There are a lot of Fictional Movie Universes where we want to live in. On the other hand, there are some universes we prefer to avoid. Most universes are shared across many films, while some are stand-alone.
We all wanted to be a Jedi, a Wizard, or a Superhero. Unfortunately, we live in the real world, but movies can still make us dream of having magical powers.
This list will only contain Fictional Movie Universes from live-action films. Simply because there are too many animated worlds to cover. Also, it is in no particular order.
Fictional Movie Universes
The X-men Universe
Who doesn’t want to be born with powers? This world is full of mutans who have all different abilities, but not everyone is happy with that. The common folks look at them like outcasts.
In 1994, 20th Century Fox bought the movie rights to the X-Men comics and characters. Then they hired director Bryan Singer to direct their first movie, released in 2000. He also directed the sequel.
After the first trilogy, two spin-offs and a prequel were launched. We got our first Wolverine Movie and the prequel X-Men: First Class, which revolves around the past of Wolverine, Charles Xavier and Magneto.
In 2016, the Deadpool Movie, finally came out that everyone ever wanted. Thank you, Ryan Reynolds, for supporting the release of this iconic character. They proved that an R-rating can be successful nowadays.
During CinemaCon 2019, they announced that X-Men: Dark Phoenix will be the last film about the adventures of the X-Men. Subsequently, Emma Watts, Fox Executive, confirmed that The New Mutants would be the last in the film series. Although this spin-off would initially be the first part of a trilogy, Disney’s takeover of 20th Century Fox canceled the other two films.
Tarantino Cinematic Universe
Okay, so this one is a bit special, as not many people know about this.
According to Quentin Tarantino, his films connect through two universes. He names it the “real” world universe and the “cinematic” universe. That may seem confusing, but the cinematic universe takes place in his real universe.
From Dusk Till Dawn, Death Proof and Kill Bill take place in the cinematic universe. When the characters of Reservoir Dogs or Pulp Fiction go to see a movie, it is either Dusk Till Dawn or Kill Bill.
Honestly, there is too much to cover on this topic. I’ll maybe make a post about it as its very complex. The connections are all in the small details. And it definitely deserves to be on the list of Fictional Movie Universes.
Update: Click here for an extended post on the Tarantino Universe
Narnia
The Chronicles of Narnia tell the story of children who play a central role in the history of the fictional land of Narnia. It is a place where animals can talk, and magic is an everyday phenomenon. The world is undeniably magnificent and colorful.
Initially, The Chronicles of Narnia is hepatology of a children’s book series written by the British writer C.S. Lewis. It’s children’s literature classic.
There were several times that the radio or television adapted the Chronicles of Narnia. Although the series mainly focuses on Christian themes, many aspects are also found in Greek, Turkish, and Roman mythology.
Alien/ Predator Universe
Let’s be honest. No one would want to live in this universe. I wouldn’t want to encounter an Alien or a Predator.
Originally, there were two science fiction films. Alien – Ridley Scott’s film hit the screens in 1979. This first film lays the foundation for the universe. The second film develops this universe further. The colonial navies make their appearance, and the scenario allows us to know a little more about the company and the way of life of the Alien.
The following year, Predator came out. An elite commando confronts an alien creature whose favorite pastime is hunting other forms of intelligent life.
Two years later, in 1989, Dark Horse Comics published a comic book that depicts the two space monsters. That influenced the Predator franchise.
In the final scene of the second Predator film, an Alien skull is visible. It’s in the trophy room of the Predators spacecraft.
In 2004, we got the feature film Alien vs. Predator that brings the two monsters together for the first time.
Star Wars Galaxy
Star Wars will be forever known for its massive universe with all the different creatures in it.
The Star Wars franchise portrays a universe that takes place in a galaxy far, far away. It portrays the Jedi as a representation of good fighting with the Sith, their evil counterpart. And their weapon of choice, the lightsaber, is widely recognized in pop culture.
It’s one of the biggest fictional movie universes. It contains many themes, especially influences from philosophy and religion. An example of this is The Force.
Now, we have books, comic books, TV shows, cartoons, and movies to expand this universe even more. Disney recently released its first Live-Action Tv Show: The Mandalorian, which was a huge hit.
I know the timeline might create confusion amongst the regular audience, and even fans when you consider the animated shows. That’s why I created a Star Wars Timeline Guide.
Godzilla Universe / Monsterverse
The MonsterVerse is a cinematic universe made up of blockbuster films bringing together several famous cinema monsters (of the Kaijū), notably Godzilla and King Kong. However, it is still in its early phase.
Warner Bros distributes the franchise. Legendary Pictures produces it in partnership with Tōhō (which notably holds the rights to Godzilla). Now, It is currently composed of three films: Godzilla (2014), Kong: Skull Island (2017), and Godzilla 2: King of the Monsters (2019). In addition, a fourth film will come out bringing together the two monsters, entitled Godzilla vs Kong.
And, I’m excited to see King Kong fight Godzilla, but I still have to watch Godzilla 2: King of the Monsters.
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction television series devised by Gene Roddenberry that aired from 1966 through 1969. Eventually, the Star Trek universe grew into a successful media franchise. It has seven television series, an animated series, thirteen feature films, dozens of computer games, and hundreds of books, comic books, technical manuals, and encyclopedias.
Roddenberry invented a future world in which a united Earth has solved most of the modern world problems. Through inventions such as synthetic replicators and faster-than-light technology, humankind has established colonies in the Milky Way galaxy with the help of extraterrestrial peoples. Mankind, together with some extraterrestrial peoples, has set up an umbrella organization of worlds: the United Federation of Planets.
The stories in the various Star Trek media mainly follow the officers and civilians employed by Starfleet, the Federation’s military research institute which, with its space fleet, mainly carries out diplomatic and research missions and also forms the armed forces.
There are three timelines: The Original Series, The Next Generation, and the new timeline, which started in 2009.
Marvel Cinematic Universe
The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU for short) is a term for a growing number of live-action film adaptations of Marvel Comics. And, they are all set within the same fictional universe.
The film series brought in more than US $ 22 billion and is, therefore, in the first place in the list of most successful film series. This was the first film series to raise more than $ 10 billion, and in 2019 it was the first film series to raise more than $ 20 billion. On top of that, all films are from producer Kevin Feige.
It’s insane how this universe came to existence. Star Wars and Lord of The Rings may have been around longer, but Marvel did an excellent job with their shared universe. Who would have thought of seeing the Avengers on the big screen?
Furthermore, Disney is releasing more TV shows that will expand this universe even more.
The Matrix
The theme of the Matrix film: “Is the world an illusion?” is already an old question in philosophy. Plato already paid attention to this in his allegory of the cave.
The story is about a Neo (Keanu Reeves) who slowly discovers that his world is an illusion. Instead, it is an advanced all-sensory simulation or virtual reality in a computer. His world turns out to be just one of many simulations. Therefore the question arises whether the world that created the simulations is not itself a simulation.
But imagine yourself bending the laws of physics by running on the walls. Or, even better by flying or jumping very high. That is all possible in the Matrix.
The Unbreakable Universe
Officially, it’s known as the Eastrail 177 Trilogy, but instead, I named it the Unbreakable Universe in the title. Why? Because not everyone knows that M. Night Shyamalan’s called it different. Neither did I.
M. Night Shyamalan wrote, produced, and directed all the films. I have to give the man credit for that. Not only does he make the films, but also he invests in these with his own money. Those would be huge risks if it didn’t work out.
No one saw this coming. It’s only at the end of Split, audiences realized that this was a sequel on Unbreakable. The series is a unique take on the superhero genre.
Azeroth
Well, there is a Warcraft Movie, so I can include this in my list of fictional movie universes.
Azeroth is a world where the film takes place. Similar to the game, it’s inhabited by humans, orcs, trolls, gnomes, dwarves, etc. It’s full of magic and mystical creatures.
Warcraft is a media franchise consisting mainly of a series of computer games. It still has one of the world’s biggest MMORPG games ever, World Of Warcraft.
As a fan, I couldn’t skip this universe on my list.
The Pokémon world – Detective Pikachu
Warcraft had a movie, but so did Pokémon with Detective Pikachu. This world is my number one pick to live in. And I’m not saying that it is the best movie universe, because it isn’t. However, you can’t deny how awesome it would be if you can catch Pokémon while traveling.
The Pokémon Company owns the Pokémon media franchise. It focuses on fictional creatures called “Pokémon.” Trainers have to capture and train them so they can compete in Pokémon battles.
I know for sure I would become a Pokémon trainer and try to be the very best!
Pirates of The Caribbean
When the first rumors of a possible movie of the Disney attraction of the same name circulated in 2002, many saw this as just a promotional stunt of one of its attractions. In addition, previous pirate films such as Cutthroat Island and films based on Disney attractions such as The Country Bears have not been a great success in the past. Still, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, grossed $ 653 million worldwide. In other words, it was an enormous hit.
This success led to the production of four sequels with the same line-up.
What truly is impressive in this Universe is that they mix all the mystical stories of the sea with the movies. I always loved pirate stories, and I even read pirate books. In Pirates of The Caribbean, we get to see skeletons, treasures, pirate ships, mermaids, and even the Kraken.
This may be an unpopular opinion, but I wish to see more of this Universe through new films.
Middle Earth
Together with Star Wars, Middle Earth is one of the best fictional movie universes.
J.R.R Tolkien, a professor of English Language and literature, created Middle Earth. It is a continent on the fictional Earth ‘Arda’ in his various stories.
Middle Earth history is the subject of many of his books that became movies. The most famous books within this oeuvre are the Hobbit and the Lord Of The Rings.
Middle Earth, also called Endor, gets its name from its location, namely in the middle of the world. The continent is divided into four major areas, one per cardinal point: Harad (South), Rhûn (East), Forod (North), and Annûn (West.)
In addition to Humans and animals known to us, there are many different races and creatures. Some of them are intelligent, such as Elves, Hobbits, Dwarves, Wargs, Orcs, Trolls, Grafts, and Wizards. Also, not all of them can be divided into categories of ‘good’ and ‘bad.’ There are evil and good people in Middle Earth, as well as evil sorcerers (Saruman) and good sorcerers (Radagast and Gandalf the Gray).
DC Extended Universe
The DC Extended Universe is DC‘s response to the MCU. It is another American media franchise about a series of superhero films set in a shared fictional universe.
Obviously, the most famous heroes are Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. As in the original DC Universe of the comic book series, the characters and stories appear similar to the movies in a crossover. Other heroes also got their introduction to the movie world: Birds of Prey, Suicide Squad, Justice League, Aquaman, etc.
Until now, the DC Extended Universe encountered a lot of ups and downs. However, I’m still hoping that they will eventually turn into the right direction. Also, I’m very excited about the new Batman movie starring Robert Pattinson.
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
The Wizarding World is another universe where I want to live in. Obviously, I want to be a wizard in it and not a regular human being. Otherwise, there won’t be any fun.
Who doesn’t want to go to Hogwarts and learn some magic? Not only do you learn magic, but you also discover a lot of mystical creatures like a griffin.
This fictional movie universe is centered on a series of Harry Potter films with the addition of Fantastic Beasts. J.K. Rowling created Harry Potter with her many novels. However, Warner Bros owns and distributes the franchise by making film adaptations.
Well, there is one thing I wouldn’t want. And, that are those huge spiders in the forest.
The Wasteland – Mad Max: Fury Road
The Wasteland is basically Australia in a post-apocalyptic world with lots of impressive vehicles.
Max Rockatansky is a police officer in a future Australia that is experiencing resource shortages. When his wife and kids get murdered, he becomes the drifting loner in the Wasteland.
Mad Max: Fury Road was the return of this epic franchise, and the visuals were so breathtaking. I had to include it in my list of Fictional Movie Universes as its landscapes are extraordinary.
It was recently confirmed that the next film would be named Mad Max: The Wasteland.
Pandora – Avatar
Pandora of the film Avatar is the moon of the gas giant Polyphemus located in Alpha Centauri. The diameter of the moon is 11447 km, and it has a gravity of 0.8. The most known inhabitants of this world are Na’Vi’s.
Most animals on Pandora have blue skin, which is probably caused by the environment. There are also many creatures on Pandora that are several times larger than the creatures on Earth.
All creatures on Pandora (including the Na’ vi) have the option of “Tsahaylu.” Tsahaylu is part of the central nervous system of a being on Pandora and provides the ability to link two creatures. The Na’ vi use the link to tame beasts. However, not all creatures possess this portion of the central nervous system, such as the Woodsprites, which are far too small for this. The Na’ vi believe that all creatures on Pandora are children of Eywa.
And that is only a small part of the information I can find on this fictional Universe. It’s really fleshed out, so I will leave an external link here.
Avatar is also famous for being one of the highest-grossing movies ever.
I hope you all enjoyed my extended list of Fictional Movie Universes. Are there any worlds that I have left out? Let me know in the comment section down below!
Topazzi World 