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One fundamental rule of time travel is that it must be internally consistent.
Time travel is not a reality as far as we know, so any portrayal of it in movies, TV shows, books, comics, or other forms of storytelling is purely fictional. The key is to make the time travel concept work within the rules established in that fictional world. Whether it’s multiversal branching timelines like in the MCU or the risk of altering history like in Back to the Future, the specific rules don’t matter as long as they remain consistent. It would be confusing if the way time travel operates suddenly changed within a fictional world, such as requiring a person to replace their past self when going back in time.
Unfortunately, the 2012 film Men in Black 3, while a solid entry in the franchise, fails to adhere to this essential rule. Let’s delve into why Men in Black 3’s time travel rules are internally inconsistent.
More on Men in Black:
- Could Men in Black’s Neuralyzers Actually Exist?
- How a Jewish Scholar from the Middle Ages Inspired Men in Black 3’s Poignant Time Travel Story
- Men in Black director, production designer look back on ‘hardest’ thing to pull off in sci-fi classic
Men in Black 3’s Flimsy “Rules” of Time Travel
Men in Black 3 follows Agent J (Will Smith) as he travels back in time to prevent an evil alien, Boris the Animal, from assassinating Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones). Without K, an important shield protecting Earth from malevolent extraterrestrials was never created, so J must intervene. He encounters the younger version of K (Josh Brolin) in the late ’60s and together, they thwart the schemes of Boris the Animal and his past counterpart.
In the ’60s, there are two versions of Boris the Animal — one from the present and one from the past. A late revelation also uncovers two versions of J in the ’60s, as a boy J meets turns out to be young “James.” Time travel in Men in Black 3 results in a person coexisting with their past self from that era. However, during a crucial moment on the Apollo 11 launch tower, J uses time travel in a way inconsistent with the established rules, defeating Boris in a manner that contradicts the film’s time travel logic.
Men in Black 3 is available for streaming on Peacock alongside Men in Black and Men in Black 2.
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