鈥淟et鈥檚 do things differently this time.鈥�
Those are the first words you hear in this month鈥檚 鈥淪pider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,鈥� an otherworldly meditation on multiple realities. The message is clear from the get-go: We have choices. You are you, sure. But wait 鈥� you might also be you and you and you.
The world is a stressful, sometimes lonely place. But what if things could turn out another way? What if, somewhere, they had? Enter the realm of the multiverse and alternate realities, one of the most glorified pop culture canvases 鈥� and a repository for the ache and longing of living in an era of uncertainty.
鈥淭he cultural assumption used to be that the world we live in is the way it is, and that鈥檚 the only way it could be,鈥� says Douglas Wolk, who read 27,000 Marvel comics for his book, 鈥淎ll of the Marvels.鈥�
鈥淲hat has happened in culture,鈥� Wolk says, 鈥渋s that people are saying, 鈥榃ell, no. This consensus reality is not how things have to be.鈥欌��
The notion of exploring life鈥檚 twists and turns through alternate timelines has been around for a while, albeit in varying guises.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a Wonderful Life鈥� sent George Bailey tumbling into a timeline where he鈥檇 never been born to reveal his true impact. In the decades since, that notion has accelerated 鈥� a rise in stories that consider events both fictional and real, extrapolating different choices.
What if the South had won the Civil War (鈥淐SA: The Confederate States of America鈥�)? What if Germany and Japan had won World War II (鈥淭he Man in the High Castle鈥�)? What if John F. Kennedy hadn鈥檛 been assassinated (鈥�11/22/63鈥�)?
Fictional worlds are more malleable. Imaginary characters 鈥� particularly beloved ones with established stories 鈥� are toyed with in books, TV shows and movies that airlift them out of one life and into another. It鈥檚 a canvas that cuts across genres, from rom-com (1998鈥檚 鈥淪liding Doors鈥�) to near-musical (2019鈥檚 Beatles jukebox 鈥淵esterday鈥�).
You have the reality where Spider-Man never married M.J. (Marvel Comics鈥� 鈥淏rand New Day鈥�); the universe where a Ben Affleck Batman never existed but the Michael Keaton Batman stuck around and got old (鈥淭he Flash鈥�); and the 鈥渕irror universe鈥� of 鈥淪tar Trek鈥� that reveals the baser instincts of beloved characters.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a way to explore a problem that鈥檚 never actually happened in the main story,鈥� sums up Nic Lemire, a California teenager who co-hosts the occasional 鈥淢arvel Mondays鈥� podcast with his mother (a former Associated Press film critic).
One crowning example of multiverse success: The Oscar-sweeping 鈥淓verything Everywhere All at Once,鈥� which showed all the different lives Michelle Yeoh鈥檚 main character might have lived 鈥� with the point being that across the multiverse, her family remains a family.
These works are united by one theme: There are always possibilities, for better and for worse, and exploring them is entertaining, enlightening and escapist. That鈥檚 no small thing in a post-COVID world where convulsive change can seem the only constant.
鈥淲e鈥檙e bombarded with things that seem arbitrary, random,鈥� says Hannah Kim, an assistant professor of philosophy at Macalester College. 鈥淭he number of difficult developments the past few years 鈥� the pandemic, political upheaval, effects of climate change, etc. 鈥� leave the anxiety-riddled person with the nagging feeling that this all could have been otherwise.鈥�
Exploring the question of 鈥渨hat if鈥� continues to be lucrative 鈥� there鈥檚 even an entire Marvel show called 鈥淲hat If鈥�?鈥� While multiple universes may start to feel spread thin as a plot device, the trope isn鈥檛 going away.
After all, if you can remix popular characters while retaining the potential for a reset in a 鈥減rime universe,鈥� what is there to lose? Well, there鈥檚 this: If everything is reversible, how high can the stakes really be?
鈥淚t narratively lets you have your cake and eat it too 鈥� you can kill off the character, have an emotional death scene and then bring the character back from another universe,鈥� says Matt Ruff, whose 9/11 novel, 鈥淭he Mirage,鈥� posits an alternate universe that flips aggressors, victims and prejudices.
鈥淚f everything鈥檚 possible, the choices are less interesting. The consequences don鈥檛 matter all that much,鈥� Ruff says. 鈥淧art of engaging in the real world is engaging with the fact that there鈥檚 no magical solution.鈥�
That, though, may be precisely why the notion resonates. Humans have always wanted to try on other outfits, other outcomes, other lives. Technology has enabled people to obtain most anything from the world鈥檚 bounty within 48 hours. So why not thousands of stories with thousands of possible endings? What does that do to our relationship with our stories?
鈥淵ou are looking at a piece of a bigger cultural picture that provides a constant barrage of cultural images that reinforce this idea that we can be better versions of ourselves,鈥� says Colgate University sociologist David Newman, who has written a book on second chances. 鈥淧eople want to believe that when we have a problem, the problem is fixable.鈥�
There鈥檚 one Marvel Comics offshoot, 鈥淢arvel 1602,鈥� in which Earth鈥檚 mightiest superheroes exist at the beginning of the 17th century.
鈥淚 posit we are in a universe which favors stories,鈥� Fantastic Four leader Reed Richards says. 鈥淎 universe in which no story can ever truly end; in which there can only be continuances.鈥�
However it might play out, that鈥檚 a universe full of possibilities. And judging from the past two decades, it鈥檚 good business as well to keep on asking: What if?
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