The Chronicles of Riddick movies share a lot of elements with other sci-fi franchises, and one theory makes the wildest claim yet for an actual shared universe between them all. The Riddick movies begin with Pitch Black, which follows a former convict named Riddick who, after crash landing on a planet alongside the bounty hunter bringing him back to prison, must fight to survive the hostile world and its lethal bioraptors. Riddick’s adventures see him take on many enemies, including the terrifying Necromongers, a race of superhumans who may help tie the franchise into an even larger one.
This is because one Reddit theory states that the Riddick movies are actually connected to the sci-fi films Event Horizon and Judge Dredd, and that all of these franchises are actually part of the greater Warhammer 40k universe. There are a number of ways that each of the films seems to logically connect to Warhammer 40k, and the events of the Riddick movies, either featured or referenced in these franchises, would culminate with “The Emperor showing up at one point” in the future and creating the Imperium. While the shared universe theory is wild, it’s also a theory that has far more credence than it might initially seem.
Riddick Could Take Place Before The Dark Age Of Technology (Or During Age Of Strife)
The Chronicles of Riddick and Riddick take place in an undetermined year, with a variety of firearm technology, as well as some semblance of FTL (Faster Than Light) travel. The movies could take place before the Dark Age of Technology, and clues to how they connect to the Warhammer 40k timeline lie with the differences in humans, Furyans, and Necromongers, the latter of which have both energy-based weapons and ships capable of planetary destruction. Humans have no FTL capabilities and must rely on hyper-sleep to travel the galaxy, and their home planet is still referred to as Earth and not Terra.
If it’s after the Age of Strife, then each Riddick movie takes place in what will later be known as “the Ultra Segmentum”, when Earth has been lost – something supported by the idea that characters are searching for “a new Mecca,” which could be interpreted as suggesting that “the actual Mecca was lost when travelling to Earth became impossible.” The technology of Riddick might be too robust for the Age of Strife, and there are “Centralized governments, organized planetary trades, and even bounty hunters guilds,” but if it’s in an isolated sector of the Imperium, then inconsistencies could be explained. If Riddick and his fellow Furyans were really just powerful Psykers during this period, it explains how he could defeat the Lord Marshal and “resist the Necromonger faith.”
Dredd Has Been Long-Theorized To Take Place In The Warhammer 40k Universe
With its futuristic setting, militaristic society, and mention of mutants, it’s long been theorized that Judge Dredd (from the 2000AD comic) takes place in the Warhammer 40k universe, and is more straightforward than the Riddick movies with its setting. Both the ’80s Sylvester Stallone movie and the Karl Urban reboot are set in 2142, after the world has been decimated by nuclear war, and focus on Judge Dredd and the Judges that patrol the planet’s mega-cities. The Reddit theory postulates that it’s “set millennia before” the Dark Age of Technology, in the years leading up to “the Golden age of Mankind,” when the Earth is covered in inhospitable wastelands.
This makes sense because, in both the movie and comic’s timeline, humans have just begun to see advancements in the kind of space travel and colonization seen in the Warhammer 40k universe, which no FTL technology to speak of. It’s also worth noting that both 2000AD and Warhammer 40k were published by Games Workshop, and therefore share a lot of narrative similarities. The two most obvious are the fact that Judge’s mega-cities are very similar to 40k’s hive-cities, and the Judges bear a strong resemblance to 40k’s Adeptus Arbiters.
Event Horizon Explains The Universe’s Faster Than Light Travel (& Chaos)
Event Horizon acts as a Warhammer 40k prequel by explaining how the universe achieved Faster Than Light travel and came into contact with Chaos, the psychic force from the Daemons and other dark beings in the Immaterium, prior to the events in either The Chronicles of Riddick franchise or Judge Dredd. The film, which takes place in 2047, is named after a ship that used an FTL device (Gravity Drive) in 2040 to explore the outer reaches of space and disappeared, only to reappear after traveling into a hell-dimension, where its crew was tortured, and the ship gained a “corrupted sentience.”
This hell-dimension is similar to the Warp in the Warhammer 40k universe, which includes daemons that could possess a ship and its crew. The theory goes on to explain that “the directors and producers of Event Horizon admit they are fans of 40k” so deciding to include parallels would make sense. Connecting Event Horizon to Judge Dredd (which almost was a monster film itself), it seems that by 2142, humans learned from the events that transpired between 2040 and 2047, and have chosen to stop “tinkering with gravity drives.” It’s also possible that after the nuclear war broke out, they lost the ability to use FTL travel altogether.
Chaos Explains Riddick’s Necromongers
The Necromongers are considered a sort of “proto-form of Chaos Worshipers” who could have learned the secrets of FTL travel from an early form of Tzeentch. A bloodthirsty warrior species, they have a tendency to charge into battle using either “personal shielding” or relying on a fanatical commitment to the Underverse, which shares many similarities with Chaos. Necromongers radically expand the world-building of the Riddick movies and are one of the greatest connective tethers to the Warhammer 40k universe, particularly because their entire culture can be explained through Chaos.
If, as the theory insinuates, The Chronicles of Riddick movies take place in an age when “mankind has no FTL-travel because the birth of Slaanesh has made warp-travel impossible” and its ships must rely on hyper-sleep and, then Chaos gives Necromongers a great advantage. Necromongers could be worshipers of “Chaos Undivided” or early Nurgle/Tzeentch and still not have reached the corrupted forms they would inhabit later on in 40k lore. To them, Elementals and the like would be considered mutants and destroyed, much like the Lord Marshal purged the Furyans.
