Warning: Major spoilers ahead for Dark Matter episodes 1 & 2, as well as details about the ending of the original book, which could spoil the show’s eventual conclusion.
Apple TV+’s live-action adaptation of Blake Crouch’s Dark Matter novel changes key aspects of the story, but the two versions could still share an incredibly meta connection from a continuity perspective. The multiversal narrative flourishes as part of Apple TV+’s impressive collection of science-fiction, with Joel Edgerton leading the Dark Matter cast as Jason Dessen. Some of the additions and changes Dark Matter makes to Blake Crouch’s 2016 novel suggest a deviation from the source material. However, if anything, they bring the two projects even closer together.
Dark Matter follows a family man torn from his own reality by an alternate version of himself, sending him on a dangerous journey through the infinite multiverse to try and reclaim his life. The story’s villain, Jason2, is also played by Joel Edgerton, giving the actor a dual role within the production. The story’s source material sets the stage for a thrilling adventure, as well as the premise being perfectly suited to link its canon to that of Apple’s version of the story.
The beauty of Dark Matter is that it’s built on the concept of an infinite multiverse. As such, there’s an endless number of branch realities that are created by an individual’s choices. The heart of the adventure is Jason Dessen traversing these alternate universes in an attempt to return to his own. During Dark Matter‘s book-to-screen adaptation, certain changes were made to accommodate the change in medium, meaning events differ between the two versions. However, keeping to Dark Matter‘s main sci-fi trope, this could simply mean the TV show is set in a different universe within the novel’s canon.
Some of the Dark Matter alterations are small and have likely just been tweaks that have taken place during the adaptation process. However, the show also makes some notable changes and even additions to the book’s lore. For instance, Ryan Holder offering Jason a job in San Francisco during Dark Matter episode 1, “Are You Happy in Your Life?” doesn’t happen in the book. So, this could be the moment where Apple’s Dark Matter universe splits, creating a new reality from that of the book. Alternatively, the branch point could have taken place before the events of the TV show.
The Dark Matter TV show’s canon doesn’t need to be separate from Crouch’s 2016 book. Instead, a more compelling prospect is that the events of the novel are unfolding exactly as they always have, but they can’t be seen in the TV show because it’s all happening in an alternate universe. This essentially leaves the Dark Matter book untouched while simultaneously integrating it into the continuity of the Apple TV+ sci-fi show. To put it another way, Joel Edgerton’s version of Jason Dessen could technically travel to the book universe and watch the events from the original story unfold.
Jason’s story in the Dark Matter book universe is very similar to that of his counterpart in the Apple TV+ show. So, while the two realities share a lot of the same twists and turns, the journey of both versions of the character isn’t identical. For instance, Jason’s decontamination procedure at Velocity Laboratories is described as an incredibly painful procedure in the book, whereas it looks fairly routine in the Dark Matter TV show. Variances such as these between the two timelines are perhaps evidence of the book’s events existing in a corner of the same multiverse as the show.
If this theory is correct, then it makes it almost impossible for the Jason from the book to have a cameo in Apple’s version of the tale. Edgerton’s version of the Dark Matter protagonist will likely follow a path that’s ultimately very similar to his literary counterpart, meaning he too will also be able to return home and reclaim his wife and son from Jason2. So, both the book version and the TV version of Jason Desson can’t cross paths, because the book has already established that the original version of the character is victorious in getting his life back.
Therefore, Edgerton’s Jason can’t achieve the exact same feat as the book’s hero and would have to be reunited with his original wife and son from the universe in which the Apple show begins. To keep things slightly more streamlined, it would make sense to keep Jason from the TV show and the Jason from the Dark Matter book separated throughout the story – but that doesn’t mean they can’t both exist at the same time in other realities.
The Dark Matter book ends with a flood of Jasons flooding in from endless realities, all with the same goal: a family reunion with Daniela and Charlie Dessen. Joel Edgerton’s iteration of the protagonist shares this motivation. So, it would make sense if he were there during this seminal Dark Matter scene. However, the Jason from the Apple TV+ wouldn’t be afforded his happy ending if this were the case, as the main Jason in the book is the one who escapes with his wife and son.
So, the book version of Jason could appear in the show, but his success would need to play out in exactly the same way so the novel is unaltered. This would lead to a darker ending for Joel Edgerton’s Jason Dessen, as he would have to stand defeated as one of the masses of Jasons who lost out on their chance to resume a happy family life as if nothing had ever happened. This would be a very creative take on the franchise from author and showrunner Blake Crouch and would make Dark Matter into an even more mind-bending saga.
Arguably, taking this route would make the Apple TV+ show more complicated than it needs to be, but it would still make sense to those who haven’t read the book. What’s more likely is that Edgerton’s version of Jason Dessen is an on-screen version of the same character from the novel, with no intention of the two ever crossing paths. However, Crouch’s use of the multiverse means it’s still possible for the two Dark Matter protagonists to occupy the same reality at the same time.