The Underworld franchise was a staple of the horror genre for nearly a decade, thanks to its large cult following of fans. But as the story spanned five movies and jumped in time a bit, a little clarification of the full timeline might be in order.
The film franchise chronicles an age-old feud between vampires and a clan of werewolves called the Lycans. A vampire named Selene works as a trained killer for this war, as her entire family was killed by Lycans. Despite all of this, Selene falls in love with a Lycan named Michael. All the while, they still have to engage in the war surrounding them. The film franchise follows the ongoing war between the species. Selene and Michael both become hybrids through out the series, which fuels both species to hunt them down. As they are forced to stand on their own, Michael and Selene discover dark secrets about both of their species. Selene is eventually separated from Michael, but nothing will stop her from bringing an end to the war.
The five movies in the Underworld series span from ancient times to modern day to even the near future. Here's a breakdown of what happens in each installment of the series, and when it takes place.
1402: Underworld: Rise of the Lycans
Underworld: Rise of the Lycans is a prequel to the first two films, and marked the first and only time Kate Beckinsale stepped away from the series. The film goes way back in time to explain the origins of the Lycan species. The movie focuses on the origins of Lucian. He's raised by the vampire elder Viktor, who dreams of having the boy's species work for vampires one day. Lucian grows up and falls in love with Viktor's daughter Sonja, and they begin a secret affair. Viktor eventually finds out an imprisons his daughter for being in a relationship with a Lycan. He becomes even more disgusted to learn that his daughter is pregnant with a Lycan's child. Sonja's murder triggers Lucian's hatred toward vampires in the first film, along with propelling the centuries-old battle between vampires and Lycans. Underworld: Rise of the Lycans comes full circle and ends with a shot of Selene, not featured at all in this prequel, before she learns the events that turns her against her kind.
2003: Underworld
The first installment of the series was released in 2003 and takes place in modern day London. But as viewers discover, this is not the beginning of the story of the epic battle between vampires and Lycans. The first film in the Underworld franchise kicks off in the middle of the war, where vampires seem to currently have the upper hand. The film's protagonist Selene is a Death Dealer, which is a vampire assassin who specializes in killing Lycans. She took on the role to avenge her parents, who were murdered by Lycans when she was a young child. She was raised by a vampire elder named Viktor who trained her in the art of being a Death Dealer. During most of the film, she is at odds with a Lycan named Lucian.
During a run-in with Lycans, Selene saves a human named Michael, and quickly realizes he was bitten by a Lycan. During their escape, she realizes that one of the vampire elders, Kraven, has betrayed her kind. She also learns that it was Viktor, not the Lycans, that killed her parents. After this, she no longer knows who to trust. All the while, Selene and Michael discover that he is a direct descendant of the Corvinus line, which means he carries a gene that could allow him to become a vampire-werewolf hybrid — something that was thought to have been impossible. The film ends with Selene biting Michael, officially turning him into a hybrid. Now, both vampires and Lycans are after the pair.
2003: Underworld: Evolution
Underworld: Evolution picks up right where the first film left off. In this film, Michael and Selene continue to learn about the origins of the vampire/Lycan feud. They find and learn about a mysterious pendant with ties to the war. After learning about the object's importance, Selene and Michael finally profess their feelings for one another.
The pair finds a confidante in an ancient vampire named Alexander, who shares the history of both Michael's and Selene's species. Another vampire elder named Markus arrives, seems to kill Michael, and reveals his plans to bring about a race of vampire-Lycan hybrids, whom he intends to rule over. Alexander and Markus engage in a battle, and Alexander is left mortally wounded, but he urges Selene to drink his blood in order to give her hybrid-like powers. The film ends with Michael regaining consciousness as both he and Selene are ready to wage war in their hybrid states.
2015: Underworld: Awakening
Underworld: Awakening, the fourth film in the franchise and Beckinsale's return to the Underworld universe, sees the series' first time jump. In the interim, the government and the rest of society has learned about the existence of vampires and Lycans. Humans want to study and harness the vampires's power, so they've been hunting them down. Due to her heightened powers, Selene was captured and put into cryogenic suspension to be studied. She awakes around the year 2015, which is where the events of Underworld: Awakening take place. Her species is nearly extinct, but Selene manages to escape her imprisonment.
Selene learns another subject escaped, whom she believes to be Michael. As she attempts to escape the facility she is trapped in, she has visions from someone else's point of view. She assumes that Michael is attempting to mentally guide her to safety. In the midst of her escape, Selene meets a young vampire named David, who was tracking her. They also meet a young and scared girl on their way out, so they take her with them.
The group is attacked by a band of Lycans, one of whom bites the girl. This triggers a partial transformation, revealing the young girl is a vampire-Lycan hybrid and not only that, but she's also Michael and Selene's daughter. Selene is eventually convinced to join the fight against Lycans. After this decision, she learns from a human ally about Antigen, the corporation dedicated to killing off vampires, that happens to own the facility responsible for holding Selene hostage.
It turns out that Antigen is actually run by Lycans who are posing as humans. That way, they are able to convince humans that the species is extinct, so the government can focus their efforts on eradicating vampires. Selene's daughter was captured by Antigen, because the director wanted to perfect the human race, and needed her DNA to do so. While David and Selene break into the facility to rescue her daughter, who they call Eve, Selene finds Michael frozen in a cryogenic tank that's labeled "Subject 0." After their rescue mission is complete, Selene returns to Michael's tank so she can rescue him, but she finds the glass shattered, with no Michael in sight. As the world will be hunting him down to study him, David, Selene, and Eve are determined to find him first.
The Near Future: Underworld: Blood Wars
The final film in the franchise, Underworld: Blood Wars, sees another time jump. The year in which this movie takes place isn't quite clear, but it's meant to be a few years in the future. Vampires are practically extinct and both Lycans and vampires are hunting Selene down. Her enemies intend to use her to find her daughter. Selene has been separated from Eve and is completely unaware of her daughter's location. Selene and David visit Eastern coven, and they are nearly killed. They move onto the Nordic coven to seek shelter. During a brief moment of safety, the duo learns that David is the legitimate heir to the Eastern coven. Lycans catch wind of David and Selene's location, so they send their troops to attack. Selene and David stand by the Nordic coven and fight with them.
In the midst of the fight, a drop of a Lycan's blood falls on Selene's lips. With that blood, Selene sees the Lycan's memories of killing Michael. She kills the Lycan and bites her wrist to drink her own blood, so she can relive happier memories of her and Michael. The fight comes to an end and the vampires come out of the other side victorious. David and Selene are nominated to be among the new Elders of the Nordic coven. After her rise to her new station as an Elder, Selene and Eve are reunited, thanks to Eve's ability to track her mother through their psychic connection.
Briefly after the film's release, there was talk of a sixth addition to the Underworld franchise. Beckinsale confirmed she would not be returning for another film, which effectively squashed rumors of a new film. But should the series ever pick back up in the future, it's safe to assume the series would continue on in the future — whether that be through Selene's career as an Elder or stories of her daughter Eve's adventures. For now, the Underworld franchise remains a five-movie story that spans across multiple centuries from the ancient past to the near future.