Underworld Movies in Order: Release and Chronological Order

The Underworld movies in order of release are five films that arrived across 14 years, starting with Underworld 2003 and ending with Underworld Blood Wars. This is the order audiences first saw them in.

1. Underworld (2003), directed by Len Wiseman: Selene, a vampire Death Dealer played by Kate Beckinsale, notices that the Lycans (werewolves) are following a medical resident named Michael Corvin.
2. Underworld: Evolution (2006), directed by Len Wiseman: Selene and Michael are hunted while the ancient elder Markus wakes early.
3. Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (2009), directed by Patrick Tatopoulos: a prequel about Lucian and Sonja, set long before the first film.
4. Underworld: Awakening (2012), directed by Måns Mårlind and Björn Stein: Selene wakes after being frozen in a world that has changed completely, and meets a young girl named Eve.
5. Underworld: Blood Wars (2017), directed by Anna Foerster: the vampire covens are close to being wiped out, and the Lycan leader Marius wants Selene's help in finding Eve.

The release order has one quirk. Rise of the Lycans sits third on the list but first in the story, and it is the only film in the saga without Beckinsale, with Rhona Mitra leading as Sonja instead. Bill Nighy as Viktor and Michael Sheen as Lucian carry over from the first film, so the prequel plays as a companion piece rather than a reset. Blood Wars also had a staggered rollout, opening in Australia on December 1, 2016, ahead of its US debut in January 2017. For the full cast across every film, see the Underworld cast page.

For a first watch, I would use release order, and that is my opinion rather than a rule. Why? Underworld 2003 hands you Selene, the Death Dealers and the vampire and Lycan war without any homework, and by the time Rise of the Lycans arrives third you already know Viktor and Lucian. The prequel then reads as a backstory you have earned rather than a lecture, and the cast of Nighy and Sheen gets to do its dark, theatrical best on familiar ground.

That being said, chronological order suits a rewatch. Starting with Rise of the Lycans lets you see the saga as one long arc, from enslaved Lycans in Viktor's fortress to the hunt for Eve in Blood Wars. If you only want Beckinsale's story, perhaps the cleanest run is the four Selene films in release order: Underworld (2003), Evolution, Awakening and Blood Wars. The cost is that you miss the Lucian and Sonja story entirely, and it could be argued that is the most tragic piece of the series.

As for what comes after Blood Wars, no studio has announced a sixth film or a date. Len Wiseman told EW in 2023, as reported by ComicBook.com, that the project in the works was a TV series, so for now anything beyond five films is rumor. The current status is tracked on the Underworld 6 page.

As of November 3, 2026, JustWatch data on TMDB lists Blood Wars on Netflix in the US, and Underworld (2003), Evolution and Awakening on Starz. Before you press play, check where to watch Underworld for your country, then start with Underworld (2003).