10 Biggest Unanswered Questions From The Jaws Franchise

In 1975, after so many production issues and reshoots leading to going over budget, Steven Spielberg finally released Jaws. It should have been a disaster but ended up becoming what is often labeled as the first blockbuster. Jaws became one of the greatest films in cinematic history and proved to be a labor of love.

Of course, like any big successful movie: it spawned sequels leading to a franchise. With four movies spanning over ten years, the stories went into very drastically different directions. As a result, some questions have been raised by the fan community over the years.

10 Is Jaws 3 Still Canon?

The timeline of the Jaws movies can be a little confusing. In Jaws 3, Mike Brody, played by Dennis Quaid, works at Sea World with his significant other Kathryn when the sharks attack. Meanwhile in Jaws: The Revenge, Lance Guest’s Mike is living in the Bahamas with a new wife, a child, and a completely different profession.

One could argue that Mike simply separated from Kathryn and got a new job which led to him moving to the Bahamas and meeting Carla. However, there is zero mention of any of the events from Jaws 3 in Jaws: The Revenge. So some fans believe that Jaws: The Revenge acts as an alternate timeline version of Jaws 3.

9 Was The Shark From Jaws 2 Connected To Bruce?

In the sequel Jaws 2, a shark emerges first at the sunken Orca ship from the first Jaws. The shark goes on a killing spree in Amity, leading Brody to even ask a specialist if sharks can communicate. It’s left ambiguous if this shark is simply a coincidence or if it has ties with Bruce from the original.

In the novelization of the film, it is suggested that the shark in Jaws 2 is the mate of Bruce. While sharks do not have mates in the real world, they are not ruthless killing machines either. The other suggestion is that with Bruce gone, it left the territory open for another shark to simply come in and take over.

8 When Does Each Sequel Take Place?

Each sequel to Jaws seems to make massive jumps into the future. In Jaws, Mike Brody seems to be about ten to twelve years old but in Jaws 2, he’s closer to eighteen years of age. This is confusing since Jaws 2 was released only four years after the first.

Jaws 3 shows the Brody brothers as adults, with Mike appearing in his early to mid-thirties. And if Jaws: The Revenge is fourth in the same timeline, that points to another jump because Mike has a young daughter. This would suggest that the whole timeline of Jaws takes place over the course of about 20 to 25 years with Jaws: The Revenge taking place near the year 2000.

7 How Did The Shark Get To The Bahamas So Fast?

The easy answer to this is a poorly written script to a hilariously bad horror sequel. However, fans still ask how one shark manages to follow the Brody family from New England to the Bahamas. The shark in Jaws: The Revenge already appears to be supernaturally smart as it lured Sean Brody into a trap and has a psychic link to Ellen Brody.

Even that doesn’t explain the distance though. The average Great White Shark has a top speed of 35 miles per hour and that’s just in short bursts. It would take at least a week of non-stop travel for the shark to reach the Bahamas but it appears to arrive in less than a day or two.

6 Was The Mother Shark In Jaws 3 A Megalodon?

In the third Jaws movie, there are two sharks: a smaller, actually normal-sized Great White that caused some issues but wasn’t too bad. That’s because it was only the baby while the mother was still in Sea World, creating havoc.

The mother shark is revealed to be massive: listed as 35 feet in length, ten feet longer than Bruce. It’s been estimated that Megalodons ranged from ten to fifteen meters long, matching the mother’s size. If so, Jaws 3 would be one of the first attempts at a Megalodon on the big screen.

5 How Did Nobody Notice The Mother Shark?

The ocean is a dark and murky void which makes it easy for sharks to hide in. However, Jaws 3 makes it very clear that the Sea World lagoon which the two sharks call home features clear, serene, and downright perfect water. There is even a control room that can see across the entire lagoon.

So how did the mother and baby sharks keep themselves hidden? A shark can’t just stay put anywhere without drowning so it doesn’t make much sense how no one at Sea World ever noticed a 35-foot creature in the lagoon.

4 Why Was The Shark After The Brody Family?

Going into connections as mentioned prior, the shark in Jaws: The Revenge is hunting the Brody family. But why? The title suggests that the shark is seeking revenge; So this has led to several theories such as Bruce mated with Brucette from Jaws 2, resulting in a child. Fans have even nicknamed the fourth movie’s shark Vengeance.

The child grew up and went on a revenge path to kill the Brody family for retribution. As ridiculous as that is, it’s actually tame compared to the original script which featured the Brody family being cursed. A witch doctor curses the Brody family and the shark is the manifestation of that curse.

3 What Happened To Hooper’s Boat?

Back to the first movie, fans have pointed out an error in the heroes’ plan to stop Bruce. The movie seems to forget that Hooper has his own boat with high-tech equipment including a sonar. Why didn’t this boat return in the last act with Brody and Quint?

Yes, Quint hated Hooper’s high-tech equipment but why didn’t Richard Dreyfuss’s Hooper just travel with them on his own boat next to the Orca? Hooper likely could have spotted Bruce rather than waiting for him to attack. Of course, this might not have led to some of the most iconic moments in Jaws.

2 Why Did The Shark Explode In Jaws: The Revenge?

In one of the most laughable parts of the franchise, Ellen and Mike Brody defeat the shark. How? By electrocuting it out of the water, making it roar with an actual Tom & Jerry sound effect. If that’s not silly enough, Ellen stabs the shark with the bow of the boat which causes the shark to explode even using stock footage of the iconic death of Bruce.

Yes, the shark actually explodes from being poked. This is the result of reshoots since test audiences did not like the original death where the shark is impaled and bleeds to death. So reshoots happened, causing the shark to explode for no particular reason given in the story.

1 Did Bruce Attack Amity Before?

This is a detail many might have missed but when the Mayor and town committee confronts Brody about Chrissy’s death details, there is a line saying “it’s happened before.” Now one could say that this is referring to their excuse of it being a boat propeller. The question is: how many times have they used this excuse?

The story is from Martin Brody’s perspective and this was his first Summer working in Amity. What if Mayor Vaughn swept other deaths by Bruce under the rug prior? Perhaps Amity has been Bruce’s territory for years but Martin was the first one to bring the public’s attention to the shark.

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