Snowpiercer Timeline Explained: When The Movie & TV Show Take Place

Here’s the official timeline for the Snowpiercer universe, including when the graphic novels, the 2013 movie, and the new TV series airing on TNT are set. Snowpiercer began as a series of French graphic novels created by Jacques Lob and Jean-Marc Rochette, although most fans are familiar with the Snowpiercer movie adaptation directed by Bong Joon-ho (Parasite) and starring Chris Evans, Tilda Swinton, and Ed Harris. The Snowpiercer TV series spinoff debuts in May 2020 on TNT and stars Daveed Digs and Jennifer Connelly.

Snowpiercer depicts the end of the world due to a catastrophic failure of climate engineering in 2014. The Earth freezes into an uninhabitable wasteland, killing nearly every living creature on Earth. The survivors of the human race forced to take refuge in a 1001-car train called the Snowpiercer, which perpetually circumnavigates the globe. The train was built by a reclusive magnate named Wilford (also named Alec Forrester in the original graphic novel) and the entire vehicle is an example of social stratification, where the survivors are distributed based on their socio-economical status – i.e. the wealthy are in the front of the train and enjoy the most luxury available while the poorest are packed in the rear of the train to live in squalor.

The Snowpiercer saga is set in one timeline released by Titan Comics. The Snowpiercer universe is comprised of the three original graphic novels and the 2013 movie, which are set during the apocalypse, a trilogy of prequel graphic novels set before and at the start of the extinction event which created the Snowball Earth, and the TV series, which takes place a few years after the launch of the Snowpiercer train. But, confusingly, Snowpiercer is not a shared universe. The six graphic novels tell a separate story, but the 2013 movie is only a loose adaptation of the first graphic novel, Snowpiercer: The Escape. Meanwhile, the Snowpiercer TV series isn’t set in the movie’s continuity or the graphic novels.

Snowpiercer Graphic Novel Prequel Trilogy

Released by Titan Comics, the story begins with the first prequel graphic novel, Snowpiercer the Prequel: Extinction, written by Matz and illustrated by one of the original graphic novel’s co-creators, Jean-Marc Rochette. Extinction is set three months prior to the Extinction Event and depicts the climate catastrophe that caused the need for the creation of the Snowpiercer train. The second graphic novel, Snowpiercer the Prequel Part 2: Apocalypse, is set days after the Extinction Event, where the survivors of humanity are learning to cope with their new reality aboard the Snowpiercer train. The final prequel graphic novel, Snowpiercer: the Prequel Part 3: Annihilation, is set “a short time after the Extinction Event” and will be released by Titan Comics in 2021.

Snowpiercer TNT TV Series – 7 Years After Extinction Event

TNT’s Snowpiercer TV series is set 7 years after the Extinction Event and is also a reboot of the 2013 feature film’s continuity. The series is planned to broaden the Snowpiercer universe exponentially, going beyond the stories in the graphic novels and the movie in its depiction of class disparity, social justice, and the politics of survival aboard the Snowpiercer train. Snowpiercer is also already renewed for season 2, so it should have plenty of opportunities to deliver on its expansive promise.

In the Snowpiercer TV series, Jennifer Connelly leads an impressive cast as Melanie Cavill, the Voice of the Train. Although she runs Hospitality for Mr. Wilford, Melanie is fascinated by the lower classes aboard and she recruits one of them, Andre Layton, played by Daveed Diggs, to solve a murder. Layton was a former police detective who must choose between his loyalty to the Tail section and the temptations of a better life on the train. Whether or not the Snowpiercer TV series will ever catch up to the timeline of the movie or the later books remains to be seen.

Snowpiercer: The Escape Graphic Novel – An Undisclosed Time After Extinction Event

Originally titled Le Transperceneige (French for The Snow-Piercer), the graphic novel that started it all was first published in 1982. It was later retitled Snowpiercer: The Escape. The story is set an undisclosed number of years after the Extinction Event when a man named Proloff, who is quarantined in the rear of the train, learns that the Snowpiercer is starting to slow down and the rear cars of the train are to be disconnected. In addition, a killer virus sweeps through the train and threatens the remnants of humanity. It’s possible this story takes place years later, considering that the Snowpiercer train in the TV show is in relatively good condition.

Snowpiercer 2013 Film – 15 Years After Extinction Event

The Snowpiercer film directed by Bong Joon-ho was hailed by critics, received a 94% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and landed on multiple lists as one of the best films of 2013. Set in 2031 (after a prologue explaining the climate catastrophe that occurred in 2014), Snowpiercer stars Chris Evans as Curtis Everett, a passenger in the tail section of the train who leads a revolution against the upper class. The movie adaptation reboots the graphic novel’s story, which involves Curtis and his cohorts penetrating the entirety of the train to find Wilford (Ed Harris), the reclusive keeper of the engine. Curtis then discovers he’s unwittingly part of an insidious plot to kill 74% of the train’s population in order to sustain the rest.

Snowpiercer Graphic Novel Sequels – 17+ Years After Extinction Event

The second Snowpiercer graphic novel, Snowpiercer 2: The Explorers (which includes the story titled The Crossing) is set 17 years after the first book, Snowpiercer the Prequel: Extinction. The Explorers involves the passengers of a second train called the Icebreaker attempting to prevent a collision with the Snowpiercer. The final volume, Snowpiercer 3: Terminus, is set a short time after the events of book 2. In Terminus, the passengers of Icebreaker discover a train station containing survivors of the apocalypse, who are using genetic engineering to restart the human race.

Snowpiercer premieres Sunday, May 17th on TNT.

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