When it was announced that the long-awaited Bill and Ted 3 was in production, fans rejoiced at the reunion of Wyld Stallyns' Bill S. Preston, Esq and Theodore " Ted" Logan, portrayed by Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves. This film which takes place 30 years after their Bogus Journey in 1991 will show the fabled great ones still working toward writing the song that will unite the world and thus ensure the great future that they've seen in the past. Of course, instead of writing the song, they decide to use time travel to solve their problem which leads to all sorts of hijinks including reuniting with old friends, their time-traveling daughters, alternate versions of themselves, and trying to prevent a great catastrophe. What's so amusing is that while this movie was still in developmental hell despite its stars and writers wanting to move forward, a sequel titled Bill and Ted's Triumphant Return was published in 2015 that has more than a few similarities to the upcoming film.
In Bill and Ted: Face the Music, Bill and Ted have reached middle age but have yet to write the song that will unite and save the world. Faced with middle age and the responsibilities of being parents, Bill and Ted are confronted with a deadline that has them travel into the future to when the song is already written and "steal it from themselves." Of course, it is never that easy and the former San Dimas High students must rely on their trusty telephone booth to gather help from their family, friends, and a few celebrities throughout time in order to prevent a great catastrophe from ending the world.
In Bill and Ted's Most Triumphant Return, writer Brian Lynch and artist Jerry Gaylord pick up right after Bogus Journey left off with Wyld Stallyns having gained much fame and recognition but only one song to their name. Faced with the pressure from both the present and visitors from the future, the laidback duo commissions their Martian friend to build them a phone booth so they could travel to the future and learn or "borrow" their future songs and bring them back to the present. They travel to San Dimas in the year 2645 where the future is most excellent for all, everyone except for a young Chuck De Nomolos. Tormented by the knowledge of what his future self would do to the great duo, Bill and Ted attempt to "Rufus" the ostracized and lonely youth but he only seems to follow his destiny by trying to kill them both, even after they offer to help him make friends and woo his crush, Claudia. Training De Nomolos with a journey through time, Chuck returns to his present where he apparently has changed his ways, shredding a sweet guitar solo but also saving his former targets from a special Bill & Ted Robot he had built earlier. However, Bill and Ted's generosity has backfired as De Nomolos now uses his skills and knowledge to rewrite history so that he and Claudia (with a familiar band) are the great ones, experiencing all the fame and recognition that Bill and Ted were previously overwhelmed with before.
Bill and Ted return to a different timeline in 1993 where Wyld Stallyns never met their Robot-Us's, Death, Station, and with Wyld Stallyn's failure at Battle of the Bands, Rufus was fired and their former wives Joanna and Elizabeth were returned to their time period, ensuring that their children were also never born. Having all of this explained to them by a deadbeat version of Bill, the emotional other Bill and Ted resolve to restore everything back to what they knew. Gaining an assist from the military school version of Ted, the other Bill and Ted are able to expose De Nomolos' deception to his beloved Claudia and get back to the phone booth but end up in a future where De Nomolos is supreme. As explained to them by a depowered Death and Rufus, De Nomolos tried to kill himself after losing Claudia and when Death came for him, he challenged him to a contest in which Chuck eventually ended up immortal and able to live long enough to control and shape the future to be one without joy, time travel, and of course any reference to Bill and Ted including their love of music and catchphrases.
With the help of their allies and a most excellent grand entrance, Bill and Ted reveal themselves to the world, educating everyone on the forbidden art of music and what their journey has taught them as they demonstrate with their second song. After saving humanity and cheating death (again), our excellent heroes make some changes to their past and return to their original timeline where they reunite with their families and friends, and even make things right with the imprisoned De Nomolos in the future.
Although the villain of the movie has yet to be revealed, Bill and Ted: Face the Music has a lot of similarities to Triumphant Return regarding Bill and Ted's motivation to go to the future, their continued adventures through time, meeting alternate versions of themselves, the role their families play as motivation, and the conflict they try so desperately to prevent. Although we're not sure if Chuck DeNomolos will be the villain or if Station will make a cameo in the film, this six-issue series was so successful that Boom! Studios released two other mini-series after it, Bill and Ted Go to Hell and Bill and Ted Save the Universe. If you're a fan of the films or want to pass time before the movie comes out, this is one series that'll definitely be worth your while. In the end, remember to be excellent to each other and party on dudes!