Extended and shared universes: Opening a realm of possibilities, one story at a time

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The MCU, the DCEU, The NCIS franchise, The Law & Order franchise, Star Trek. These are but a few examples of film and television worlds that have managed to create a large expansion of exciting stories for viewers to enjoy. This has allowed characters from different series or films to crossover into another series or film to further explore their shared universes.

Courtesy of Marvel Studios

Currently, the biggest shared universe is the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Beginning in 2008 with the blockbuster Ironman, this franchise has expanded significantly by having released an impressive 26 films to date, with at least 12 more in various stages production. This franchise has also created numerous television series, with several more also in various stages of early to late production. The stories that have been shown have not only allowed for numerous characters to be introduced, but to also create storylines that continue in various productions.

Another popular franchise (but hasn’t managed to fully live to up its competitor’s level), is the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). While it hasn’t fully lived up to the same reputation as the MCU, it has still produced notable hits such as Wonder Woman, Aquaman and Shazam. But while it has had some wins, it has also included some loses that have caused to the studio to make various changes throughout the years regarding certain characters.

Courtesy of NBC

Another franchise that is all too familiar to crime show buffs, is the all too familiar Law & Order. The first series, also named Law & Order, originally aired on September 13th, 1990. The series went on to span numerous spinoffs including the long-lasting Law & Order: SVU as well as the newest entry into the franchise, Law & Order: Organized Crime. Most recently, fans of the original series were given a huge surprise when it was revealed that the original series, which ended on May 24th, 2010, would be returning for a 21st season. Aside from these direct series, characters from some these shows have made crossovers on other franchises, including One Chicago (consisting of Chicago Med, Chicago PD, and Chicago Fire), as well as the series F.B.I. which itself has had a few spinoffs. While all of these various series are more based in actual reality, they manage to still create a world that shows that events that happen in one city can easily have some kind of an effect elsewhere.

Finally, another successful franchise is Star Trek. Originally airing in 1966 by Gene Roddenberry, the series portrayed various individuals who were exploring space, went on numerous adventures and faced various foes. The original series produced six films that were sequels, and another 3 films that were a reboot of it. Meanwhile, the original series also produced numerous other sequel series that have introduced new characters and alien species, new adventures, and of course new foes. While following the following series mostly took place in a more future time (one series, Enterprise was actually a prequel to the entire series), the shows only had minor crossovers here and there to only further show that they were connected. More recently a new entry in the franchise, Star Trek: Discovery, which has very recently started its fourth season, was revealed to have a direct connection to the original series. which has not only allowed for the series to give more stories but has also allowed them to re-use memorable characters from the past and give them new life.

The amazing thing about these numerous franchises is that they allow the storytellers to further expand upon numerous ideas, but also allow the people who enjoy these stories to see different stories from perspectives. It also allows these different characters to interact outside of their normal stories and participate in even larger adventures.

Here are a few other exciting franchises and series that have made crossovers with other series that have created extended universes:

  • JAG, NCIS, NCIS: LA, Hawaii Five-0 NCIS: New Orleans, NCIS: Hawaii. NCIS: LA has had some crossovers with Scorpion and Hawaii-Five O, which in turn, has had crossover with MacGyver and Magnum P.I.

  • The various CSI series

  • The Arrowverse (Also known as the CWverse)

  • Star Wars

Philippe MacDonald

Philippe MacDonald

Philippe MacDonald is a second-year Professional Writing student. He enjoys food (both cooking and eating), watching movies and television, reading, spending time with his friends and family and gets easily distrac… ooh, red ball…ted.

Quotes about Philippe

Mother: “He’s my favourite son.”
Complete stranger: “Who?”
Annie the cat: just stares blankly