32 Alternate History Movies And TV Shows That Will Get You Thinking ‘What If?’
There are a lot of ways that filmmakers and storytellers have reworked real history with an alternate version of that history over the years. Often it’s a re-imagining of major events like wars, but sometimes it’s a smaller bit of history, like Quentin Tarantino did with Once Upon A Time In Hollywood.
I love these kinds of movies and TV shows because it’s always interesting to wonder “what if?” things went differently in key moments in time. This list is a celebration of any kind of alternate history, from shows about Kings ruling America to the Soviets winning the race to the moon and everything in between.
For All Mankind
Man landing on the Moon was a huge moment in history, and for the United States, it marked a victory in the space race. For All Mankind wonders what would have happened if the Soviets had won that race. In the show, from streamer Apple TV+, the Soviets win the race, but the US keeps pushing to get ahead somehow.
Inglourious Basterds
If I’m honest, Inglourious Basterds isn’t my favorite Tarantino movie. Some people argue that his re-imagining of the death of that terrible man with the little mustache was killed by an elite group of US soldiers, instead of what actually happened, is his best movie. I don’t even think it’s his best alternate history movie. Christoph Waltz is amazing, though.
Bridgerton
Bridgerton doesn’t jump out as a show that fits into this category, but it is deliberately set in an alternative history timeline. In this timeline, King George III has made sure there is racial equality during his reign in the early 19th Century. This equality is partly achieved by the king granting titles of nobility to a much more diverse group, setting up the romances that happen on the show.
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is a bit of a tricky one here, because it’s really an alternate history story wrapped in pure fantasy. The movie, which was, if I’m honest, disappointing, mostly because the source material, a comic book by Alan Moore, is so great, and the concept is so cool.
The Plot Against America
The HBO miniseries The Plot Against America is a disturbing look into an alternate past where Charles Lindbergh, who is portrayed as an anti-semite, is elected president in 1940 and ends World War II before it began for the US. He does this by striking a deal with the Germans because he agrees with their fascist policies.
C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America
C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America is a wild movie that is almost impossible to explain in a short blurb. It’s a mockumentary that aired first on IFC, complete with crazy commercials that tells the triumphant story of the South’s victory in the Civil War and all that brought with it. It’s ambitious, and it doesn’t always work, but it’s worth trying to catch, if you can find it.
11.22.63
I was skeptical of 11.22.63 when I first read about it, but in the end, I loved the Hulu miniseries. The series, adapted from a book by Stephen King, stars James Franco as a man who finds himself traveling back in time to Dallas on November 22nd, 1963, the day John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Of course, he tries to figure out a way to change the future, but is thwarted by fate each time. Technically, this is more of an example of history not changing, but it feels very much like the rest of these movies.
Watchmen
Based on the legendary comic book by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons (Moore was uncredited by his choice), Watchmen envisions a future when a superhero named Doctor Manhattan (Billy Crudup) has ended the Vietnam War in the United States’ favor. That propels Richard Nixon to multiple terms as President (he’s in his 5th term in 1985, when the movie is set), and the Cold War escalated even more than it did in real life. Watchmen is a superhero movie, sure, but it fits perfectly on this list.
White Man’s Burden
The oft-forgotten White Man’s Burden, from 1995, is, well, let’s just very heavy-handed at times, but it lot of ways it works in what it sets out to do. The movie, which stars John Travolta and Harry Belafonte, reverses the races in America, making African-Americans the dominant race. Yeah, it’s tricky, and it could have been a disaster. It’s not a total mess, but it’s far from perfect.
The Final Countdown
One of the most underrated sci-fi movies of the 1980s is also one of the best movies about the Navy is The Final Countdown. It stars Kirk Douglas as the captain of an aircraft carrier that accidentally travels through a time portal and finds itself in 1941. The crew quickly realizes that they have the opportunity to stop the attack on Pearl Harbor, but doesn’t the future still changes two passengers on the ship are marooned in 1941, but use that to their advantage in the future.
The Man In The High Castle
Of course, the Prime series, The Man In The High Castle, would be on this list. I first read the book it was based on, by author Philip K. Dick, when I was in high school, and it is definitely responsible for my interest and love in this whole genre. The show’s world-building in Season 1 is remarkable, and I was completely enthralled by the show. I loved how it modernized the book in all the right places and was blown away by the set design, CGI, and costuming. Unfortunately, I think the show kind of fell apart in its later seasons, but in the beginning, it was a masterpiece.
Once Upon A Time In Hollywood
Once Upon A Time In Hollywood is one of my favorite Quentin Tarantino movies. While the alternate history in Inglourious Basterds frustrated and annoyed me, the fantasy of Sharon Tate’s murder being thwarted in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood made me tear up when thinking about how things would have been different. It’s just as cartoon-y as Inglourious Basterds, but so much more satisfying in the way it plays out.
District 9
On its surface, District 9 seems like a normal alien invasion movie, but when you dig in, you learn that it’s set in a very different timeline than our reality, beginning in 1982 when the aliens arrive over Johannesburg. Once you realize it’s set in the early ’80s, you see why it belongs on this list.
1984
When the book Nineteen Eighty-Four was published in 1949, it was a dystopian look at a possible future. When the movie came out in 1984, it had transformed into an alternate history. While some of the dystopian ideas that author George Orwell warned everyone of sort of came true, it’s still a very different world than what was actually real. For that reason, it works for this list in a roundabout way.
Kings
It’s always disappointing when a show you love and one that you see a ton of potential in gets canceled before it really finds its footing. That’s what happened to me when NBC canceled Kings after just 13 episodes. The show had a fantastic cast, including Ian McShane as the king of a country that was basically the United States (called Gilboa on the show) and Sebastian Stan as his heir-apparent. There was a ton of palace intrigue, and the show could have gone in so many interesting directions had it found a bigger audience.
Captain America: The First Avenger
Okay, okay, I can already hear the people in the comment section complaining, but at its core, not only is Captain America: The First Avenger a superhero movie (and is high up in the ranking of MCU movies), it’s also a different version of history, with World War II essentially being won for the Allies by Captain America. That’s not what really happened, so that’s why I’m counting it. I don’t want to hear any arguments!
DMZ
The American Civil War is a popular place to create diverging timelines in fiction, but in the HBO miniseries DMZ, it envisions a world where there is a second civil war, and Manhattan is where the lines are drawn.
Overlord
Maybe no other event in history has inspired more alternate history stories than World War II. In every genre, across all types of media, the “what ifs” have been explored. That includes horror movies like Overlord. The movie, starring Wyatt Russell, envisions a World War II where US paratroopers face off with Zombies created by human experimentation by the Germans.
Fatherland
Fatherland, starring Rutger Hauer of the many entries on this list that re-imagine World War II with the Germans winning. This one is a murder mystery in German-ruled Europe, where the Allies lost the war after the US withdrew from the European theater. The HBO production came out in 1994 and still holds up pretty well today.
My Lady Jane
When Prime canceled My Lady Jane in 2024, fans were in an uproar. That’s always a good sign, and it’s easy to see why its audience loved it so much. It’s really more of a fantasy series, but the history in it, following Lady Jane Grey in the 1500s, is purposefully set in an alternative timeline.
Civil War
This one is a little tricky, because technically it could be called an “alternate present” as Alex Garland‘s Civil War from 2024 is set more or less in the present day. It is, however, a very different reality, with the United States at war with itself over politics. For a lot of people, it was among the best movies released in ’24, and it certainly lays out a scary look at how bad things could get if politics continues to get uglier and uglier.
Pearl Harbor
Okay, hear me out. There is so much incorrect history in Pearl Harbor is hard to defend it as anything but an alternate history. Sure, this doesn’t strictly work here, but imagining Ben Affleck‘s character in the Battle of Britain, on Oahu during the attack on Pearl Harbor, and as part of the Doolittle raid is complete fantasy, so for me, this is definitely alternative history.
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
Okay, how much explanation is needed here? Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is obviously a different version of history, straying into fantasy and horror, of course. I thought this movie would be terrible, and…it kind of is, but if you don’t get hung up on the protagonist being one of the US’s most important figures, it’s not that bad.
Fallout
Sure, there is a serious dystopian overtone to Fallout, and if you only look at that, you might not think of it as alternative history, but the lore explains that the timeline diverged after World War II. While it’s set in the distant future, its a future based on a very different past.
Never Let Me Go
Alternate histories are sometimes more about romance than science fiction, as in the case of Never Let Me Go starring Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield, and Keira Knightley. It’s a lot less bombastic than most of the movies on this list, and the plot, which is partly centered around humans having discovered the cure for death, is really a romance in a love triangle.
SS-GB
The BBC show SS-GB is another example of a show based on the Germans coming out victorious over the Allies in World War II. This time, it’s set in London in 1941, and the U.K. has already lost the war. Like others on this list, the show is really a murder mystery-turned-political thriller that is well worth your time, if you love British television shows as I do.
Amerika
Surprisingly, there aren’t a lot of examples in this genre of the U.S. losing the Cold War to the USSR, but at the height of that cold conflict in 1987, ABC produced Amerika, starring Kris Kristofferson as a politician living in a conquered America, having been overrun by the Soviets. I won’t give away the ending, but it’s easy to guess who wins in the end, given the timing of the miniseries.
Hello Tomorrow!
Hello Tomorrow! draws inspiration from shows like The Jetsons and other retrofuturistic shows, and tells the story of a man (played by Billy Crudup) selling property on the Moon. It’s a decent show, though not as good as some other offerings from Apple TV+, like For All Mankind.
LOLA
LOLA, from director Andrew Legge, is a “found footage” movie about two girls in German-occupied England who invent a device that can pick up radio waves in the future. It’s a low-budget indie that can be tough to find, but is really well done, even if you’re not into the found footage genre.
An Englishman’s Castle
Way back in 1978, a British TV show called An Englishman’s Castle explored what life would be like if Germany had won World War II and the country was ruled by a collaborationist government in 1940. That is the backdrop for the show as the main character discovers more and more about the truth of what is really going on.
Wild Wild West
Wild Wild West is often derided for how bad it is, and…it’s not great. However, it definitely belongs on this list. As much as I love the idea of a steampunk version of history, this movie could have been so much cooler if it had been done right. Will Smith and Kevin Kline are good, and the production design is awesome. There’s just something lacking from the story. It feels way too forced to fit the design of the movie.
Motherland: Fort Salem
This one is unique because the diverging timeline begins after the Salem witch trials in the 17th Century. Motherland: Fort Salem is a TV show set in the present day, but with a very different history, making witches powerful members of society.
