Here's How Movies And TV Shows Thought The 2020s Would Look Like – Spoiler, They're Way Off

Can't wait for those 3-D printed organs.

A lot of pop culture that's set in a "distant future" is actually set in our current present.

Rooster Teeth / Via giphy.com

And some of it is even set in our past – Bladerunner's future dystopia was set in 2019 (four years ago).

So, here's a year-by-year breakdown of the 2020s according to pop-culture. Be warned – most of it is pretty grim.

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In 2020, according to V for Vendetta, Britain has become a rather dystopian society as the result of a second civil war and a global pandemic.

Warner Bros. Pictures / Via giphy.com

Also, apparently some British people now have whatever accent Natalie Portman had in that film. By contrast, the V for Vendetta graphic novel takes place in the 1990s, and was published as a serial between 1982 and 1985. The colour version was finished in 1989, and the film adaptation was released in 2006.

In Pacific Rim, humans mostly spend 2020 fighting sea monsters with giant robots.

Warner Bros. Pictures / Via giphy.com

2020 is the year when Yancy and Raliegh Becket are co-piloting the Jaeger Gipsy Danger. Tragically, Yancy dies that same year and Raliegh quits the program. The film was released in 2013.

In the world of How I Met Your Mother, 2020 is the year that Ted marries Tracy, Marshall runs for the New York Supreme Court, and Barney becomes a father.

CBS

Oh yes, a wedding scheduled for 2020. What could possibly go wrong? How I Met Your Mother aired from 2005-2014.

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In A Quiet Place, 2021 is the year that we all get hunted by blind aliens.

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The film begins in 2020, but the majority of events take place in 2021. The sequel takes place in the same year. A Quiet Place was released in 2018 and A Quiet Place II was released in 2020.

In Seeking A Friend For the End of The World, an asteroid hits Earth on March 24 2021 and kills all of humanity.

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Although the year isn't explicitly stated, some eagle-eyed viewers spotted the date on a prop newspaper. Seeking a Friend for the End of the World was released in 2012.

On a brighter note, 2021 is also the year that Charlotte Field gets sworn in as America's first-female President in Long Shot.

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Long Shot is an underrated romantic comedy that follows U.S. Secretary of State Charlotte Field (played by Charlize Theron) in her developing relationship with journalist-turned-speechwriter, Fred Flarsky (played by Seth Rogan). The film concludes with Field becoming President and marrying Flarsky (who takes her last name). Long Shot was released in 2019.

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The Purge is set in 2022 so... There's that, I guess.

Universal Pictures

The New Founding Fathers Of America are elected into office in 2014, the first purge takes place in 2016, and the first purge film is set in 2022. Hardcore Purge-fans will also know that President Charlotte Roan (the protagonist of The Purge: Election Year) watched her family die in the 2022 purge, a traumatic event that eventually motivates her to run for office. 

The Purge was released in 2012.

The events of Soylent Green take place in 2022, so I guess look out for accidental cannibalism?

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

The film is an adaption of the novel Make Room! Make Room! by Harry Harrison. It's set in a dystopian future with economic stratification, water shortages, and massive overpopulation (In Soylent Green, New York City has over 40 million residents. For comparison, the real New York City has a mere 8.46 million).

In order to maintain the population, the government have secretly begun using human remains to feed the poor. The novel Make Room! Make Room! was released in 1966. Soylent Green was released in 1973.

The Prime series Homecoming flashes back and forth between 2018 and 2022.

Prime Video

This psychological thriller starring Julia Roberts is based on the Gimlet Media podcast of the same name. The series follows a former social worker who's struggling to remember the last four years of her life. Homecoming ran from 2018 to 2020. The podcast on which it's based was aired from 2016 to 2017.

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The first season of The Last of Us primarily takes place in 2023.

HBO Max

The Cordyceps outbreak occurs in 2003, and Joel meets Ellie 20 years later. In the video game, the outbreak occurs in 2013 and the rest of game takes place in 2033. The video game The Last of Us was released in 2013. The TV show was released in 2023.

In X-Men: Days of Future Past, 2023 is the year that the Sentinels (mutant-hunting robots) kill nearly all of humanity.

20th Century Studios

Wolverine has to time travel to 1973 and prevent the Sentinels from being created. The majority of the films events take place in '73. X-Men: Days of Future Past was released in 2014.

2023 is also the year that the Avengers defeat Thanos once and for all.

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The infamous Thanos "snap" that eradicated 50% of all life occured in 2018. The majority of the events in Avengers: Endgame take place five years later, after Scott Lang returns from the Quantum Realm. Avengers: Endgame was released in 2019.

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One year after the events of Avengers: Endgame, Peter Parker has an eventful field trip in Spider-Man: Far From Home.

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Time Magazine did an amazing MCU timeline breakdown that also places Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and Hawkeye in 2024. Spider-Man: Far From Home was released in 2019.

In the Deep Space Nine episode titled "Past Tense", Commander Sisko, Jadzia Dax, and Dr. Bashir accidentally time travel to 2024 San Fransisco.

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Spoiler alert: things aren't great in 2024. In the show, the U.S. government creates internment camps in response to widespread poverty. These conditions lead to the "Bell Riots" , a brutal uprising that resulted in hundreds of deaths. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine aired from 1993 to 1999.

According to Star Trek: The Next Generation, Ireland reunifies in 2024.

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Of course, Star Trek takes place in an alternative timeline, and has a vastly different history from our own (see: The Eugenics Wars). Star Trek: The Next Generation aired from 1990-1994.

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After being approached by the DNC, Leslie Knope will decide to run for Governor of Indiana in 2025.

NBC

In a sweet moment, Ben Wyatt (who was also being considered as a candidate) decides to step aside and encourages Leslie to run. Parks and Recreation aired from 2009 to 2015.

Timecop 2: The Berlin Decision depicts 2025 as a year where time travel is possible.

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment

I'm not going to lie to you, I haven't seen Timecop 2: The Berlin Decision (and yes, it's "Timecop" not "Time Cop"). Considering its 26% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, I don't think I'm ever going to see it. Timecop 2: The Berlin Decision was released in 2003.

In Pacific Rim, 2025 is the year that Raliegh and Mako close "the Breach", AKA the interdimensional portal from which the Kaiju emerge.

Warner Bros. Pictures

While the film begins in 2020, most of Pacific Rim is set in 2025 (five years after the death of Raliegh's brother). Pacific Rim was released in 2013.

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In video game Observation, 2026 is the year that an unknown event cripples the multinational space station.

No Code

This sci-fi thriller game begins with Dr. Emma Fisher and other members of the Observation crew trying to figure out what happened. Observation was released in 2019.

In Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, 2026 is not a good year for humans.

20th Century Fox

The film takes place ten years after Rise of the Planet of the Apes. A disease called the Simian flu dramatically reduces the human population and civilisation has collapsed. At the end of the film, a war breaks out between the humans and the apes. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes was released in 2014.

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In Children of Men, by 2027, society is on the brink of collapse due to mass infertility.

Universal Pictures

Directed by Alfonso Cuarón, Children of Men is a dystopia that follows Theo Faren (played by Clive Owen) as tries to protect Kee (played by Clare-Hope Ashitey), the first person to become pregnant in over 18 years. The film is based on the novel The Children of Men, which was set in 2021.

Children of Men was released in 2006. The novel, The Children of Men, was published in 1992.

The heartbreaking Twilight Zone episode "The Long Morrow" concludes in 2027.

CBS

In 1987, Commander Douglas Stansfield meets Sandra Horn. For both of them, it's love at first sight. Unfortunately, Stansfield is an astronaut who's about to embark on 40 year expedition (the vast majority of which he'll spend in suspended animation).

After Douglas sets off, Sandra decides that she will also place herself in suspended animation, so that she'll still be young when Douglas returns. In a tragic twist, Douglas decides to forgo suspended animation and endures forty years of total solitude.

In 2027, he returns to Earth an old man, hoping he and Sandra still have a chance to be together. When he sees that Sandra is still young, however, Douglas tells her that she needs to live a life without him. The Twilight Zone aired from 1959 to 1964.

Hello World imagines a 2027 full of technological wonders, including detailed 3D maps of all past and present events in Kyoto.

Toho

The data (which is collected by drones) is reserved in the ALLTALE, a quantum storage device. Hello World was released in 2019.

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War for the Planet of the Apes, set in 2028, depicts humanity becoming mute and devolving.

20th Century Studios

Muteness and devolution are the latest side-effects of Simian Flu, the fictional disease that increased the intelligence of apes and nearly wiped out the human population. War for Planet of the Apes was released in 2017.

In RoboCop, 2028 is the year that Alex Murphy becomes the first cyborg cop.

Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group

The film is a remake of 1987 RoboCop. The original Robocop is a much better movie, but unfortunately for this list, it never explicitly states when it takes place. RoboCop was released in 2014.

In Hotel Artemis, 2028 is the year that a riot breaks out in Los Angeles due to water privatisation.

Lionsgate

The film, which mainly takes place at a secret hospital for criminals, features futuristic medical technology like 3D printed organs. Hotel Artemis was released in 2018. 

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According to Terminator 2: Judgement Day, there's going to be a war between A.I. and humans.

TriStar Pictures

John Connor is the leader of the human resistance against the artificial intelligence called Skynet. Terminator 2 was released in 1991. 

The futuristic world of Ghost in the Shell is only six years away.

Lionsgate

If Ghost in the Shell is right, we'll be able to cybernetically enhance our bodies and minds in less than a decade! One of the coolest pieces of technology in this franchise is the "cyberbrain", which essentially allows your brain to directly access the internet. Ghost in the Shell was released in 1995.

What other "futuristic" movies, TV shows, and books were set in our current present? Let us know in the comments below!