How common are "shared universes" internationally?

Cafe Society
1

Shared universes are very common in the U.S., especially in comics with individual titles understood to coexist with other titles. Marvel has X-Men, Avengers, and Spider-Man all in the same universe. DC has Superman, Batman, etc. Disney has Mickey Mouse and Uncle Scrooge. On TV, Eureka, Alphas, and Warehouse 13 all are understood to be in the same universe. Of course the classic example of shared universes is myths. The gods popped up in lots of Greek myths. Even the heroes got in the act of crossing each other’s path. A good example is Heracles rescuing Theseus from Hades.

Looking at the TV Tropes page on shared universes (obligatory link) it doesn’t seem too common today outside of the U.S. For example Doraemon and Detective Conan are very popular Japanese manga/anime and are published by the same company, but as far as I know, they don’t coexist.

How common are shared universes in other parts of the world?

2

Not quite what you’re looking for, but the Wold Newton Family is sort of a post facto shared universe.

The setting of most major 2000AD comics is a shared universe. Other more-juvenile British comics like Beano, Dandy and Viz are also examples.

3

Doctor Who and Torchwood share a universe (although it’s a little tricky wedging Miracle Day in there with no acknowledgement on the Who side of things…you’d think universal immortality would be noteworthy).

4

Do any of Miyazaki’s movies have connections? I know some are set in very different worlds, but many could be the same.

5

Do spin-offs really count for this, though? Supes and the Batman were developed independently; it took some marketing genius to put them in the same universe. Same for the Marvel guys. Doctor Who and Torchwood are more like, say, ST:TNG and Voyager.