It seems like the recent trend in the entertainment industry isn’t just superheroes anymore, it’s multiverses. Kickstarted by Marvel’s projects, it’s become just as exhausting as the Marvel Cinematic Universe itself.
With trends in media cycle every few years, the focus on the superhero genre has been almost single-handedly buoyed by Marvel since Iron Man released in 2008. DC Studios just signed James Gunn as their new CEO in the hopes of rebuilding a cohesive DC cinematic universe, and Across the Spider-Verse (2023) has taken the world by storm four years after the release of the first film. Although the concept of the multiverse gained popularity from Marvel, it’s now expanded into other genres of film and television.

What is a multiverse?
As defined by the Encyclopedia Britannica, a multiverse is “a hypothetical collection of potentially diverse observable universes, each of which would comprise everything that is experimentally accessible by a connected community of observers.” Or, perhaps more simply explained by Vox, is “a world full of endless potential; multiple parallel universes spinning in synchronicity; and the possibility of alternate, powerful, seemingly better versions of ourselves.”

Marvel Studios definitely isn’t the first to explore this idea, as movies and television have played with the concept of alternate dimensions, timelines, and realities for decades. Back to the Future, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, It’s a Wonderful Life, Rick and Morty, and many others have experimented with the idea of “alternates.” However, it seems to be almost omnipresent in media right now and over the last few years.

Spyridon Michalakis is a mathematical physicist at the California Institute of Technology and has spent years studying the universe at a quantum level. In his interview with Vox, he describes why he thinks the multiverse has become so fascinating in recent years.
“And the multiverse is, at its foundation, its essence, a fresh perspective: What if I had made a different choice? What if time itself is not one-dimensional? What if it is a million-dimensional? What if you can jump left and right and up and down or just back and forth in time? And if you can do that, then it means you’re basically going to other realities — that may look very much like yours, or different.”

“But the thing that is also pretty powerful is the possibility that you could learn from the other versions of you. What if you could meet them, and all of a sudden, you realize that you have all these latent powers, potential within you, that were actually explored? And they flourished in this other reality.”
He explains that with the state of the world in recent years, from the COVID-19 pandemic to war to a tumultuous presidential election, people have become cynical, scared, and defeated with their current reality. The concept of the multiverse allows people to believe that somewhere “they have power to make anything happen, and make that world where they can do amazing things. They can really take control and become that version of themselves that unlocks their true potential.”

Multiverse Examples
Although there are several major franchises, like Marvel and DC, working within the multiverse, there are several other films and franchises that have explored the idea as well.

Marvel
Marvel is probably the biggest example of a franchise dabbling in what fans are calling the “multiverse saga.” Michalakis worked as the science consultant and inspiration for Marvel’s foray into the multiverse. The concept of the multiverse, time travel, and alternate realities was first introduced in Ant-Man (2015) as Scott Lang operates a device that can affect space, time, and the quantum realm.
It was then continuously explored in Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019), Loki (2021), Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), WandaVision (2021), Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022), and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023). It’s also been the focal point of the Disney+ series What If…? which Marvel has stated is considered canon within the MCU.

DC
DC just decided to jump into the multiverse with The Flash (2023), where Barry decides to use his power to time travel to the past and try to save his family. However, he ends up altering the course of history and his future, ending up in an alternate reality with another Barry and other versions of Batman and Superman/Supergirl.
As DC tries to kick off its new DCU while wrapping up the Justice League storyline, it’s unclear if The Flash will be part of Gunn’s universe or not. However, as both the director and screenwriter for Flash have been confirmed to be working on the upcoming Batman project, The Brave and the Bold, it’s possible that they will continue to explore alternate realities in future projects.

Spider-Verse
Perhaps one of the most intricate and detailed explorations of a multiversal concept is Sony Animation’s Spider-Verse films. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) first introduced fans to the Spider-Verse and several Spider-Men variants. Across the Spider-Verse (2023) continued that journey, including over 250 Spider-Variants throughout the movie and several on-screen dimensions.
The creators of the film have stated that their intention was to prove that anyone can be Spider-Man, you don’t have to be predestined for something important to happen to you. It’s a heartening message, especially given the aforementioned state of the world.

Other
The most recent non-superhero example of a multiverse is 2021’s Everything Everywhere All At Once. The film gained worldwide attention and dozens of awards for its introspective dive into alternate realities and how our choices shape our lives. It brought the multiverse to a wider audience than Marvel fans and opened the door for others to follow suit.
The Star Trek franchise has also explored the idea of alternate realities and time travel as far back as the Original Series in 1966. When the movies were rebooted in 2009, it created the “Kelvin Timeline” and explored the existence of time and interdimensional travel as both the Original Timeline and the Kelvin Timeline both existed simultaneously.
Doctor Who is a British television show that first aired in 1963 with the entire premise of space and time travel as well as alternate dimensions, realities, and planets. It’s one of the longest-running TV shows, as it was rebooted in 2005 and is still running to this day.

Multiverse Fatigue
While the concept of the multiverse in media isn’t new by any means, it certainly seems to have been brought to the forefront of movies recently as the new focal point of superhero films. Fans have complained for years of experiencing “Marvel fatigue” as the studio has released over 32 films in the last 15 years, a rate that was previously unheard of for a studio. As the MCU has expanded, so has its required viewing as it’s added 11 Disney+ series that tie into the events of the movies.
Unfortunately, for those just joining the Marvel fandom, that’s a lot of content to have to sit through to understand the current events. It also seems as though most Marvel movies are now “team up” movies rather than standalones, although this goes as far back as Captain America: Civil War (2016). Spider-Man: No Way Home featured Spider-Man and Doctor Strange. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness featured Doctor Strange, Wanda, and introduced America Chavez. Loki introduced Kang the Conqueror and therefore the major villain of Phase Five and Six. Each Marvel project seems to be a major event, making each one exhausting in some way.

Because of the sheer amount of content Marvel alone has released, it’s turned into a sort of superhero fatigue and misguided fan service, as audiences are tired of seeing rehashed storylines and rebooted superheroes every couple of years. Now that these big spectacle movies that are already starting to wear on viewers have added another major concept with the multiverse, it’s added another layer of “needing to understand” rather than just letting a movie be a movie.
Twitter user @VoicesByZane describes it as simply “IP wankery. Like ‘look at all the shit we own…’ it was charming but now it’s like yeah okay WB you own everything leave us alone.” @OOOyediran states “this is the exact same thing as ‘superhero fatigue’ to me. Do it well, and I won’t get sick of it. Maybe I’ll see them Inbetween more different movies but EEAAO and the spiderverse films have been peak, NWH was super fun, MOM was meh and I’m not even watching the flash lol.”

Relying on the multiverse as a crutch gives studios a way out to continue to create and dump content into each other for seemingly no purpose other than self-marketing. Films like Everything Everywhere All At Once used it as a way to say something about the story and about life itself, using it as a plot and literary device rather than a way to capitalize on nostalgia or the fear of missing out.
Fans have been tired of superhero movies and multiverses for years, and it seems as though major studios are only just getting started. While alternate takes on familiar characters and storylines can be interesting, when it’s consistently used as a way to retcon previous stories or cram as many characters as possible into a big team-up movie, it can become boring. It will be interesting to see the near future of movies as studios struggle to reconcile fan apathy with production timelines.
Are you a fan of multiverse movies or are you over them? Share your thoughts in the comments below!