List of fictional works featuring parallel universes

Parallel universes (or the multiverse) are a common plot device in fiction.{{Cite magazine |last=Burt |first=Stephanie |date=October 31, 2022 |title=Is the Multiverse Where Originality Goes to Die? |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/11/07/is-the-multiverse-where-originality-goes-to-die |magazine=The New Yorker |via=www.newyorker.com}}{{Cite journal |last=Wolfe |first=Gary |date=July 4, 2007 |title=Surfing the multiverse |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/448025a |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=448 |issue=7149 |pages=25–26 |doi=10.1038/448025a |issn=1476-4687}} This is a list of notable fictional works which feature parallel universes as a plot element.

Novels

class="wikitable sortable"
Year ! Title ! Author(s) ! class="unsortable"\| Description
1934 \| Sidewise in Time \| Murray Leinster \| The story follows an apocalyptic event where aspects of one timeline manifest in others.

class="wikitable sortable"

Year

! Title

! Author(s)

! class="unsortable"| Description

1934

| Sidewise in Time

| Murray Leinster

| The story follows an apocalyptic event where aspects of one timeline manifest in others.

Films

class="wikitable sortable"
Year ! Title ! Director(s) ! class="unsortable"\| Description
2001 \|The One \|James Wong \|The film follows rogue interdimensional cop Gabriel Yulaw, who attempts to kill all 124 of his variants in parallel universes and absorb their power to become a god-like being known as the "One".{{cite web \|last=Stuart \|first=Jan \|date=November 2, 2001 \|title=Jet Li is hero and villain in action film 'The One' \|url=https://www.seattlepi.com/ae/movies/article/Jet-Li-is-hero-and-villain-in-action-film-The-1070482.php \|url-status=dead \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190729222359/https://www.seattlepi.com/ae/movies/article/Jet-Li-is-hero-and-villain-in-action-film-The-1070482.php \|archive-date=July 29, 2019 \|access-date=May 27, 2025 \|work=Seattle Post-Intelligencer \|quote=In "The One," Li plays Gabriel Yulaw, a nasty excuse for a space investigator who bounces between parallel universes (a.k.a. "the multiverse") seeking out his 120-odd alter egos in order to destroy them. With the death of each alternative Yulaw, Gabriel becomes stronger, smarter and faster.}}
2018 \|Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse \|Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman \|Several parallel-universe versions of Spider-Man from within the film's multiverse are depicted.{{Cite news \|last=Debruge \|first=Peter \|date=November 28, 2018 \|title=Film Review: "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" \|url=https://variety.com/2018/film/reviews/film-review-spider-man-into-the-spider-verse-1203038468/ \|url-status=live \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181128180440/https://variety.com/2018/film/reviews/film-review-spider-man-into-the-spider-verse-1203038468/ \|archive-date=November 28, 2018 \|access-date=November 28, 2018 \|work=Variety \|quote=Just when you thought you couldn't take another Spider-Man reboot, along comes the movie to put them all in perspective. Or maybe you can't get enough of Marvel's friendly neighborhood crime-fighter and are already beside yourself in anticipation of a project loaded with half a dozen parallel-universe Spideys. Either way, the brilliance of Sony's snappy new animated "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" shows itself in the project's uncanny ability to simultaneously reset and expand all that has come before, creating an inclusive world where pretty much anybody can be the superhero … even you!}}
2022 \| Everything Everywhere All at Once \| Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert \| The film follows Evelyn Quan Wang, a Chinese-American laundromat owner who travels between universes and draws knowledge from her alternate universe counterparts.{{cite web \|last=Lee \|first=Chris \|date=April 13, 2022 \|title=Daniels Unpack the Everything Bagel of Influences Behind Everything Everywhere All at Once \|url=https://www.vulture.com/2022/04/everything-everywhere-all-at-onces-influences-explained.html \|url-status=live \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220416174415/https://www.vulture.com/2022/04/everything-everywhere-all-at-onces-influences-explained.html \|archive-date=April 16, 2022 \|access-date=April 17, 2022 \|website=Vulture \|quote=Michelle Yeoh plays Evelyn, a scatterbrained laundromat owner with mounting debt and a crumbling marriage, who finds herself unwittingly thrust into the multiverse: literally tripping and kung-fu kicking her way across multiple dimensions, tapping into the power of alternate selves via "verse jumping" and, incidentally, trying to prevent the destruction of reality as we know it.}}
2024 \|I Saw the TV Glow \|Jane Schoenbrun \|Main characters Owen and Maddy slowly realize that they are living false lives trapped in a pocket dimension within the world of their favorite TV show, The Pink Opaque, having been imprisoned there by series antagonist Mr. Melancholy.{{Cite news \|last=Adams \|first=Sam \|date=May 7, 2024 \|title=I Saw the TV Glow Is a Movie About How Fandom Could Save Your Life—or Ruin It \|url=https://slate.com/culture/2024/05/i-saw-the-tv-glow-a24-movie-ending-explained-buffy.html \|access-date=May 27, 2025 \|work=Slate \|language=en-US \|issn=1091-2339 \|quote=She disappears for years, and when she returns, she tells Owen she's been inside The Pink Opaque, and that the world he lives in is actually the Midnight Realm, the domain of the show's Big Bad, Mr. Melancholy.}}
2024 \|Deadpool & Wolverine \|Shawn Levy \|The film involves Wade Wilson / Deadpool from the Deadpool film series being transported to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.{{Cite web \|last=Outlaw \|first=Kofi \|date=June 22, 2022 \|title=Deadpool 3 Writer Teases First Story Details About Deadpool's MCU Arrival \|url=https://comicbook.com/marvel/news/deadpool-3-story-details-rhett-reese-how-deadpool-comes-mcu/ \|access-date=May 27, 2025 \|website=ComicBook.com \|language=en-US \|quote=During a recent interview, Reese basically teases Deadpool 3 being a "fish-out-of-water" story about the character trying to acclimate to his new Marvel reality, while being an outrageously zany character compared to the more grounded reality of the MCU. He even teased the possibility of working a Morbius joke into Deadpool 3! (If Deadpool doesn't say "It's Morbin' time!" we won't be satisfied…).}} An alternate universe variant of Logan / Wolverine also appears, separate from the versions of the character who appeared in the X-Men film series and Logan.{{Cite web \|last=Sharf \|first=Zack \|date=September 28, 2022 \|title=Wolverine in 'Deadpool 3' Is 'Totally Separate' from 'Logan,' Ryan Reynolds Confirms: 'Logan Died' and We're 'Not Touching That' \|url=https://variety.com/2022/film/news/ryan-reynolds-wolverine-deadpool-3-separate-logan-dead-1235386650/ \|access-date=May 27, 2025 \|website=Variety \|language=en-US \|quote=As Reynolds continues to presumably share details about Wolverine's return, Wham!'s "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" blasts over the video and blocks out everything he's saying. It's a goof, but at least Marvel fans know that "Deadpool 3" will not be screwing with Wolverine's powerful death scene in "Logan." Considering the MCU is now fully exploring the multiverse, expect Jackman to play a different iteration of Wolverine as the version who died in "Logan" remains dead.}}{{Cite web \|last=Sharf \|first=Zack \|date=December 20, 2022 \|title=Hugh Jackman Says Wolverine in 'Deadpool 3' Won't Screw With 'Logan' Timeline: 'That Was Important to Me' \|url=https://variety.com/2022/film/news/hugh-jackman-wolverine-deadpool-3-logan-timeline-1235466229/ \|access-date=May 27, 2025 \|website=Variety \|language=en-US \|quote=Based on Jackman's new comments, it appears all but confirmed that he'll be playing a version of Wolverine that fans have not met before. Whether that means it's an entirely different Wolverine from across the multiverse or the same Wolverine but just back in time before his 2029 death remains to be seen.}}

class="wikitable sortable"

Year

! Title

! Director(s)

! class="unsortable"| Description

2001

|The One

|James Wong

|The film follows rogue interdimensional cop Gabriel Yulaw, who attempts to kill all 124 of his variants in parallel universes and absorb their power to become a god-like being known as the "One".{{cite web |last=Stuart |first=Jan |date=November 2, 2001 |title=Jet Li is hero and villain in action film 'The One' |url=https://www.seattlepi.com/ae/movies/article/Jet-Li-is-hero-and-villain-in-action-film-The-1070482.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190729222359/https://www.seattlepi.com/ae/movies/article/Jet-Li-is-hero-and-villain-in-action-film-The-1070482.php |archive-date=July 29, 2019 |access-date=May 27, 2025 |work=Seattle Post-Intelligencer |quote=In "The One," Li plays Gabriel Yulaw, a nasty excuse for a space investigator who bounces between parallel universes (a.k.a. "the multiverse") seeking out his 120-odd alter egos in order to destroy them. With the death of each alternative Yulaw, Gabriel becomes stronger, smarter and faster.}}

2018

|Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

|Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman

|Several parallel-universe versions of Spider-Man from within the film's multiverse are depicted.{{Cite news |last=Debruge |first=Peter |date=November 28, 2018 |title=Film Review: "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" |url=https://variety.com/2018/film/reviews/film-review-spider-man-into-the-spider-verse-1203038468/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181128180440/https://variety.com/2018/film/reviews/film-review-spider-man-into-the-spider-verse-1203038468/ |archive-date=November 28, 2018 |access-date=November 28, 2018 |work=Variety |quote=Just when you thought you couldn't take another Spider-Man reboot, along comes the movie to put them all in perspective. Or maybe you can't get enough of Marvel's friendly neighborhood crime-fighter and are already beside yourself in anticipation of a project loaded with half a dozen parallel-universe Spideys. Either way, the brilliance of Sony's snappy new animated "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" shows itself in the project's uncanny ability to simultaneously reset and expand all that has come before, creating an inclusive world where pretty much anybody can be the superhero … even you!}}

2022

| Everything Everywhere All at Once

| Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert

| The film follows Evelyn Quan Wang, a Chinese-American laundromat owner who travels between universes and draws knowledge from her alternate universe counterparts.{{cite web |last=Lee |first=Chris |date=April 13, 2022 |title=Daniels Unpack the Everything Bagel of Influences Behind Everything Everywhere All at Once |url=https://www.vulture.com/2022/04/everything-everywhere-all-at-onces-influences-explained.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220416174415/https://www.vulture.com/2022/04/everything-everywhere-all-at-onces-influences-explained.html |archive-date=April 16, 2022 |access-date=April 17, 2022 |website=Vulture |quote=Michelle Yeoh plays Evelyn, a scatterbrained laundromat owner with mounting debt and a crumbling marriage, who finds herself unwittingly thrust into the multiverse: literally tripping and kung-fu kicking her way across multiple dimensions, tapping into the power of alternate selves via "verse jumping" and, incidentally, trying to prevent the destruction of reality as we know it.}}

2024

|I Saw the TV Glow

|Jane Schoenbrun

|Main characters Owen and Maddy slowly realize that they are living false lives trapped in a pocket dimension within the world of their favorite TV show, The Pink Opaque, having been imprisoned there by series antagonist Mr. Melancholy.{{Cite news |last=Adams |first=Sam |date=May 7, 2024 |title=I Saw the TV Glow Is a Movie About How Fandom Could Save Your Life—or Ruin It |url=https://slate.com/culture/2024/05/i-saw-the-tv-glow-a24-movie-ending-explained-buffy.html |access-date=May 27, 2025 |work=Slate |language=en-US |issn=1091-2339 |quote=She disappears for years, and when she returns, she tells Owen she's been inside The Pink Opaque, and that the world he lives in is actually the Midnight Realm, the domain of the show's Big Bad, Mr. Melancholy.}}

2024

|Deadpool & Wolverine

|Shawn Levy

|The film involves Wade Wilson / Deadpool from the Deadpool film series being transported to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.{{Cite web |last=Outlaw |first=Kofi |date=June 22, 2022 |title=Deadpool 3 Writer Teases First Story Details About Deadpool's MCU Arrival |url=https://comicbook.com/marvel/news/deadpool-3-story-details-rhett-reese-how-deadpool-comes-mcu/ |access-date=May 27, 2025 |website=ComicBook.com |language=en-US |quote=During a recent interview, Reese basically teases Deadpool 3 being a "fish-out-of-water" story about the character trying to acclimate to his new Marvel reality, while being an outrageously zany character compared to the more grounded reality of the MCU. He even teased the possibility of working a Morbius joke into Deadpool 3! (If Deadpool doesn't say "It's Morbin' time!" we won't be satisfied…).}} An alternate universe variant of Logan / Wolverine also appears, separate from the versions of the character who appeared in the X-Men film series and Logan.{{Cite web |last=Sharf |first=Zack |date=September 28, 2022 |title=Wolverine in 'Deadpool 3' Is 'Totally Separate' from 'Logan,' Ryan Reynolds Confirms: 'Logan Died' and We're 'Not Touching That' |url=https://variety.com/2022/film/news/ryan-reynolds-wolverine-deadpool-3-separate-logan-dead-1235386650/ |access-date=May 27, 2025 |website=Variety |language=en-US |quote=As Reynolds continues to presumably share details about Wolverine's return, Wham!'s "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" blasts over the video and blocks out everything he's saying. It's a goof, but at least Marvel fans know that "Deadpool 3" will not be screwing with Wolverine's powerful death scene in "Logan." Considering the MCU is now fully exploring the multiverse, expect Jackman to play a different iteration of Wolverine as the version who died in "Logan" remains dead.}}{{Cite web |last=Sharf |first=Zack |date=December 20, 2022 |title=Hugh Jackman Says Wolverine in 'Deadpool 3' Won't Screw With 'Logan' Timeline: 'That Was Important to Me' |url=https://variety.com/2022/film/news/hugh-jackman-wolverine-deadpool-3-logan-timeline-1235466229/ |access-date=May 27, 2025 |website=Variety |language=en-US |quote=Based on Jackman's new comments, it appears all but confirmed that he'll be playing a version of Wolverine that fans have not met before. Whether that means it's an entirely different Wolverine from across the multiverse or the same Wolverine but just back in time before his 2029 death remains to be seen.}}

Television series

class="wikitable sortable"

!Airdates

!Title

!Description

2014–2017

|Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero

|The series follows Penn Zero and his friends Sashi Kobayashi and Boone Wiseman as they travel between universes and assume the forms of each world's heroes.{{Cite web |last=Truitt |first=Brian |date=November 21, 2014 |title=First look: 'Penn Zero' premieres with holiday special |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2014/11/21/penn-zero-part-time-hero-holiday-first-look/19342029/ |access-date=May 27, 2025 |website=USA Today |language=en-US |quote=Suburban kid Penn Zero (voiced by Thomas Middleditch) goes to school during the day but because his heroic mom Vonnie (Lea Thompson) and dad Brock (Gary Cole) are stuck in another dimension called the "Most Dangerous World Imaginable," he inherits the gig of saving this world and others with his pals Sashi (Tania Gunadi) and Boone (Adam DeVine) as they dimension-hop to places that need them and battle the evil part-time bad guy Rippen (Alfred Molina) and his minion Larry (Larry Wilmore).}}

2017

|Re:Creators

|Features fictional characters from popular in-universe media traveling from their respective narrative universes to contemporary Japan.{{Cite web |date=April 7, 2017 |title=The Spring 2017 Anime Preview Guide - Re:Creators |url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/preview-guide/2017/spring/re-creators/.114519 |access-date=April 28, 2025 |website=Anime News Network |language=en |quote=The basic premise here is intriguing in and of itself, and it reminds me of the sci-fi novel Redshirts. Re:CREATORS has set itself up to do for anime characters what that book did for expendable Star Trek crewmen: let them know they're living in someone else's fictional universe, and then give them a chance to tell their "gods" exactly what they think about the situation.}}

2024–present

|Dark Matter

|The series follows Jason Dessen, a physicist who is captured and replaced by his alternate self and travels through numerous alternate universes while attempting to return home.{{Cite web |last=Lowry |first=Brian |date=May 8, 2024 |title='Dark Matter' becomes the latest show with a bad case of multiverse madness |url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/08/entertainment/dark-matter-review-joel-edgerton/index.html |access-date=April 28, 2025 |website=CNN |language=en |quote=Suddenly, Jason is not only abducted but replaced by a version of himself, having conjured a box that allows him to navigate between multiverses and an infinite assortment of possibilities, altered – sometimes dramatically, others almost imperceptibly – by individual choices and pivotal moments.}}

Video games

class="wikitable sortable"
Year ! Title ! Developer(s) ! class="unsortable"\| Description
2002–present \|Kingdom Hearts series \|Square Enix/The Walt Disney Company \|A core element of the series is Sora, Donald Duck, and Goofy traveling to the worlds of various Disney properties within the Realm of Light. While doing so, the three use Donald's magic to transform themselves and blend in with the inhabitants of each world.{{Cite web \|last=Plante \|first=Corey \|date=November 9, 2018 \|title='Kingdom Hearts 3' Release Date, Worlds, Plot, and Everything to Know \|url=https://www.inverse.com/article/45885-kingdom-hearts-3-release-date-plot-trailers-characters \|access-date=May 27, 2025 \|website=Inverse \|language=en \|quote=When Sora goes to a specific world, his attire or form sometimes change. Here he is as a toy in the world of 'Toy Story'.}}
2005 \| Sonic Rush \| Dimps \| A playable character, Blaze the Cat, and one of the game's antagonists, Eggman Nega, originate from an alternate world known as the Sol Dimension.{{cite web \|last=Gerstmann \|first=Jeff \|date=November 14, 2005 \|title=Sonic Rush for DS Review - DS Sonic Rush Review \|url=http://www.gamespot.com/ds/action/sonicds/review.html \|url-status=dead \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090302184701/http://www.gamespot.com/ds/action/sonicds/review.html \|archive-date=March 2, 2009 \|access-date=February 20, 2009 \|publisher=GameSpot \|quote=The wrinkle here is that there's some interdimensional madness at play, too. There's what appears to be an alternate-dimension version of Eggman hanging around, known as Eggman Nega.}}
2020 \|Hatsune Miku: Colorful Stage! \|Colorful Palette/Sega \|Characters within the game visit alternate dimensions made from their emotions, called Sekai, where alternate versions of Hatsune Miku and other virtual singers reside.
2021 \|Blue Archive \|Nexon \|Alternate universe versions of Sensei (the game's player character) and Shiroko appear as antagonists in "Volume Final".

class="wikitable sortable"

Year

! Title

! Developer(s)

! class="unsortable"| Description

2002–present

|Kingdom Hearts series

|Square Enix/The Walt Disney Company

|A core element of the series is Sora, Donald Duck, and Goofy traveling to the worlds of various Disney properties within the Realm of Light. While doing so, the three use Donald's magic to transform themselves and blend in with the inhabitants of each world.{{Cite web |last=Plante |first=Corey |date=November 9, 2018 |title='Kingdom Hearts 3' Release Date, Worlds, Plot, and Everything to Know |url=https://www.inverse.com/article/45885-kingdom-hearts-3-release-date-plot-trailers-characters |access-date=May 27, 2025 |website=Inverse |language=en |quote=When Sora goes to a specific world, his attire or form sometimes change. Here he is as a toy in the world of 'Toy Story'.}}

2005

| Sonic Rush

| Dimps

| A playable character, Blaze the Cat, and one of the game's antagonists, Eggman Nega, originate from an alternate world known as the Sol Dimension.{{cite web |last=Gerstmann |first=Jeff |date=November 14, 2005 |title=Sonic Rush for DS Review - DS Sonic Rush Review |url=http://www.gamespot.com/ds/action/sonicds/review.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090302184701/http://www.gamespot.com/ds/action/sonicds/review.html |archive-date=March 2, 2009 |access-date=February 20, 2009 |publisher=GameSpot |quote=The wrinkle here is that there's some interdimensional madness at play, too. There's what appears to be an alternate-dimension version of Eggman hanging around, known as Eggman Nega.}}

2020

|Hatsune Miku: Colorful Stage!

|Colorful Palette/Sega

|Characters within the game visit alternate dimensions made from their emotions, called Sekai, where alternate versions of Hatsune Miku and other virtual singers reside.

2021

|Blue Archive

|Nexon

|Alternate universe versions of Sensei (the game's player character) and Shiroko appear as antagonists in "Volume Final".

List of fictional works featuring parallel universes

Novels

Films

Television series

Video games

References