While watching Marvel Studios’ latest hit show, “WandaVision,” I couldn’t help but notice a few striking similarities to another, very different series that I had first seen four years prior.
“EverymanHYBRID” began in 2010 as a passion project by independent filmmakers Vincent Caffarello, Jeffrey Koval and Evan Jennings. A wildly different take on the internet urban legend Slender Man, the series initially presented itself as a fitness tutorial vlog and quickly took a turn to the supernatural.
Though most of the series takes place on the EverymanHYBRID YouTube channel, content relating to its plot can be found spread across a Tumblr blog, several Twitter accounts and numerous other supplemental materials.
Over eight years, the project, which its creators affectionately call “the Monolith,” evolved into a work of art like no other, expertly implementing viewer interaction and telling a tragic, allegorical tale of love, loss and reincarnation. By its finale in late 2018, the series had grown into something much more profound and significant than its rather humble beginnings would suggest.
Likewise, in terms of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, “WandaVision” is something totally novel. For the majority of its nine-episode run, it completely forgoes superhero pageantry in favor of a surreal, experimental examination of its title characters.
Beyond their status as fresh takes on their respective overplayed and oversaturated genres, both series share a remarkable number of similarities.
Both begin with a facade of harmless fun: “EverymanHYBRID” as a goofy amateur fitness series and “WandaVision” as a 1950s-era family sitcom. As they go on, both series drop these initial premises as events take on a much darker tone. Both explore themes of grief, trauma and unreliable narrators.
The similarities get even more specific than that, though. Both star morally ambiguous protagonists with an awareness of their audience. Both feature very similar plot twists at the end of their second acts. Both include a dog named Sparky. Both utilize the very same editing trick of repeating a slightly different version of a shot to signal that reality has been altered. Both even take place in New Jersey!
In so many ways, “WandaVision” acts as a spiritual successor to “EverymanHYBRID.” It embodies the same unconventional filmmaking techniques and signature blend of mystery, comedy and tragedy “EverymanHYBRID” perfected in the 2010s, bringing them to a contemporary, mainstream audience.
Considering “WandaVision”’s generally warm reception and the frenzy of speculation that accompanied the weekly release of its episodes, I believe the series heralds good things to come for the MCU.
Perhaps its success may usher in the start of a new, more experimental era for Marvel’s future projects. Maybe inspired and unique takes on the superhero formula may start to become more frequent. Whatever the case, “WandaVision” left me optimistic about the future of the MCU and of mainstream entertainment on the whole.
In the meantime, if you’re in the mood for more content in the vein of “WandaVision”’s early episodes, its internet precursor might be worth a watch.
Photos courtesy of Marvel Studios and the EverymanHYBRID YouTube channel
