When Spider-Man: No Way Home saw Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) opening the gateway to the multiverse, the consequences of such dimension-shattering decisions have come to fruition in the latest addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

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Directed by the king of low-budget horror Sam Raimi, the sequel to 2016’s Doctor Strange is a mind-bending journey through alternate realities that blends wild interdimensional adventures with Raimi’s signature horror style. While the multiverse is a relatively new theory to the MCU, although one that has existed in the Marvel Comics for decades, it isn’t a concept exclusively tied to the Marvel franchise. Parallel universes, alternate realities, and multiverses have existed in media for many years - each film daring to ask; “is this reality I live in the only one?”

Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)

Evelyn split across dimensions in Everything Everywhere All At Once

In the second feature film from directing duo Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, known collectively as the Daniels, Everything Everywhere All At Once follows Evelyn (Michelle Yeoh) a Chinese-American woman who sees her personal and professional life falling apart as her family laundromat business is being audited. However, when a man claiming to be her husband from an alternate universe finds his way into Evelyn’s reality, she realizes her tax problems may be a lot smaller than they appear to be.

A multiverse movie with an indie spirit and blockbuster dream, Everything Everywhere All At Once released in theaters a month before Multiverse of Madness, winning the admiration of audiences and critics alike for its interdimensional story that has just as much humor as it has heart.

Event Horizon (1997)

An astronaut approaching the portal in Event Horizon

When a starship reappears after missing for seven years in deep space, a crew is tasked with the mission to investigate and salvage the ship. Not only do the astronauts discover that the ship’s original crew are missing, but that the ship itself was transported to an alternate dimension filled with unspeakable horrors, bringing back something with it.

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Paul W.S. Anderson’s Event Horizon is a different kind of multiverse movie. Balancing horror and mystery, it focuses less on interdimensional adventures and more on tapping into the horrors of what could be lurking in alternate dimensions.

Happy Death Day 2U (2019)

A man seeing an alternate version of himself

Riffing off the popular time loop plot line made popular by Groundhog Day, the 2019 sequel to 2017’s Happy Death Day sees the familiar time loop tale return with a twist. Theresa (Jessica Rothe) not only wakes up and relives the same day over and over again, but wakes up in a parallel universe where nothing is as it should be.

Waking up in a universe where her boyfriend is with someone else, and her friends and fellow students are completely different versions of themselves, Theresa is completely cut off from the time and space she is familiar with. Happy Death Day 2U is a great film that combines two popular concepts - time loops and multiverses - to bring something entirely new to the horror franchise.

‘The One’ (2001)

Jet Li vs Jet Li in The One

The One is a multiverse hopping science-fiction action film following a LASD cop played by Jet Li who teams up with a multiverse agent to track down a rogue agent named Gabriel Yulaw (also played by Jet Li) who is on a mission traveling between parallel realities to kill alternate versions of himself and absorb their life power.

James Wong’s The One sees one of the greatest martial artists of all time, Jet Li fight one of the greatest martial artists of all time, Jet Li. In this battle for Jet Li supremacy, there can be only one.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)

Multiversal variants of Spider-heroes working as a team as the Spider-Verse collides

While Loki, Spider-Man: No Way Home, and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness see the multiverse introduced to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it isn’t the first time the multiverse has made an appearance in a Marvel film.

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Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse brings beloved alternate Spider-People, such as Miles Morales, Spider-Noir, and Spider-Woman, to the big screen. With its creative animation style distinguishing the unique aesthetics of each of the alternate universes - noir, anime, and cartoony - Into the Spider-Verse isn’t just a feat in multidimensional storytelling, but a feat in the animated medium itself.

The Lego Movie (2014)

Toy crossovers in the Lego Movie

When the beloved construction toy Lego found itself on the big screen in the 2014 film The Lego Movie, the childhood brand had reached a point beyond simple city construction sets, often collaborating with franchises ranging from The Lord of the Rings to Batman and more.

The 2014 film sought to emphasize the diversity of the Lego franchise with a dimension-hopping adventure that sees Emmet (Chris Pratt) and Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks) travel through several worlds such as the Old West, Cloud Cuckoo Land, and Middle Zealand. By showcasing the variety of Lego products along with the film’s narrative encouraging mixing Lego sets with each other, this dimension-hopping film explores everything that makes multiverse crossovers so great.

Sliding Doors (1998)

Helen outside train

What if Pepper Potts (Gwenyth Paltrow) never agreed to join Stark Industries? An earlier film from Paltrow before she joined the MCU as Pepper Potts CEO of Stark Industries, Sliding Doors is a movie about the impact of choices.

The film plays out two realities - one in which Paltrow’s character Helen catches the train in time only to come home and catch her boyfriend cheating on her, another in which she misses the train and stays in a relationship unaware of her partner’s unfaithfulness. While one universe may seem to be better off than the other, such a simple choice has repercussions far into the future begging the question; in what universe is Helen better off?

Mr. Nobody (2009)

Choices in Mr Nobody

Similar to Sliding Doors, Jaco Van Dormael’s 2009 film Mr. Nobody is about the impact of choices as the film follows a 118-year-old man named Nemo (Jared Leto) recounting events at key junctures in his life.

The film’s speculative narrative frequently diverts to explore the alternate life paths that could have resulted if Nemo had made different decisions in life. Set in a world where humanity has achieved quasi-immortality, with Nemo being the last mortal man alive, Mr. Nobody is a philosophical film about what it means to be alive and living with the impact of choices.

Star Trek (2009)

Spock meets Spock in Star Trek

J.J. Abrams’ 2009 Star Trek reboot saw the franchise go where no man had gone before. By setting the 2009 film franchise in an alternate universe, Chris Pine plays an alternate version of James T. Kirk with a different path towards captain of the USS Enterprise than William Shatner's original Kirk.

By creating an alternate timeline distinct from the classic Star Trek films and television series, Abrams’ reboot allowed for delightful cameos from beloved classic characters such as Leonard Nimoy’s Spock encountering Zachary Quinto’s Spock. In creating a multiverse, Abrams’ reboot was able to refresh the beloved franchise while also paying homage to the depictions and characters that came before it.

Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths (2010)

Crisis on Two Earths alternate superhero villains

Before the upcoming The Flash movie explores the effects of paradoxes, time travel, and consequences of altering timelines, Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths adapted a classic Justice League comic that saw Earth’s superhero collective get invaded by their evil variants from an alternate universe.

While the Marvel Cinematic Universe is only recently introducing the multiverse into its expansive narrative, DC Comics have been exploring the concept for years.

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