Multiverses have certainly become en vogue when it comes to science fiction. The early 2020s, in particular, saw a host of films exploring alternate timelines and parallel realities.
Their appeal is obvious: the idea that there are other universes out there, which we could visit, offers a lot of storytelling potential. The fun comes from imagining what these other worlds could be like. Are they vastly different from ours, or are they very similar except for subtle differences?
Perhaps in another universe, another version of you is reading this article in hieroglyphics. In yet another, a variant of you, dear reader, receives these words broadcasted from a robot assistant.
Anything is possible. Here are eight mind-bending movies to start you off on your journey through the multiverse.
‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ (2021)
You can’t have a multiverse movie list without this juggernaut, especially given Michelle Yeoh’s hotly celebrated Oscar win! Her Evelyn Wang is a Chinese immigrant trapped in an unexciting life, running a laundromat with her husband Waymond (fellow Oscar winner Ke Huy Quan).
She eventually discovers she must connect with alternate versions of herself to save the multiverse from being destroyed by a powerful entity. Among the highlights? Conversations between rocks, and people with hot dogs for fingers.
This quirky film has proven to be a critic’s darling, winning almost every award everywhere over the past year.
‘Dr Strange In the Multiverse of Madness’ (2022)
In this Marvel Cinematic Universe film, mystical master Dr Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) encounters America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez), a spirited teenager who can hop between worlds.
He has to protect her from the sinister Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen), a former friend who will stop at nothing to use America’s power for her own dark plans.
‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ (2021)
This comic-book blockbuster sees Spider-Man (Tom Holland) visiting Dr Strange for some magical help. But when Strange’s spell-casting goes awry, various villains from different universes break into theirs, causing untold havoc.
Fortunately, some heroes arrive to help as well! This film is notable for bringing back various Spider-Man characters from previous movies and film universes, some of whom haven’t been seen on screen since 2004’s “Spider-Man 2”.
‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ (2018)
Why does this web-slinging superhero star in so many multiverse movies? People must love Spider-Man so much that just one version of him isn’t enough.
In this instalment, Miles Morales (voiced by Shameik Moore) is a spirited New York City teenager who discovers he has spider powers. And to his surprise, he’s not the only one.
He is soon visited by other Spider-People from other realities, with whom he must work together to take down a terrible threat (because there’s always a terrible threat). One Spider-Person is a Japanese-speaking girl in a robot, while another is a cartoon pig.
This beautifully animated film won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in 2019. A sequel, “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-verse”, will be released in June.
‘Coherence’ (2014)
Okay, let’s move away from superhero movies, shall we? In this “surreal psychological sci-fi thriller”, as the logline describes it, Emily (Emily Foxler) and seven of her friends gather for a dinner party on the night of a comet’s passing.
Not before long, things go spectacularly weird, and the group soon find themselves dealing with alternate versions of themselves.
With these doppelgangers posing a danger to them, Emily and gang must make hard choices if they are to survive their encounter.
‘Parallel’ (2018)
A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing, and nowhere is this more evident than in this Canadian science-fiction thriller.
A group of friends discover a mirror that acts as a portal to other universes. They soon use it for their own gain – for example, one of them uses it to copy great otherworld artworks and pass them off as their own; while another uses it to seduce women.
As you can guess, these fools friends soon learn that certain actions can have very deadly consequences.
‘John Dies At The End’ (2012)
In this comedy-horror adapted from the bestselling book by David Wong, a newly discovered drug with the delicious moniker “Soy Sauce” gives its users incredible knowledge and transports them to alternate worlds.
Unfortunately – because there’s always a catch – not everyone returns from these trips across spatial and temporal boundaries still fully human.
In the face of a deadly threat (there’s that word again!), it’s somehow up to slacker buddies Dave (Chase Williamson) and John (Rob Mayes) to make things right.
‘The One’ (2001)
Believe it or not, “Everything Everywhere” is not the first multiverse movie with an Asian lead. Here, Jet Li plays Gabriel Yulaw, a former multiverse peacekeeper who sets off to kill all 124 other variations of himself throughout parallel realities.
Doing so, he believes, will turn him into a godlike being called “The One”.
After successfully taking out 123 variants, Yulaw travels to our universe to take on his last opponent: a deputy sheriff named Gabe Law (also played by Li, ofkos).
Cue a series of exhilarating martial-arts scenes, many of which feature Li fighting himself… proving that when it comes to Jet Li, there’s no such thing as “too much of a good thing”!