The Vampire Diaries Universe is an American media franchise consisting of several shared, interconnected television series (The Vampire Diaries, The Originals, and Legacies) that aired on The CW. The series were developed by Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec, loosely based on characters who appeared in the original novel series, The Vampire Diaries, created by L. J. Smith. The concepts and characters developed in the series also launched two web series (The Vampire Diaries: A Darker Truth and The Originals: The Awakening), several novels (Stefan's Diaries, Love You to Death, and The Originals) and comic books.
Contents
- 1 Television Series
- 1.1 The Vampire Diaries
- 1.2 The Originals
- 1.3 Legacies
- 2 Web Series
- 2.1 A Darker Truth
- 2.2 The Awakening
- 3 Novels
- 3.1 Stefan's Diaries
- 3.2 The Originals
- 4 Digital Comics
- 5 Fourth Series
- 6 Other Projects
- 6.1 Caroline in the City
- 6.2 Bennett Spinoff
- 6.3 Jed and Ben Spinoff
- 6.4 Other Ideas
- 7 The Vampire Diaries: The Movie
- 8 References
Television Series[]
The Vampire Diaries[]
- Main article: The Vampire Diaries (2009–2017)
The Vampire Diaries is set in the picturesque, fictional town of Mystic Falls, Virginia, where it has been a hotbed of supernatural events long before and since the founding of the town in the late 18th century. The series follows the life of 17-year old Elena Gilbert, a teenage girl who has just lost both parents in a car accident, as she falls in love with a 162-year-old vampire named Stefan Salvatore. Their relationship becomes increasingly complicated as Stefan's mysterious older brother, Damon returns, with a plan to bring back their past love Katherine Pierce, a vampire who looks exactly like Elena. As a result, this draws Elena and her friends into the supernatural world of Mystic Falls, where it is plagued by vampires, werewolves, witches, doppelgängers and Original vampires.
The Originals[]
- Main article: The Originals (2013–2018)
A spin-off of The Vampire Diaries, in The Originals, family is power. Simmering with supernatural elements, the series centers on the Original vampire family, as the dangerous vampire-werewolf hybrid, Klaus, returns to New Orleans, Louisiana—the town he helped build centuries ago. The Original siblings returning to the city for the first time since 1919, where Hayley Marshall, who is pregnant with Klaus' child, has also settled. In their absence, Klaus' former protégé and Rebekah's former lover, Marcel Gerard, took charge of the French Quarter. Klaus resolves that they must take down Marcel and get back the city that once belonged to them.
Legacies[]
- Main article: Legacies (2018–2022)
Continuing the tradition of The Vampire Diaries and The Originals, the story of the next generation of supernatural beings at The Salvatore School for the Young and Gifted. Klaus Mikaelson's daughter, 17-year-old Hope Mikaelson; Alaric Saltzman's twins, Lizzie and Josie Saltzman; and other young adults come of age in the most unconventional way possible, nurtured to be their best selves in spite of their worst impulses. Will these young witches, vampires and werewolves become the heroes they want to be—or the villains they were born to be?
Web Series[]
A Darker Truth[]
- Main article: The Vampire Diaries: A Darker Truth (2009)
A Darker Truth is a series of webisodes, exclusive to CWTV.com, that follows Jason Harris' investigation into murder of his sister, Joanne Harris.
The Awakening[]
- Main article: The Originals: The Awakening (2014)
The series explored the history of the Kol Mikaelson and showcases the dynamic between the Mikaelson Family in 1914. Throughout the flashbacks, Kol is on a quest to form an alliance with the witches of the French Quarter to rival his brother, Niklaus Mikaelson. The Awakening answers some burning questions about Kol's past, including how and why he found himself up against his siblings, why he was daggered and his unique back-story with the New Orleans witches.
Novels[]
Stefan's Diaries[]
- Main article: Stefan's Diaries (2010-2012)
It is a prequel to The Vampire Diaries, and, though attributed to L. J. Smith, it is written by a ghostwriter. During the Civil War, Stefan, Katherine, and Damon begin their love triangle. This is the first of the backstory in what really happened between the three and show Stefan and Damon's transformations and "The Battle of Willow Creek", where the Founder's Council tried to rid the town of vampires. It follows Stefan and Damon's adventures from Mystic Falls, to New Orleans, to New York City, through what happened before the TV series. As they were written during the series broadcast, some things differ, such as the story of the Original vampires.
The Originals[]
- Main article: The Originals (2015)
The Originals is a trilogy of books that chronicled the events of the Original vampire siblings—Klaus, Elijah, and Rebekah Mikaelson—in New Orleans around the 18th century
Digital Comics[]
- Main article: The Vampire Diaries: Digital Comic (2013-2014)
DC Comics launched a comic book series based on The Vampire Diaries. The anthology series features the stories by B. Clay Moore, Colleen Doran, Leah Moore and John Reppion, Tony Shasteen and Cat Staggs. Elena, Stefan and Damon make their comics debut in a new collection that includes digital chapters #1-39 of their adventures. This anthology graphic novel will bring some of comics' greatest talents to Mystic Falls and set them loose to bring the characters to life. Or death.
Fourth Series[]
That Vampire Diaries universe might not stop at three shows, says Julie Plec. "Brett [Matthews] and I have a pitch for at least one more [series] that we really love," she says. "We don't wake up every morning and say, 'How can we continue to monetize this franchise?' We just love the world."[1] In February 2022, Julie tweeted that "there are many more stories to tell.".[2][3] With the series end of Legacies, Brett believes the "the TVD Universe will likely continue in different forms and fashions over the coming years."[4] He's also said, "Julie, and Kevin and I have discussed in the run up to all of this, but I sure would hope that the franchise would not end, and believe that there are many, many more stories to tell, many more tones to tell, many more things to do."[5] Julie resonates with the same sentiment, saying "farewell to the #TVDU for now, but not forever."[6] Legacies creator Julie Plec also says "This is the end of one chapter, but we can use it to launch the beginning of another chapter, which is ultimately what we want to do when all is said and done."[7] Julie also said that "Legacies would have continued to the run-up to and beyond whenever we introduced the next chapter. [...] It's coming eventually. There's nothing on the page yet but we've been having a lot of really good, fun conversations about how to launch the franchise into the next phase." She also added, "I think it would be part of the universal timeline of the franchise but set in a different setting and with different characters."[8] At the "I Was Feeling Epic in Mystic Falls"[9] convention on October 22, 2022, Julie further commented saying that "it's only not over in that we did have plans for more [...] but we never did anything. It was on our docket to get to maybe in [2023]."[10] The writers were planning another series and that both the studio and network knew about it; however, Legacies cancellation and Nexstar Media's acquisition of The CW Network put things on hold.[11] She elaborates that she, Brett, and Kevin "have been talking about going sort of writing a show that could actually be set in Atlanta [...] sort of city and then rural to warring factions—maybe brothers".[10][12]
Other Projects[]
Whether "official" in nature, or in jest, or comments from Showrunners, Executive Produces, or cast members, a number of potential spinoffs or ideas of spinoffs have been commented about since the creation of the Vampire Diaries.
Caroline in the City[]
When approached by the CW to make a spin-off, the network's president, Mark Pedowitz, originally asked the writers to pursue a spin-off about Caroline and Tyler leaving Mystic Falls that would have followed their adventures in another city. However, the writers rejected the idea and attempted to come up with a better one.[13]
Bennett Spinoff[]
The Vampire Diaries co-creator Julie Plec says "the door will always be open" for Kat Graham to return to her role of Bonnie Bennett in any new incarnation of the series after Graham recently said she was focused on her work as an activist, actress, and singer and had no plans to play the character again. "We've reached out to Kat plenty of times through the years for different The Vampire Diaries-related things and she's always been very gracious," Plec tells Deadline of Graham who played Bonnie across the show's eight seasons. "She's very kind as she kindly passes. She feels like she has completed her journey as Bonnie, taken the good parts of that journey with her, and put the less good parts behind her to step into the next phase of her career. She's been growing and doing so well with her music, her appearances, and her acting. [...] The door will always be open for Bonnie Bennett, whether it's for a spinoff or an appearance—whatever. But I know Kat has a really strong point of view about what she wants for her career to be and where Bonnie fits in that and I respect that completely."[14]
Jed and Ben Spinoff[]
Brett Matthews finds it hard to "imagine that the Vampire Diaries Universe is over for sure. I don't know what form or fashion that will take. I know [Julie] and I talk about ideas, and there are many interesting things, but there are so many good characters. I think you could do shows based around so many members of our cast. I would watch a Jed and Ben show. If Warner Bros is interested, I think we’re very interested."[15]
Other Ideas[]
At the "I Was Feeling Epic in Mystic Falls... Again"[16] convention on April 14th, 2023, The Originals Panel[17] was hosted by Carina Adly MacKenzie. When asked by a fan if there's anything you would have wanted to explore with your characters, Chase Coleman jokingly teased that he had a new pilot that he was going to give to Carina that was about the wolves, a show he'd call "Blood Moon". Carina also spoke about a similar spinoff idea from The Originals entitled "The Crescents", that she had a plan if anyone had the money to produce. She reiterated that she had the sentiment at the previous convention in October, 2022. Ahead of the convention, Carina took to Twitter, asking The Originals and Legacies fans for questions that could be presented at the panels. One fan asked specifically about why Kaleb Hawkins' backstory was never revealed, in full, on Legacies.[18] Though the initial reply was misunderstood[19], Carina clarified at the Legacies panel. There was some conversation about "potentially and there's not any more so don't get excited [...] but there was some conversation about Chris [Lee] doing a spinoff that there is no longer that conversation. So that's why [his backstory was never fully revealed], because there was going to be a whole show about it."[20] During the panel, the cast also joked about a Wade spinoff pitched for HBO or that, in the future, Lizzie would have moved to Paris and become a supernatural detective, where Carina commented about a "Noir" version of that spinoff.
The Vampire Diaries: The Movie[]
During the "I Was Feeling Festive in Mystic Falls Convention"[21] on December 2nd, 2023, Matt Davis asked Julie "are we going to do The Vampire Diaries: The Movie". Pausing, Julie responded with "Apparently, it's somebody's desire to do that", much to his, and the fan's surprise. When asked about "who", Julie only offers that "it's a conversation being had". [22]
