B次元官网网址淟etB次元官网网址檚 do things differently this time.B次元官网网址�
Those are the first words you hear in this monthB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淪pider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,B次元官网网址� an otherworldly meditation on multiple realities. The message is clear from the get-go: We have choices. You are you, sure. But wait B次元官网网址� 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 B次元官网网址� and a repository for the ache and longing of living in an era of uncertainty.
B次元官网网址淭he cultural assumption used to be that the world we live in is the way it is, and thatB次元官网网址檚 the only way it could be,B次元官网网址� says Douglas Wolk, who read 27,000 Marvel comics for his book, B次元官网网址淎ll of the Marvels.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淲hat has happened in culture,B次元官网网址� Wolk says, B次元官网网址渋s that people are saying, B次元官网网址榃ell, no. This consensus reality is not how things have to be.B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址�
The notion of exploring lifeB次元官网网址檚 twists and turns through alternate timelines has been around for a while, albeit in varying guises.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 a Wonderful LifeB次元官网网址� sent George Bailey tumbling into a timeline where heB次元官网网址檇 never been born to reveal his true impact. In the decades since, that notion has accelerated B次元官网网址� a rise in stories that consider events both fictional and real, extrapolating different choices.
What if the South had won the Civil War (B次元官网网址淐SA: The Confederate States of AmericaB次元官网网址�)? What if Germany and Japan had won World War II (B次元官网网址淭he Man in the High CastleB次元官网网址�)? What if John F. Kennedy hadnB次元官网网址檛 been assassinated (B次元官网网址�11/22/63B次元官网网址�)?
Fictional worlds are more malleable. Imaginary characters B次元官网网址� particularly beloved ones with established stories B次元官网网址� are toyed with in books, TV shows and movies that airlift them out of one life and into another. ItB次元官网网址檚 a canvas that cuts across genres, from rom-com (1998B次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淪liding DoorsB次元官网网址�) to near-musical (2019B次元官网网址檚 Beatles jukebox B次元官网网址淵esterdayB次元官网网址�).
You have the reality where Spider-Man never married M.J. (Marvel ComicsB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淏rand New DayB次元官网网址�); the universe where a Ben Affleck Batman never existed but the Michael Keaton Batman stuck around and got old (B次元官网网址淭he FlashB次元官网网址�); and the B次元官网网址渕irror universeB次元官网网址� of B次元官网网址淪tar TrekB次元官网网址� that reveals the baser instincts of beloved characters.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 a way to explore a problem thatB次元官网网址檚 never actually happened in the main story,B次元官网网址� sums up Nic Lemire, a California teenager who co-hosts the occasional B次元官网网址淢arvel MondaysB次元官网网址� podcast with his mother (a former Associated Press film critic).
One crowning example of multiverse success: The Oscar-sweeping B次元官网网址淓verything Everywhere All at Once,B次元官网网址� which showed all the different lives Michelle YeohB次元官网网址檚 main character might have lived B次元官网网址� 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. ThatB次元官网网址檚 no small thing in a post-COVID world where convulsive change can seem the only constant.
B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e bombarded with things that seem arbitrary, random,B次元官网网址� says Hannah Kim, an assistant professor of philosophy at Macalester College. B次元官网网址淭he number of difficult developments the past few years B次元官网网址� the pandemic, political upheaval, effects of climate change, etc. B次元官网网址� leave the anxiety-riddled person with the nagging feeling that this all could have been otherwise.B次元官网网址�
Exploring the question of B次元官网网址渨hat ifB次元官网网址� continues to be lucrative B次元官网网址� thereB次元官网网址檚 even an entire Marvel show called B次元官网网址淲hat IfB次元官网网址�?B次元官网网址� While multiple universes may start to feel spread thin as a plot device, the trope isnB次元官网网址檛 going away.
After all, if you can remix popular characters while retaining the potential for a reset in a B次元官网网址減rime universe,B次元官网网址� what is there to lose? Well, thereB次元官网网址檚 this: If everything is reversible, how high can the stakes really be?
B次元官网网址淚t narratively lets you have your cake and eat it too B次元官网网址� you can kill off the character, have an emotional death scene and then bring the character back from another universe,B次元官网网址� says Matt Ruff, whose 9/11 novel, B次元官网网址淭he Mirage,B次元官网网址� posits an alternate universe that flips aggressors, victims and prejudices.
B次元官网网址淚f everythingB次元官网网址檚 possible, the choices are less interesting. The consequences donB次元官网网址檛 matter all that much,B次元官网网址� Ruff says. B次元官网网址淧art of engaging in the real world is engaging with the fact that thereB次元官网网址檚 no magical solution.B次元官网网址�
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 worldB次元官网网址檚 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?
B次元官网网址淵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,B次元官网网址� says Colgate University sociologist David Newman, who has written a book on second chances. B次元官网网址淧eople want to believe that when we have a problem, the problem is fixable.B次元官网网址�
ThereB次元官网网址檚 one Marvel Comics offshoot, B次元官网网址淢arvel 1602,B次元官网网址� in which EarthB次元官网网址檚 mightiest superheroes exist at the beginning of the 17th century.
B次元官网网址淚 posit we are in a universe which favors stories,B次元官网网址� Fantastic Four leader Reed Richards says. B次元官网网址淎 universe in which no story can ever truly end; in which there can only be continuances.B次元官网网址�
However it might play out, thatB次元官网网址檚 a universe full of possibilities. And judging from the past two decades, itB次元官网网址檚 good business as well to keep on asking: What if?
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