The Marvel Cinematic Universe is making its first foray into sitcoms with the release of WandaVision on Disney+ this week. And while we know all about the homages to classics like I Love Lucy and Bewitched, including the live studio audience and the laugh tracks, there’s also some unconventional Easter eggs taking a very surprising form. During a press event with Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige in support of WandaVision, the executive producer revealed that they are going further with the sitcom format by including commercials on the series. However, they won’t be advertising products on the streaming service; instead, these commercials will tie into the MCU in surprising ways.
Feige explained that they wanted to show how the real world was spilling into Scarlet Witch and Vision’s idyllic home. They decided that showing strange commercials from outside their bubble would be a good way to establish these differences.
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“Commercials was an early idea for that,” Feige explained during a press event. “If this is the very first Marvel, MCU thing you’re watching, it’s just a strange version of a 50s commercial or 60s commercial. If you have been watching all those movies, you might be able to start connecting what all those things mean from the past.”
It sounds like these commercials are much more than connections to the outside world, but will be tangential threads to the history of the MCU. Eagle-eyed fans will likely need to bust out their notepads if they want to catch everything.
Feige previously explained to the New York Times that his nerdy upbringing prepared him to run Marvel Studios. Now his love of old sitcoms are paying off with WandaVision.
“I feel like I’ve justified all the time I spent playing with action figures in my backyard,” Feige said. “All the time I spent watching Nick at Nite and old TV shows, I haven’t justified yet. This show is helping me do that.”
WandaVision might start out as a strange sitcom, but fans shouldn’t expect the series to stay that way for its entire nine-episode run. Vision actor Paul Bettany recently explained on Jimmy Kimmel Live how the show will be more recognizable for Marvel fans as we get closer to the end.
“We hurtled through the decades and we hit different genres of sitcoms and then Vision begins to think that this is getting a little weird and, in the end, you end up in [a] full, MCU action movie,” said Bettany.
WandaVision premieres on Disney+ this Friday, January 15th. If you haven’t signed up for Disney+ yet, you can try it out here.
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