You will be ABSOLUTELY SHOCKED by the clues still missing from EastEnders’ flashforward — because the bride’s identity only raises MORE questions

It’s June and with ‘The Night That Changes Everything’ over, we are almost halfway towards January 2027, when EastEnders will catch up with its flashforward and all will be revealed.

What we already know is that the mysterious man first seen in the episode that aired on 1 January 2026 is Mark Fowler Jr. His closeness to the Branning family can be explained by his dodgy cars deal with Lauren, as well as their budding attraction to each other. We can be pretty sure it’s either the dodgy cars deal or an affair with Mark that Max was alluding to as well when he said that Lauren was hiding something too.

Additionally, we know that Libby Fox’s return is likely linked to her mother Denise’s cancer diagnosis and her nephew Jordan’s accident after Vicki Fowler’s wedding. And given Cindy has just accepted Max’s proposal, it seems she’s the woman he’s marrying in January.

But there are many questions that haven’t been answered. Here is a run down of what we still don’t know and the running theories that could provide some answers…

Who is the gunman?

At the end of the flashforward, a mystery gunman takes Lauren and Oscar Branning hostage and forces Max to choose who he wanted to save.

Some fans have said that they think it’s Ravi, who wants Max to pay for taking Priya away from him. This theory often relies on Priya being the pregnant woman in Max’s bed – the fans suggest that Ravi thinks its his baby at first, as he slept with Priya on the same day as Max, but later finds out it’s Max’s baby and decides to take a child from Max in revenge.

Another dominant theory suggests it is Mark, who is in cahoots with Lauren as she wants to prove once and for all that Max will never put his children first.

Who did Max try to have killed?

In the flashforward, Max was arrested for soliciting a murder. Police swarmed his home, forcing him to jump from a window and try to hide out at his daughter Lauren’s house. But Lauren dobbed him in and police caught up to Max, revealing that they were charging him with conspiracy to murder.

Who did he try to have killed? Theories currently point to Ravi, as Max slept with Ravi’s ex Priya this week and may feel the need to protect her. We all know how much Max enjoys being a knight in shining armour for the women he’s sleeping with.

After being arrested, Max said he’d been set up, though it is unknown who would do that. Max has many enemies so the list of potential villains is long. It could be his ex-wife Tanya, his ex-flame Stacey Slater, Mark Fowler following their tussles over Lauren, or even his bride-to-be Cindy.

Many think Cindy is pretending to be in love with Max and is “playing him”. They have suggested that she is building up to take revenge on Max for his involvement in killing her son Steven Beale.

What happened between Max and Jack?

Max Branning is getting married for the fifth time in January, but his brother Jack will not be his best man. In fact, Jack seems to despise Max and Lauren had to really push to get him to help his brother when he was arrested.

But what exactly happened to make Jack resent Max so much? Initial theories suggested that this was linked to Denise’s absence from the episode and that Max might be marrying her, causing a rift as she traded in one brother for the other. But as he now seems to be marrying Cindy, that is looking less likely.

Who is Ethan?

Jack is seen with a baby that is called Ethan. There is no other information about the child, other than that Max saved his life. As Penny Branning is currently pregnant, it’s a strong likelihood that Ethan is Penny’s child, but fans aren’t sure. They have suggested it could also be Amy Branning’s child.

How did Max save Ethan?

As part of Oscar Branning’s attempt to convince Jack to help Max after his arrest, Oscar said that Max saved the lives of both Jimmy, Lauren’s son, and baby Ethan.

We know that Max saved Jimmy earlier this year, when he pulled the baby out of his car just before it blew up after crashing into Priya and Ravi’s car. But, Ethan wasn’t born yet at the time so Max will have to save the baby another way.

Is Oscar with Jasmine or Josh?

Like father like son, Oscar Branning has had his own affair storyline. Even though he is in a relationship with Jasmine Fisher, he has started sleeping with her own brother Josh Goodwin.

In the flashforward, Patrick Trueman, the twins’ grandfather, tells Oscar he’s “a Trueman now”, but which Trueman sibling is he dating? It could be either, though fans are more drawn towards Josh, as so far, Patrick has embraced Josh as his grandson and rejected Jasmine, due to her involvement in his son Anthony’s death.

What happened to Louie, Penny and Amy?

Despite the flashforward focussing on the Brannings, Lauren’s eldest child Louie and Jack’s daughters Penny and Amy were no where to be seen. At the time, fans theorised that the three might have died, hypothesising that this is also the reason Jack and Peter Beale fell out with Max. Perhaps whilst saving Ethan, Max failed to save the other Branning offspring?

Since Penny has gotten pregnant, some are still guessing that she will die, but instead it will be during childbirth. Penny has already shown how worried she is about this, expressing her fears about how her paralysis will affect her experience of childbirth.

Who owns the Vic?

In the flashforward, the characters were careful to skirt around saying who owned the Queen Vic, leaving some to think that maybe it’s not the pub’s current owners Kat and Alfie Moon.

This past week, they may or may not have given people food poisoning by serving bad prawns at Vicki Fowler’s wedding. Some fans have guessed that if this becomes public knowledge, they may lose their license.