There's A Viral Video Running Around Claiming Cooper's Dead In Interstellar, And I Have Some Thoughts

Some might argue about whether or not Interstellar is one of the best sci-fi movies of the recent past, but I’m not one of them. I wholeheartedly agree that writer/director Christopher Nolan’s film is a picture worthy of that distinction; thanks to his meticulously crafted vision of space travel and time travel. So when I saw a viral video claiming that, once again, Matthew McConaughey’s Cooper is actually dead the whole time, it inspired some very pointed thoughts.

The Latest ‘Cooper’s Dead’ Theory For Interstellar

Making the rounds on social media is the video shared below by a Twitter user named “JaredFPS.” A huge Interstellar fan himself, the creator believes he’s stumbled upon some compelling evidence that he feels sews up this “Cooper’s Dead” theory tighter than TARS’ comedic delivery. Take a look:

Before I start my own counterargument against the theory we’re playing with here, I have to say that I give JaredFPS one huge piece of credit: he provides the evidence to back up his claims. Also, he's enough of a fan that's clearly returned to this film enough that he's not just a casual internet reactionist who's seeing this for the first time.

With an argument that weighs heavily on supposedly repeated footage, and pieces of dialogue that are supposed to color Matthew McConaughey’s journey into space as an afterlife odyssey, there’s a lot of backing from the actual film itself presented. At the same time, this Interstellar theory doesn’t exactly work for me.

And while I reserve the right to badger management to allow me to write a deep dive feature that allows me to dive into the Tesseract’s worth of evidence that I think could debunk it, I’ll keep things brief. I will also say that if you want another "Cooper's Dead" argument to look over, our own Sean O'Connell dug into that line of thought back when the picture was first released.

Why I Don’t Agree With This Cooper Theory…For Now

The entirety of Interstellar falls apart when you engage in a “Cooper’s Died In The Crash” theory of any type. If Matthew McConaughey is moving through the afterlife, and all of this is just a spectral fantasy, then there’s no point to this movie existing. And that’s certainly not the sort of movie that fits in the collected filmography of Christopher Nolan.

This is on top of co-writer Jonathan Nolan’s alternate ending comments, which stated that Cooper almost did die in the movie, but during his trip into the black hole Gargantua to go back in time. I don’t think that Cooper was so precious a character that he couldn’t die, but killing him at the beginning of the movie nullifies anything past that point.

In my opinion, it’s just too much of a supernatural concept for Christopher and Jonathan Nolan to have ever thought to play with. The brothers Nolan are science-fiction nuts and history buffs who love to play with time and perception, but not crossing the veil between the living and the dead.

So if Interstellar was actually a huge afterlife odyssey, the hard work of its characters trying to save planet earth is null and void; which is the last thing Christopher or Jonathan Nolan would want to convey in a movie like this. Considering this is also the most emotional Nolan movie, as well as one of the most scientifically constructed, his exacting nature doesn't lend itself to merely being chalked up as a ghost story.

My attempt to debunk this theory surrounding Interstellar isn’t meant to dispel anyone who feels this sort of concept is accurate. Much like the field of scientific thought, we need to challenge each other’s theories, in order to evolve them. And I have to say, I don’t feel confident enough to shut this subject down totally anytime soon.

As you’ll see with my Inception ending dissection, a Nolan screenplay can hold a lot of context we don’t see on screen. It's key to admit when you can't totally dispel a theory, and I have to hand it to JaredFPS, he's put together something I can't just toss away without a lot of research.

Which means we should all be making like the man of the hour, and revisiting Interstellar as soon as conveniently possible. As luck would have it, at the time of this publication, the picture is streaming through access to some of the best streaming services, such as Paramount+. Prime Video, and MGM+.

And while I may have spent a little time trying to debunk JaredFPS’s theory, I still tip my hat to him for engineering a sturdy enough concept that I couldn’t merely dispose of it with a simple argument. As a film fan, and a journalist, these are the cases I live for, and I can’t wait to reexamine this adventure, just in time for it’s 10th anniversary.