Mapping the Multiverse: Alternate Realities in Popular Culture

Once a semi-obscure scientific theory, the multiverse has emerged as a common trope in popular culture, showing up in the Oscar-winning movie Everything Everywhere All at Once and the much-loved Marvel Cinematic Universe. The emergent popularity of the multiverse as a narrative device resonates with critical theories about the “worldmaking” of fiction, the destabilization of ontological values, and Deleuzian networks of multiplicity. Its very premise—that our known universe is but one iteration of an infinite number of possible alternatives—is often seen as reflecting the current fractured reality of political discourse.

The contributors to this wide-ranging collection seek to map the multiverse by demonstrating the myriad ways that a diverse set of multiverse narratives across a range of media express different aspects of being. The different analyses reveal a range of uses of multiverse premises, from scientific reflections to explorations of identity. Moving beyond film and television, through graphic novels, pop music, and even card games, Mapping the Multiverse playfully and insightfully highlights what holds our stories together in the midst of unlimited variations.