10 Films You Didn't Know Shared Movie Universes

Shared universes are all the rage these days: throw in a token character cameo, whip up some fanboy froth and open your franchise up to a whole new world of crossovers. Marvel and DC are busy doing their thing, but shared universes have been around for a while, with movies you wouldn’t ever expect to see sharing the same oxygen…

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‘Soldier’ shares a universe with… 'Blade Runner’ and 'Alien’

1998 sci-fi thriller 'Soldier’, henceforth known as 'the last decent movie Paul WS Anderson ever made’, was written by David Peoples, who was involved in rewriting the script for Ridley Scott’s 'Blade Runner’, and both movies share several elements that suggest they exist in the same universe: see the junkyard 'spinner’ in 'Soldier’ and references to the 'Battle of Tannhauser Gate’ and the 'Shoulder of Orion’.

Kurt Russell’s super solider is also trained in the use of the M41A Pulse Rifle and USCM Smartgun, which links him directly to the 'Alien’ universe, too; in fact, Ridley Scott himself has gone as far as suggesting that he considered the grimy dystopian cityscape of 'Blade Runner’ as the Earth that the crew of the Nostromo were trying to return home to.

'Piranha 3D’ shares a universe… with 'Jaws’

The makers of the low-budget fish-fest intentionally hired Richard Dreyfuss to reprise the role of Matt Hooper, intrepid fisherman of Amity Island, for the horror movie’s opening sequence (spoiler: this time, he doesn’t win). However, some swift legal action put paid to those plans, so the character is listed as 'Matt Boyd’.

However, Dreyfuss’s 'Piranha’ character dresses in the exact same get-up as Hooper, drinks a beer labelled 'Amity’ and even sings 'Show Me The Way To Go Home’ as he fishes, much like he did that fateful day aboard the Orca. And hey, he looks an awful lot like him too.

Kevin Smith’s movies share a universe with… the 'Scream’ movies

Everyone knows all of Kevin Smith’s movies take place in the same world – he was sharing universes while Marvel and DC were still only big shots on the comic-book store shelf. But, bizarrely, Smith’s heroes Jay and Silent Bob made an unprecedented cameo in horror threequel 'Scream 3’, where they mistake Courteney Cox’s news anchor Gail Weathers for “that TV news chick Connie f***ing Chung” while on a movie set tour – they get Gail’s middle finger for their trouble.

Rather troublingly, this places the characters from the 'Scream’ franchise – who, apart from the relentless murdering, are all normal, functioning human beings – in the same universe in which Mark Hamill plays a dildo-wielding superhero called Cock-Knocker. Odd.

All Quentin Tarantino movies share two universes with… all Robert Rodriguez movies

By now, you’d think most people would have picked up on the fact that all Quentin Tarantino movies seem to share names, faces and ephemera: a Vega brother here, some Red Apples cigarettes there, we get it.

But did you know the crossovers extend to the movies of Robert Rodriguez too? There are actually two distinct universes that have been confirmed by Tarantino: there’s the 'Realer Than Real’ Universe, in which movies like 'Pulp Fiction’ and 'Reservoir Dogs’ take place (Vic Vega and Mr Blonde are brothers, is just one example of connectivity); and there’s the 'Movie Movie’ universe, where 'Kill Bill’ and 'From Dusk Till Dawn’ reside – these are the movies that characters in the Realer Than Real universe go and see at the cinema.

One man mysteriously connects both universes: Michael Parks’ lawman Sheriff Earl McGraw straddles worlds both real and fictional, with appearances in both 'Death Proof’ and the 'Movie Movie’ movies. That’s a lot of movies.

'Out Of Sight’ shares a universe… with 'Jackie Brown’

An extra twist to the Tarantinoverse: Michael Keaton’s character in 1997 movie 'Jackie Brown’, ATF Agent Ray Nicolette also appears in Steven Soderbergh’s 1998 movie, 'Out Of Sight’, which is totally unrelated to 'Jackie Brown’ other than this one similarity.

Why? Because both books were written by the legend that was Elmore Leonard; Soderbergh, having enjoyed 'Jackie Brown’ immensely, decided he’d have a little fun and asked Michael Keaton if he’d reprise the role of Ray in his slinky heist thriller in the minor role of Jennifer Lopez’s boyfriend. And he did, because he’s awesome. Though Miramax owned the rights to the character, Tarantino insisted Soderbergh be allowed to use Ray free of charge.

'Ghostbusters’ shares a universe with… 'Casper’

In a perfect example of brand synergy and good old-fashioned sense of humour, the makers of 1995 family comedy 'Casper’, based on the comic-book 'Casper The Friendly Ghost’, cottoned onto the most genius cameo concept. And so it was that Dan Aykroyd reprised the role of Dr Raymond Stantz when he’s seen running from the ghosts in the family house, yelling: “Who you gonna call? Someone else!”

The Ghostbusters existing in the same spectral universe as Casper totally makes sense, leaving just one mystery: what’s that moustache on Ray’s top lip all about?

'Trading Places’ shares a universe with… 'Coming To America’

Okay, so it’s not like the coming together of these two Eddie Murphy comedies represents some huge money-spinning franchise opportunity – the common connection is little more than an in-joke, but we enjoyed it all the same. In 'Trading Places’, you may remember brothers Randolph and Mortimer Duke place a large bet that they can reverse the fortunes of Dan Aykroyd’s wealthy gent and Murphy’s crook… a bet which they lose, along with their fortune.

Well, in 'Coming To America’, Murphy’s character Prince Akeem tosses a bag of “pocket change” to a homeless guy, who turns out to be none other than Mortimer Duke. “Randolph…” says his brother, “We’re back!” Coming soon to a cinema near you: Duke Brothers: Origins.

'Star Wars’ shares a universe with… 'E.T. The Extra Terrestrial’

When does an Easter Egg become something that inspires reams of research and over-analysis? When it’s an Easter Egg in 'Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace’. It wasn’t enough that a group of 'E.T.’ alien lookalikes appeared at a table at the Galactic Senate in George Lucas’s ill-fated prequel, it had to be more than just a nod to his friend Steven Spielberg.

So it was down to 'Star Wars author James Luceno to finally spill the details on the 'E.T.’ race in his novel, 'Cloak Of Deception’: they hail from a planet called Brodo Asogi and they were represented in the Senate by Senator Grebleips (that’s 'Spielberg’ backwards for the non-geniuses among you). If this is taken to be canonical, then the Asogian race link the 'Star Wars’ universe with that of our own. It would also explain why E.T. appears to recognise Yoda when they go out trick or treating.

'Eddie The Eagle’ shares a universe with… 'Cool Runnings’

Not all shared universes are bonded by aliens or superheroes or ghosts – sometimes it’s just good old-fashioned drama and a spot of courage that brings people together. This year’s feelgood sports drama 'Eddie The Eagle’ features a star turn from Taron Egerton as Eddie 'The Eagle Edwards’, the plucky (read: rubbish) ski-jumper from Cheltenham, who was Great Britain’s sole representative at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Calgary.

It just so happened to be a good year for loveable losers, as at the very same event, the Jamaican bobsled team were well on their way to stealing hearts, events which would later be covered in comedy 'Cool Runnings’. And in 'Eddie The Eagle’, you can just about hear a news item about the Jamaican bobsleigh team on the radio, before it’s turned off.

(Edit: Yes, we know they’re both real events, but they’re fictionalised accounts, so we think it still counts.)

'Tangled’ shares a universe with… 'Frozen’… and maybe 'The Little Mermaid’ too

It’s there as clear as day: the newly-shorn Rapunzel and her beau Flynn Rider were in attendance in Arendelle around the time of Anna and Elsa’s coronation, visible during the song 'For The First Time In Forever’. 'Tangled’ and 'Frozen’, sitting in a tree: mind = blown. But wait. There’s a theory that says that the world of 'The Little Mermaid’ could also be part of the same Disney shared universe.

Fans have theorised that Anna and Elsa’s parents died at sea while on the way to Rapunzel’s coronation in the kingdom of Corona, seen at the end of 'Tangled’. Architecturally, 'Tangled’ appears Germanic/Polish in origin, while Frozen is clearly 'Scandinavian’; Hans Christian Andersen, author of 'The Little Mermaid’, hailed from Denmark, so it’s not too much of a stretch to suggest the Disney movie takes place there too, placing the sunken wreck that Ariel explores smack bang in the shipping route between Arendelle and Corona. We just need to place 'Basil The Great Mouse Detective’ on this timeline for it to all make sense.

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