Fight Club Prequel? Fincher’s Cult Hit Becomes Even Darker in Bizarre Fan Theory

Summary:

• Fight Club’s protagonist never had an actual name, concealing his identity from the audience.
• His imaginary friend, Tyler Durden, has been with our John Doe for longer than we thought.
• The insomniac protagonist was Calvin, and his new friend was the reinvented Hobbes who adapted to his new needs.

David Fincher’s magnum opus Fight Club is often ranked among the most influential and mind-bending movies of all time. It became a cult classic immediately after its 1999 release, and it only took just under a decade for what’s likely the most bizarre Fight Club fan theory to emerge. Let’s travel back some 15 years, shall we?

Fight Club Might Have Had an Unlikely Prequel

You may be wondering, “Why would Fight Club even have a prequel to begin with?” Rightfully so: on the surface, it seems like the most important events of the Fight Club protagonist’s life all happen throughout the duration of the movie. However, there were some crucial questions David Fincher deliberately left unanswered.

The most important question being, “Who even is our protagonist?”

That’s right: the insomniac manager from Fight Club doesn’t have a name; he’s a John Doe with unclear past and seemingly dull future. Was he devoid of a name just to be a more relatable “nobody”? Perhaps. But perhaps, his name wasn’t revealed to not make the connection to Fight Club’s prequel all too obvious to the audience.

Fight Club’s John Doe Was Called Calvin

Remember the classic Calvin & Hobbes comic strips? That boy with an imaginary tiger friend was once energetic and curious, but real life landed some tough blows on him. Growing up, Calvin found himself stuck in the suffocating loop of mundane job, mundane responsibilities, and longing for the days of his friendship with Hobbes.

But real friends never leave each other, even if they are imaginary.

Seeing his friend’s suffering, Hobbes reinvented himself: from a cool optimistic tiger little Calvin needed then, he became a masculine and edgy man called Tyler Durden. He adapted to Calvin’s new needs and made it his job to pull the poor insomniac out of his never-ending daily hell. And pull him out of his hell he did, in some way.

There’s more evidence to this theory than both Hobbes and Tyler being imaginary friends and the John Doe from Fight Club having no name, but it’s best explained by Keith Buster, the original author of this theory. If you’re still not buying Cavin’s growing to become the Fight Club protagonist, check out his full research.

Source: Keith Buster