Instead of trying to light the fire of opinion that Glover was asking for money and was subsequently written out of the Back to the Future sequel let’s just say that there were issues between Glover and the creators of the movie and Universal and leave it at that. While the rest of the cast was welcomed back since they accepted the pay that they were being given for the second movie, it was stated that Glover wanted too much and therefore it was decided that he wasn’t really needed. But that didn’t stop Universal from thinking that they could use his likeness, which was a huge gaffe on their part since Crispin was made aware of this and made a pretty big stink about it. To be certain, there are a couple of sides to this story that people might want to consider since asking for too much and hyping up your own value is kind of an issue, especially in a movie where you’re no longer one of the main stars. But on the other hand, someone trying to use your likeness to make it appear that you were in the movie when you weren’t is a bit dodgy, especially since Crispin wasn’t being paid for likeness rights, which is a big no-no in the business. In that light, it’s easy to see why he went after Universal in the way he did, but not reconnecting with the rest of the cast when it came time for a reunion feels like it might be a bit petty, to be honest. It wasn’t the fault of his costars that he wasn’t utilized in the movie, or that Universal did what they did.
In this particular story, there doesn’t appear to be a clear case of who’s entirely in the right and who’s entirely in the wrong since Universal didn’t have any obligation to bring Crispin back, but they did try to pull a fast one by using his likeness. Crispin could have easily taken the pay that he was being offered and remained a part of the movie, possibly even a bigger part, but he didn’t and we see where that went. But seeing your face being used when you’re not being paid for it, that’s enough to burn a lot of people in a big way. A lot of people will state that Crispin Glover is an odd duck, and they’re not wrong since he is a bit of an oddball and has been in the past as well, but he’s still a great actor and was a valuable asset in the original Back to the Future. It could have been that he was given a bit of bad advice, maybe he was hyped up by people that were trying to get the most they could for him under the guise of caring about his career. Or maybe he was really convinced that he was a lot more valuable than he actually was, but the result is pretty obvious, Hollywood reached out and gave him a serious reality check, along with a settlement that came via Universal Studios thanks to his lawsuit. He’s continued to work since then obviously but the fact is that people still see Crispin as a rather odd individual since he does take on roles that are a bit out there, such as Grendel in the animated version of Beowulf and the titular character in the remake of Willard.
He’s a different person, that much is the truth, but the Back to the Future II deal did make it feel as though he’s been messed with just as many other actors have in the history of cinema. Whoever is at fault, whoever was being unreasonable, the fact is that Universal took a step in the wrong direction and tried to cut him out while still using his image in a way that they likely knew was going to get them in trouble. The fact that George McFly was upside down for the short time that he was on screen was a clever trick since it would take a person that was really paying attention to figure out that it wasn’t Crispin, but someone was paying attention in fact and made it known that he was somehow in the movie without actually BEING IN the movie. Can anyone guess his reaction at that moment? Likely he wasn’t too happy, but if all he was seeing were dollars signs then it’s likely that he was better off being written out of the movie in the first place since the other actors that took part in the first movie came back without an issue, while Crispin, who still wasn’t as big as Michael J. Fox and still isn’t known to as many people in this day and age, would have been a lot more respected had he just taken the paycheck and shown up.
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