-makers to avoid being second-guessed is to avoid any mirroring of the narrative arc of the original trilogy whatsoever this time out. And that goes against everything Abrams set up in The Force Awakens, which found success by restoring themes from earlier episodes – giant weapons of mass space destruction, Force-sensitive ingenues, wise, enigmatic aliens and shock character deaths – and heavily hinting that part two would resolve all its millions of irritatingly lost threads in thrillingly Star Wars-y fashion.
I hope I’m wrong here, and Johnson has a curveball up his sleeve that will shock fans to their very cores by combining laser-honed symmetry and prodigious originality. In the meantime, I’ll be keeping one eye on the crazier corners of the internet – just in case one of those monkeys happens to deliver Episode VIII’s complete, unabridged script.
