Tenet Fan Theories That Turned Out to Be (Mostly) Correct | CBR - CBR - Comic Book Resources

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WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Tenet, now playing in theaters.

Tenet is finally here, playing in select theaters, and it's been doing relatively well given the circumstances. Much of this can be due to the unique air of mystery that Christopher Nolan and Warner Bros. were able to create around the marketing of this film, which lead to rampant speculation. The trailers for the film were vague to the point of frustration for some, leading to the creation of many personal theories about the plot . Here are some theories which turned out to be (mostly) correct.

Dual Timelines

This can be chalked up to the final trailer spoiling what is the biggest mystery in the actual plot as far as the characters are concerned. Many fans speculated that the film's main plot took place in the middle of dual timelines. One timeline has the Protagonist (John David Washington) moving forward through time as normal, inexperienced with inversion. The second timeline has him moving backward through time. Here, the Protagonist plants the pieces along the timelines of the characters' lives in an effort to create the most foolproof version of a plan, which that was concocted years after the actual events.

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"The Afterlife"

Many people (correctly) assumed that the shots of the Protagonist in the train yard eating what appeared to be a cyanide capsule would end up being the inciting incident. During the film's opening scene, an operation to infiltrate a terrorist raid goes wrong and ends with the Protagonist being tortured in an effort to get him to reveal information about his colleagues. Instead, he refuses, opting for a grisly, swift ending in the form of a cyanide capsule provided by his captured colleague. However, the pill is only meant to look like it works, so it doesn't kill the Protagonist. It's only the beginning of his new journey, as well as the film.

Tenet's Palindromic Plot

Most people noticed that the title Tenet is a palindrome, so they thought that the film's plot would reflect that, which ended up being true for the most part. While not exactly palindromic, almost all of the events of the film's first half are either reflected literally or metaphorically in terms of their placement in the plot. The plane crash, car chase and final battle are all shown as taking place forward and backward through time.

Furthermore, the palindromic nature of Tenet is much more obvious in regards to the plot's structure. There's a large-scale action scene at the beginning and end of the film, and both main characters are saving each other in the beginning and end of the film. Likewise, the placement of extraneous characters can be drawn to this conclusion, as many of them disappear during the film's second act, but they are in the first and third act. Considering Tenet deals with the existence of timelines moving in opposite directions of one another, this was bound to be the case.

People Move Backward Through Time

In an attempt to explain Aaron Taylor Johnson's sighting in the marketing as a military commando type, as well as the gas masks some characters wear, some users began to draw the line between them and the large rotating chambers seen in the trailers. These chambers, as well as the masks, are what enable people move backward through time.

In the final trailer, Johnson directs soldiers into what seems like another version of this time-bending technology, and he warns the Protagonist about the dangers he could face in an inverted world. This explains the need for gas masks, since, as the movie confirms, someone inverted can only breathe inverted air. This is why many of the characters travel with air supplies from their timelines.

Tenet Is the Long-Awaited Sequel to Inception?

While Tenet's plot does not directly reference the characters or events of Inception, the film can be seen as a spiritual sequel of sorts. In an interview with Esquire, Washington said he thought Tenet was at least, "related by marriage" to the heist film. Furthermore, Nolan's insistence on playing with time in his scripts continued with Tenet, and many of its ideas of layered storytelling can be traced directly back to the way that action scenes are choreographed in Inception. Its an interesting cinematic throughline that can be directly traced from one point to another.

Written and directed by Christopher Nolan, Tenet stars John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Kenneth Branagh, Dimple Kapadia, Martin Donovan, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Himesh Patel, Clémence Poésy, Denzil Smith and Michael Caine. The film opens is now playing in theaters.

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About The Author

Braeden Burge (41 Articles Published)

Braeden Burge is a tall millennial who enjoys playing video games and watching movies, as well as writing about them. Each year for the last three years, they have seen at least a hundred films in theaters. They have written dozens of reviews for a diverse array of films, and they continue to educate themselves on the industry every day. Their favorite films include “2001: A Space Odyssey,” “The Wolf of Wall Street,” “La La Land,” and “Apocalypse Now.” Their favorite video games include “Super Mario World,” “Bioshock,” “Red Dead Redemption,” and “Sly Cooper.”