Universes & multiverses

The biggest crossover in entertainment

Decades of films, shows and games that all (eventually) connect. The MCU is the spine, but the X-Men, Spider-Man and Venom corners all orbit it, and No Way Home proved they can collide.

Two universes, one reboot

The old DCEU, the Arrowverse TV shows, every live-action Batman continuity, and now James Gunn's brand-new DCU. Genuinely a multiverse, here's how the pieces fit and which order to take them in.

A galaxy far, far away

The Skywalker saga films, the live-action Disney+ era, and decades of games all share one galaxy. Watch the movies, slot in the shows, and play the games from the Old Republic all the way to Outlaws.

Sarah J. Maas's connected worlds

ACOTAR, Throne of Glass and Crescent City were always rumored to share a cosmos, and Crescent City book 3 confirmed it with a full-on crossover. The reading order matters more than you'd think.

Brandon Sanderson's shared cosmos

Mistborn, The Stormlight Archive and more all unfold on different worlds of one connected universe, with a hidden character threading them together. Here's where to start and how it links up.

Giant monsters, two continents

Toho's Japanese Godzilla, Hollywood's MonsterVerse, the Jaegers of Pacific Rim, and the anime Kaiju No. 8, four takes on the giant-monster genre, each with its own order to follow.

The franchises that keep you up

From the shared Conjuring Universe to the tangled timelines of Insidious, Halloween and Saw, the biggest horror franchises, each with a release order and a (sometimes very different) chronological one.

The hidden universe of Control & Alan Wake

Remedy quietly built a shared universe across its games. The janitor Ahti turns up in both Control and Alan Wake 2, Alan Wake himself appears in Control's AWE expansion, and Max Payne's ghost lingers on in Alex Casey. Spot the threads.

Arcane's world, across show and games

Arcane is the front door, but Riot's Runeterra runs much deeper. The single-player Riot Forge games, Ekko's CONVERGENCE in Zaun, the Ruined King RPG, Song of Nunu and more, plus the live games all share the world the show introduced. Here's how the pieces connect.

The Continent across books, games and Netflix

Andrzej Sapkowski's novels came first, then CD Projekt Red's games made Geralt a gaming icon, and Netflix built its own live-action continuity on top. Three takes on the same monsters, politics and Child of Surprise. Here is how the books, games and show line up.

Harry Potter on screen and in your hands

The eight films tell Harry's story, and the games run from the film tie-ins straight through to Hogwarts Legacy's 1800s prequel. Watch the movies, then see where every game slots into the timeline.

Catch the games and the movies

The games are the origin, but the animated films run their own parallel canon alongside the anime, with an alternate-timeline sub-trilogy and a live-action Detective Pikachu off to the side. Here is how the movies fit next to the games.

Survival horror, games and film

Capcom's survival-horror games spawned two very different film tracks: the Milla Jovovich Alice movies that go their own way, and the CG-animated films that stay loyal to the game canon. Play the games, then untangle the movies.

Vought vs the Supes, on screen and page

Amazon's hit show and Garth Ennis's original comic tell the same Vought-versus-Supes story very differently, and the comic goes places the screen never will. Watch the show, then see how the page compares.

Regency romance, show and novels

Julia Quinn's romance novels are the source, and Netflix adapts them out of order, one sibling at a time. Watch the series, then read the books in the right order and see which season maps to which.

Belmonts across games and Netflix

Konami's games gave Netflix the Belmonts, Alucard and Dracula, and the animated series (plus its Nocturne spinoff) built a bloody saga of its own. Play the games, then watch the show.

Mark Grayson on screen and page

Robert Kirkman's Image comic is the blueprint for Amazon's animated hit, and the page runs far darker and far further than the screen has gone. Watch the show, then read ahead.

Tolkien on screen and in play

Peter Jackson's films are the definitive screen Middle-earth, but the games run their own path, from the movie tie-ins to Monolith's Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War. Watch the trilogy, then see where the games sit on Tolkien's timeline.

Camp Half-Blood across page and screen

Rick Riordan's novels are the source, the disowned 2010s films are a curiosity, and the Disney+ series is the faithful adaptation that finally does the books justice. Read the Riordanverse, then watch the show in the right order.

Fatalities across games and film

The fighting games built the lore, and the films split into three continuities: the 90s duology, the modern reboot, and the animated Legends slate. Play the games, then sort out which movies actually connect.

Lara Croft across games and film

The games reinvented Lara twice, and the films followed: the Angelina Jolie duology, then the Alicia Vikander reboot built on the 2013 game. Play the games, then watch the movies and see which connect.

The wasteland across games and screen

The games built the retro-future wasteland, and Amazon's canon series is the latest point on that timeline, set years after Fallout 4. Play the games, then watch the show and see exactly where it fits.

The Belt across books and screen

James S. A. Corey's nine novels are the source, and the six-season show adapts the first six of them roughly one per season. Read the books, then map each season to where it lands.

The four nations across screen and page

The two animated shows are the heart of it, and the Dark Horse graphic novels are the canon bridge that fills the gap between Aang and Korra. Watch the shows, then read the comics in the right order.

The Bay Harbor Butcher, book and screen

Jeff Lindsay's eight novels started it, and the show adapts book one before going its own way completely. Watch the series, then read the books and see how differently Dexter's story ends on the page.

The Animus across games and novels

The games are the spine of the Assassin-Templar war, and the novels run alongside them, some novelizing specific games, others filling gaps. Play the games, then read the books that match each era.

Goku across series and films

The series is the canon spine, and the films split hard into canon and non-canon: four modern movies slot into the Super timeline while the classic Z films are side stories. Watch the series, then sort the movies.

The Straw Hats across series and films

The anime is the journey, and the films drop in at specific points along it, with the Oda-involved ones introducing now-canon characters. Watch the series, then slot the movies at the right episode anchors.

The hidden leaf across series and films

The series is the mainline story, and of the eleven films only two are canon while the rest are filler pinned to loose timeline points. Watch the series, then place the movies (and know which two actually matter).

Tanjiro across series and films

The anime tells the story, and the films split into essential canon (Mugen Train, the Infinity Castle trilogy) and skippable recap compilations. Watch the series, then watch the movies that actually advance it.

Night City across game and comics

The game and Edgerunners built Night City, and the Dark Horse miniseries fill in the corners around V's story, before, during and after. Play the game, then read the comics in story order.

Sanctuary across games and novels

The games are the war for Sanctuary, and the novels stretch that lore across three thousand years, from the Sin War to the lead-in for Diablo IV. Play the games, then read the books by publication or by timeline.