Dark Twist in "Back to the Future Part II" Due to Cast Member Refusal
Bob Gale, co-writer and co- creator of the trilogy, revealed the reason behind "Back to the Future Part II"’s surprising dark turn to a dystopian alternate 1985. Unbeknown to many, Christopher Lloyd’s contract negotiations with Paramount Pictures fell short, and director Robert Zemeckis expressed dissatisfaction with this development. A desperate attempt at a compromise with the studio could have led Gale to kill George McFly. However, as fate would intervene, Crispin Glover wouldn’t rejoin the franchise’s second installment under certain conditions proposed by Zemeckis as the first had.
Gale recounted that initially, they found it challenging adjusting to Glover not reprising their role. Furthermore, the filmmaker wanted to show that the sequel wouldn’t explore George’s perspective as much from his character change, which forced Gale to imagine the world into the future darkened. These adjustments led writers to create circumstances for George appearing only in several brief scenes – the majority composed of archival, unaltered footage from an early film iteration.