“Let’s do things differently this time.�
Those are the first words you hear in this month’s “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,� an otherworldly meditation on multiple realities. The message is clear from the get-go: We have choices. You are you, sure. But wait � you might also be you and you and you.
A CES attendee looks on from the immersive room at the LG booth at the CES tech show on Jan. 5, 2023, in Las Vegas.Â
Ezra Miller, from left, Michael Keaton and Ezra Miller in a scene from "The Flash." Alternate universes are everywhere these days, from “The Flash� to “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.”�
Michelle Yeoh in a scene from "Everything Everywhere All at Once." One crowning example of multiverse success: Last year’s “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” which showed all the different lives that Yeoh’s main character might have lived.
A person rides with a bicycle alongside the river Spree photographed through multiple reflections of windows in Berlin on Oct. 14, 2013.Â
Visitors walk through a garden installation designed like the bottom-side of a leaf, on the opening day of the National Garden Festival "BUGA 05" in Munich, southern Germany, on April 28, 2005.Â
Photos: What if? A look at how things are, and how they could be
Benedict Cumberbatch as Dr. Stephen Strange in a scene from "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness." Multiverse works are united by one theme: There are always possibilities, for better and for worse, and exploring them is entertaining, enlightening and escapist. That’s no small thing in a post-COVID world where convulsive change can seem the only constant.
Visitors walk through a garden installation designed like the bottom-side of a leaf, on the opening day of the National Garden Festival "BUGA 05" in Munich, southern Germany, on April 28, 2005.Â
Miles Morales as Spider-Man, voiced by Shameik Moore, in a scene from Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation's "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse." “Let’s do things differently this time.� Those are the first words you hear in this month’s “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,� an otherworldly meditation on multiple realities. The message is clear from the get-go: We have choices. You are you, sure. But wait � you might also be you and you and you.
A man wades into the ocean at sunset on June 22, 2021, in Newport Beach, Calif. The world is a stressful, sometimes lonely place. “It wasn’t supposed to be this wayâ€� is a phrase you hear a lot these days. But what if things could turn out another way? What if, somewhere, they had? Enter the realm of the multiverse and alternate realities, popular culture’s wildly glorified canvas â€� and a repository for the ache and longing of living in an uncertain era. Â
A lifeguard watches as fireworks light up the air during an Independence Day celebration in San Clemente, Calif., July 4, 2022. The notion of exploring life’s twists and turns through alternate timelines has been around for a while, albeit in varying guises. What if the South had won the Civil War (“CSA: The Confederate States of America�)? What if Germany and Japan had won World War II (“The Man in the High Castle�)? What if John F. Kennedy hadn’t been assassinated (�11/22/63�)? Fictional worlds are more malleable. Imaginary characters � particularly beloved ones with established stories � are toyed with in books, TV shows and movies that airlift them out of one life and into another. It's a canvas that cuts across genres, from rom-com (1998’s “Sliding Doors�) to near-musical (2019’s Beatles jukebox “Yesterday�).
A CES attendee looks on from the immersive room at the LG booth at the CES tech show on Jan. 5, 2023, in Las Vegas.Â
Albert Maghbouleh, far left, and Miles Santamour, 89, with Amigos de Jaibalito Foundation (ADJ) share lunch outdoors overlooking the skyline of Los Angeles on Jan. 11, 2021. Multiverse works are united by one theme: There are always possibilities, for better and for worse, and exploring them is entertaining, enlightening and escapist. That’s no small thing in a post-COVID world where convulsive change can seem the only constant.
Ezra Miller in a scene from "The Flash." Alternate universes are everywhere these days, from “The Flash� to “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.� There's a deep hunger for exploring other possibilities about how other worlds and other potential lives might unfold. And movies, books and TV shows about alternate realities and multiverses feed that appetite in an era when lots of people are asking exactly how we got to this point. They're also a lucrative storytelling approach for creators who want to make the most of their characters without ruining a “prime timeline." Some experts say that in the end, it's about experiencing stories in which someone looks for, and perhaps finds, a best possible self out of all the possibilities.
Ezra Miller, from left, Michael Keaton and Ezra Miller in a scene from "The Flash." Alternate universes are everywhere these days, from “The Flash� to “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.”�
Michelle Yeoh in a scene from "Everything Everywhere All at Once." One crowning example of multiverse success: Last year’s “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” which showed all the different lives that Yeoh’s main character might have lived.
Promotional art for the animated series "What If...?" Exploring the question of “what if� continues to be lucrative � to the point where there's an entire Marvel show exploring alternate realities called “What If...?� And while multiple universes are starting to feel spread thin as a plot device, the trope isn't going away any time soon in our single world, where reality is constantly called into question. “Fictions have implicitly done what alternate universes seem to be doing more lately: letting us explore some reality that’s not actual, for the purpose of learning about the actual world,� says Hannah Kim, an assistant professor of philosophy at Macalester College who has researched why the multiverse resonates. “We’re bombarded with things that seem arbitrary, random,� she says. “The number of difficult developments the past few years � the pandemic, political upheaval, effects of climate change, etc. � leave the anxiety-riddled person with the nagging feeling that this all could have been otherwise.�
A man walks on the Costanera shopping center lookout, as the city is reflected in the windows of the building after sunset in Santiago, Chile, on Jan. 19, 2023.Â
NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, left, and Haley Esparza, right, ride on a horse as they visit SpaceX's Starship as it is readied for launch at Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, on April 19, 2023. The world is a stressful, sometimes lonely place. “It wasn’t supposed to be this wayâ€� is a phrase you hear a lot these days. But what if things could turn out another way? What if, somewhere, they had? Enter the realm of the multiverse and alternate realities, popular culture’s wildly glorified canvas â€� and a repository for the ache and longing of living in an uncertain era.Â
A person rides with a bicycle alongside the river Spree photographed through multiple reflections of windows in Berlin on Oct. 14, 2013.Â
A man walks as he is is reflected on a glass wall at a shopping center, July 8, 2020, in Tokyo. The world is a stressful, sometimes lonely place. “It wasn’t supposed to be this wayâ€� is a phrase you hear a lot these days. But what if things could turn out another way? What if, somewhere, they had? Enter the realm of the multiverse and alternate realities, popular culture’s wildly glorified canvas â€� and a repository for the ache and longing of living in an uncertain era.Â
