The trailer for Back to the Future 4 (2024), starring Tom Holland and produced by Universal Pictures, opens with an iconic nod to the classic series. The familiar chimes of the Back to the Future theme play as the camera pans over Hill Valley. A shot of the now modernized 2024 town square reveals a statue of Dr. Emmett Brown, honoring the eccentric scientist who changed the course of history.
Tom Holland plays Marty McFly’s son, Jack McFly, a young man who has grown up hearing about his father’s time-traveling adventures, but thinks they are nothing more than exaggerated family stories. However, fate has other plans. Jack is thrust into the world of time travel when the DeLorean, which has been gathering dust in Doc Brown’s old garage, suddenly activates, seemingly of its own accord.
The trailer shows Jack’s disbelief as he first steps into the DeLorean, which has received a futuristic upgrade. It’s no longer the battered, retro car of old, but now sleek and filled with cutting-edge technology, courtesy of Doc Brown’s son, Jules Brown (played by Joe Keery).
A montage of high-paced scenes reveals Jack and Jules on the run through time, visiting both the past and future. They must stop an unknown enemy from altering key moments in history—one of which is a sinister attempt to prevent Marty McFly’s first meeting with Doc Brown.
There are plenty of Easter eggs for fans of the original trilogy: a glimpse of the 1980s hoverboard, Biff Tannen’s descendants causing trouble in the future, and even a brief shot of Michael J. Fox reprising his role as Marty McFly in a powerful cameo. Marty, now older and wiser, warns his son that “time is a dangerous game.”
The trailer ends with an adrenaline-fueled scene of the DeLorean racing down a futuristic highway, disappearing into a flash of light, and the iconic phrase: “Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.”
Fans of the franchise will undoubtedly be excited for this nostalgic yet fresh installment.