Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventureis one of the best movies of the 1980s, but it was almost much different, according to the original notes of creatorsEd Solomonand Chris Matheson. In honor of Keanu Reeves' birthday, Solomon shared their 1984 outline for the story, which would have had the iconic duo kidnapping Adolph Hitler instead of Napoleon. Bill and Ted were going to take their time traveling van (before they had the idea of the phonebooth) to Nazi Germany and get Hitler for their history report.
Ed Solomon and Chris Matheson’s first outline forBill and Ted’s Excellent Adventureis still roughly what ended up on the screen as far as the main story. But, it appears that there was a lot of throwing things against the wall to see what sticks during the writing process, just like any project that ends up as a classic. TheAdolf Hitlerpart of the notes reads, “They end up, say, in Nazi Germany, and after causing trouble, bring Hitler back to San Dimas. He’s stranded there and they go back in time again.” Ultimately, Matheson and Solomon decided against the idea. Solomon explains.
“Oh, yeah. Yeah we toyed with Hitler and then we were like…Actually we can’t do that. (For a lot of reasons.) And we swapped it out with Napoleon.”
Time traveland Hitler in the movies was recently brought up for another film. This year’sDeadpool 2originally had a post-credit scene where Ryan Reynolds' Merc with a Mouth goes back in time to strangle baby Hitler. In the end, the studio decided against it, for obvious reasons, and it was later made available on the extended cut, which is now out on Blu-ray. Taking Hitler out ofBill and Ted’s Excellent Adventurewas definitely a wise decision, just like it was for theDeadpoolsequel.
In other differences,Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventurewas supposed to take place in the parking lot of a 7-11, whichmakes perfect sense for the 1980s. In the end, Circle K was probably the better choice. Also, Rufus was a “28-year old sophomore” instead of the brilliant future man that he became, played by the late great George Carlin. Carlin’s involvement helped to give the comedy an extra edge that would have been hard to pull off with any other comedian at the time.
In the end, Ed Solomon and Chris Matheson are the real reason for the success ofBill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure. Their writing and ideas are what made those characters shine and standout today, over 30 years after the debut. Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter brought the delightful boneheads to life, but it was the writing style that nailed everything so well, from world history jokes to 80s culture. While taking Hitler out was a great idea,Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventurewould have still been a hit. You can check out theoriginal notes for the classic filmbelow, thanks to Ed Solomon’s Twitter account.
