‘For Me, It Makes Little Difference Which I Played’ — Michael J. Fox Addresses ‘Temporal Inconsistency’ In Iconic Back to the Future Guitar Scene, 40 Years Later

Back to the Future’s iconic Marty McFly guitar scene contains a number of timeline conundrums fans have noted many times over the years. But chief among them is a mistake that revolves around the iconic guitar McFly plays during his performance of Earth Angel and Johnny B. Goode.

Marty borrows Marvin Berry’s Cherry Red Gibson ES-­345 in the Enchantment Under the Sea dance. While most viewers are blissfully unaware of the guitar’s significance, hardcore Back to the Future fans and guitar aficionados often point out that in the real world, the Gibson ES-345didn’t exist until 1958 — three years after the year in which Back to the Future is set.

Fans have long wondered why Marty didn’t use the Gibson ES-350T, which was released in 1955 and played by Chuck Berry himself, instead. Now, in his new memoir, Future Boy: Back to the Future and My Journey Through the Space-Time Continuum, Michael J. Fox has addressed the mistake.

As reported by Entertainment Weekly, Fox described the timeline gaffe as “a temporal inconsistency that guitar aficionados and Back to the Future fans have pointed out again and again.”

“Granted, this is noteworthy only for the thousands of Future heads who clock every detail in the movie and parse every quirk in the timeline continuum,” he continues.

It turns out that the guitar’s inclusion is not an intended Easter egg. Fox revealed: “the film’s art department simply picked the ES-­345 because it evoked the iconic wine-red axe that Chuck Berry famously duckwalked across stages all over the world.”

Indeed, Fox sounds entirely unfussed about the whole timeline debate around Back to the Future, saying: “both the ’55 and ’58 versions of the Gibson electric are rare and beautiful instruments; for me, it makes little difference which I played. I’ve always loved the Gibson E line: big, imposing guitars yet hollow-­bodied and therefore lightweight. Even a little guy like yours truly could sling ’em and fling ’em and still make ’em sing.”

Since you made it this far, you’re probably interested in Back to the Future’s timetravel shenanigans (we know Ant-Man is!). So you might already know that the same guitar scene also features what’s called a ‘bootstrap paradox.’ Marty plays Johnny B. Goode in 1955, which inspires Chuck Berry’s cousin, Marvin, to call Chuck and let him hear the song, inspiring Chuck to write and release the song in 1958, after which Marty heard the song, learnt how to play it, and traveled back in time to 1995 to debut it to the world and Chuck Berry himself. Still with us? Don’t worry if you’re left scratching your head; it’s just a harmless timetravel joke from Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale.

In June, Fox and Gibson launched a search for the ES-­345 after it went missing following the release of the film. “We need your help, we’re trying to find the guitar I played in Back to the Future,” Fox told fans in a video released on YouTube to support the search. “It’s somewhere lost in the space-time continuum, or it’s in some teamster’s garage.”

As for Fox, he’s officially returned to acting after retiring five years ago, and will appear on the hit Apple TV+ dramedy Shrinking. It’s his first role since 2020’s The Good Fight. The supporting role Fox plays on the series is a special one as his character lives with Parkinson’s disease, which Fox has also lived with since his diagnosis in 1991. The actor was interested in working on the series after he discovered lead Harrison Ford’s character was diagnosed on the show.

Image credit: Gibson TV / YouTube.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.