He has been science advisor for many TV shows and movies, including Nat Geo’s Genius (featuring Einstein), Marvel’s Agent Carter, Star Trek: Discovery, Thor: Ragnarok, and more.

Johnson also writes about science, and is an enthusiastic sketch artist. He has written and drawn a graphic novel featuring science called The Dialogues: Conversations about the Nature of the Universe, which will be published by MIT Press in Fall 2017.

Johnson’s research concerns the origin and evolution of the Universe and its fundamental constituents. He works mainly on superstring theory, quantum gravity, and M-theory, studying objects such as black holes and D-branes, using various techniques from Mathematics and Physics to address issues of relevance to particle physics, cosmology and astrophysics.

Johnson’s work has also led to new descriptions of physics relevant to the quark-gluon plasma, and various quantum critical phenomena in condensed matter physics.