Though Django Unchained is easily Quentin Tarantino’s most sprawling epic, the narrative is fairly contained, as it focuses on two characters seeking retribution together. But even within the confines of the director’s most linear movie to date, there’s plenty of room for speculation and theorizing amongst fans.
Though it’s one of the best remakes of the 2010s, Django Unchained is very much its own beast. And what makes it so unique is the mystery surrounding King Schultz (Christoph Waltz) and his questionable actions, and how the movie links to the greater Tarantino Cinematic Universe if there even is one at all.
King Schultz Is An Antebellum-Era Dexter
Following antiheroes is one of the ways the movie adhered to traditional westerns, as the bounty hunting duo of King Schultz and Django can barely be called outright heroes with all the killing they do. But this theory claims that Schultz only became a bounty hunter because he has a desire to kill so many people, and he’s smart enough to find a line of work that allows him to do exactly that, just like Dexter.
Even his previous profession of dentistry gives credit to this, as it was yet another line of work where he was able to hurt people and get paid for it.
It’s A Sequel To Inglourious Basterds
Since which of the two movies is the director’s best comes down to a toss of the coin, one fan has tried to connect Inglourious Basterds together with Django Unchained with the latter being a sequel. The theory goes that Schultz’s secret identity is Hans Lander, the Jew hunter, and that after he got his US citizenship, he became a bounty hunter to redeem all of the bad things he had done as a Nazi.
It makes absolutely no sense, as slavery was abolished in the 1880s, decades before Basterds is set, but it’s nevertheless still fun to imagine.
Dr. Schultz Wanted To Die
Though the idea that Dr. Schultz being an Antebellum-era Dexter is intriguing, the pendulum swings the opposite way too. Instead of being a murdering psychopath, one fan believes that the doctor was actually someone who wanted to die.
There are a lot of things that point to this being true, as many of his actions see him going about a bounty in the riskiest fashion, like when he shot the sheriff before speaking to the Marshal, which would have been much easier. And Schultz almost willingly accepts his fate after he shoots Calvin Candie too.
Dr. Schultz Becomes A Bounty Hunter To Avenge His Wife
When it comes to Tarantino’s movies, the filmmaker tends to give audiences either the whole history of a character or absolutely nothing at all. And when it comes to Schultz, there’s very little viewers know about him other than that he used to be a dentist.
However, the character’s theme song may have alluded to a deeper backstory, as the lyric goes, “I heard him singing, I knew he loved someone. Ride on King, ride. You get your man." This could mean that King is looking for someone specific, someone who murdered his wife. And that would explain why he empathizes with Django’s story so much as well.
Stephen Is A Champion Mandingo Fighter
With Stephen (Samuel L. Jackson) being so well respected by Calvin (Leonardo DiCaprio,) who has only ever shown that same kind of respect to Mandingo fighters, a theory has come to light that the housekeeper could very well be Calvin’s retired champion fighter.
This even gives credit to when Steven throws his cane on the floor and stands tall, almost ready for a fist fight when he thinks Django (Jamie Foxx) is out of bullets at the end of the movie. However, given how old Steven is compared to Calvin when he was in the prime of his life, Calvin must have been just a baby.
It’s All A Game To Dr. Schultz
With so many theories surrounding the mysterious character, it might be that he just simply didn’t know how the world works. Everything is a game to Schultz, and his convoluted plan of infiltrating Candyland is unnecessary and comes off like he’s playing a game of chess with himself.
And though he does clearly despise racism, the reason why Schultz is so upset after paying for Hildy is that he lost the game of chess to Calvin, somebody so much dumber than he is. And at the end of the day, Schultz got himself killed because he was a sore loser.
Calvin Candie Is Played By Rick Dalton
Considering how there are so many links between all the Quentin Tarantino movies, Django Unchained has relatively few references or Easter eggs. However, there is one theory that potentially changes the whole way the movie is viewed.
One fan posits that Django Unchained is a fictional movie inside the world of Once Upon A Time In Hollywood and that Calvin Candie, one of the all-time greatest villains, isn’t played by Leonardo DiCaprio, but Rick Dalton. Considering how Dalton plays a similarly menacing character in a western movie in Hollywood, and how the movie plays on the idea of the character being typecast, this out-there theory could be spot on.
Dr. Schultz Is Immortal
As the idea of Django being a sequel to Basterds is preposterous, the idea of King Schultz being immortal is no different, as there’s absolutely no evidence to support it, but the creativity put into this theory is awesome. The theory goes that after Schultz was left for dead in Django, he slowly heals, but also becomes completely detached from humanity, which leads to him becoming a Nazi.
The idea is hilarious, and though there’s no evidence to support this, there’s no evidence against it either. However, as Christoph Waltz initially turned down the role of Schultz, it could have just as easily been played by someone else, which puts an end to this theory, as brilliant as it is.
Django Dies After He’s Captured By Billy
When Django is about to be castrated by Billy (Walton Goggins), he’s saved by deus ex machina in the form of Steven. Steven tells him he’s going to be sent to work in a coal mine instead, as he explains it’s a fate worse than bleeding out from castration, which is very debatable.
Here's an interesting theory that the scene in which Steven interrupts the castration never happened, and Django really did get castrated and bled out, and everything that happened after is what Django envisioned while he was dying for several minutes. Considering how every scene that comes after that gets more and more ridiculous, it’s more than possible that this theory is true and it was in Django’s head the whole time.
The Bride Almost Got Buried Alive Underneath Paula Schultz’s Headstone
One fan had their eyes peeled when watching Kill Bill Vol. 2. When The Bride almost gets buried alive, there is a headstone with the name Paul Schultz. The person who found it has theorized that it is King Schultz’s wife, connecting the two movies together. This also gives credence to the earlier theory that Schultz was out to avenge his murdered wife.
It’s an interesting theory, but Django Unchained takes place before the death year on the headstone, but it could be a long lost daughter or some other relative of King’s.