Web Video / The Nixonverse Retold

Due to the nature of this work, spoilers for both THE MONUMENT MYTHOS and THE NIXONVERSE will be left unmarked. Please, see the original series HERE. You Have Been Warned!

"You are not going to use me as an excuse again!"

"As one can probably see, it seems that all man-made solutions provided thus far has been doomed to failure, but all hope is not yet lost. Perhaps we have been simply looking at the wrong place this whole time. In recent times, the Rockefeller Corporation has stumbled upon an alternative method, and perhaps this might just be the answer we've all been looking for. An answer that resides not on Earth, not even on the stars, but of all places, on the Moon-"

—The Rockefeller Corporation

The Nixonverse Retold was a Fan Film series of the Analog Horror series THE MONUMENT MYTHOS- more specifically, its spinoff series THE NIXONVERSE- created by The Yoinky Sploinky Chronicles^Note Also known as "Howard Hamlin" among the fandom in collaboration with several other members of the Monument Mythos community.

Using various theories and interpretations of the canon events as a base, The Nixonverse Retold sought to recontextualize, expand, and, well, retell the events of its source material. Not only that, but also adding its own twist into the mix by introducing brand new characters based on various iconic figures from comic books, as well as telling a more cohesive story in comparison with its source material's cryptic nature.

Of these retold stories, there includes:

THE NIXONVERSE RETOLD

• "ALL-STAR ALCATRAZEAN", a look into the public's reaction to the Last Son of Alcatraz's trial and arrest.
• "D-DAY AND KNIGHT", where a retired D-Day Knight reflects about past regrets, what it truly means to be a hero, and second chances.

NEIGHBORING UNIVERSES

Note: These series are made by crew members and their universes might or might not be directly connected to the Nixonverse Retold.

• "THE PLYMOUTH PAGES", centered in an universe where the town of Plymouth, Massachusetts, passes a series of legislations allowing them to censor information regarding the Plymouth Rock, ensuing the rage of what appear to be "Pilgrim spectres". It serves as the backstory behind the Massachusetts Minutemen seen in D-DAY AND KNIGHT.
• "The Signal Tree Effect", the investigations following a rise in disappearances in the U.S, speculated to be related to an unknown planet and it's inhabitants and ensuing phenomena. Including but not limited to what appears to be lightning that turns people into the titular trees.
• "The Mirage in the Ocean", centered on how the House in the Ocean urban legend affected a Certain Developer's mind while creating his breakout game.

Following the culmination of team drama that saw many creators pull out of the project at once, the series' videos were removed from YouTube.

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This series provides an example of:

• Adaptational Backstory Change: Due to being released way before the canon backstories for multiple characters were revealed, The Nixonverse Retold takes creative liberty in their backstories.
  • Both the Last Son and the D-Day Knight were pulled from Wonderland into the Starverse thanks to John D. Rockefeller and his Thinking Machine instead of being extensions of Nixon.
  • Also regarding the Last Son and the Knight, it's revealed that the Last Son isn't... whoever he was meant to be in-canon, but James Dean himself. Similarly, it's heavily implied that the Knight is none other than Everett Morlin instead of Frank Sinatra.
  • Nixon, the Moon God, is heavily implied to not be the Deanverse's Richard Nixon but the Starverse's.
  • The Rockefeller Corporation was behind the Apollo 12 mission and the Last Son's brainwashing instead of the U.S Government.
• Adaptational Origin Connection:
  • The Last Son of Alcatraz's arrival to the Starverse caused an explosion in Rockefeller's laboratory that led to the D-Day Knight and Wonderlander breaching containment.
  • In-canon, the Lunarian Eye used to brainwash the Last Son was from an unknown, random Lunarian. In The Nixonverse Retold, it's Nixon's eye.
  • "Her" was an Minor Role Major Impact Unknown Character in-canon. In here, she's the creator of the Lunarians.
• Adaptational Species Change: Molly Avenue was often speculated to be a descendant of the Knight or the Last Son due to her grandmother's status as a Lois Lane expy. In The Nixonverse Retold, she's stated to be of Lunarian descendance.
• Adaptational Villainy:
  • C/H/A/S/E The Wandering Robot was heavily implied to be under some sort of mind control or manipulation by the Crescent King. Here, she's seen as being a member of the Last Son of Alcatraz's Rogues Gallery.
• Adaptation Expansion: In D-DAY AND KNIGHT we learn what happened to Everett after the events of ROCKEFELLERTREETRAGEDY and WASHINGTONWONDERLAND through a fantasy children's book Everett himself wrote, named "Through the Looking Glass and what Everman found there."
• Alternate History:
  • Every major event from the first five episodes of The Nixonverse still happen in this universe, including but not limited to the interference of both the D-Day Knight and the Last Son in multiple conflicts, Ed Dwight becoming the first man on the moon and meeting Luna, and "Jesus" helping the USA take over Vietnam.
  • Furthermore, the series presents its own alterations to history, such as Rockefeller becoming interested in the concept of the "Many Worlds" theory after witnessing the destruction of the Deanverse, eventually finding a way to open portals to Wonderland and resulting in the foundation of the "Rockefeller Corporation."
• Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking:
  • The members of the Last Son's Rogues Gallery that are amicable to the Rockefeller Corporation are: La Guardia, Kaiser Wilhelm and... Jim from HR.
  • Among the numerous side-effects of Alcatrazonite in the human body, there's exactly one of them that has the description "tastes like chocolate, kinda." The implications are clear. Ouch.
• Ascended Extra:
  • Everett Arnoldson, a minor character in THE MONUMENT MYTHOS, is shown to have survived the Great Division, travelled to the Starverse, and became a succesful entrepeneur and philanthropist under the name "Everett Morlin." He's also later revealed to be the secret identity of the D-Day Knight and the main protagonist of the titular D-DAY AND KNIGHT.
  • The World Nightly and it's reporters are more prominent than in canon, with various reports by Alice Avenue and Jamie Elson being shown to the viewer for the first half of the first episode.
• Body Horror: Wonderlander is said to have been stretched out to monstrous proportions upon his arrival in the Starverse.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: The Last Son's transformation into "Jesus" is stated to still have happened.
• Brought to You by the Letter "S":
  • Unlike their canon counterparts, both the Last Son of Alcatraz and the D-Day Knight have Chest Insignias in their suits, with the Last Son's in particular being a stylized logo depicting the S and the A.
  • The Starverse's Rockefeller can be seen wearing a tophat with the letter R in the front.
• Call-Back:
  • The Last Son of Alcatraz doesn't present himself to the public as an enhanced human, but rather as an "Alcatrazean" from the destroyed planet of Alcatraz.
  • The Rockefeller Corporation says that the state-of-the-art containment chamber for the Last Son was built "by yours truly," much like how the Deanverse Rockefeller described the Luftschiff Rockefellers in ROCKEFELLERREVELATION.
  • Both Rockefellers even end their apologies with the phrase "Forgive me."
  • The "Hero Without A Home" film series has particularly interesting subtitles, such as "The Quest for Freedom" and "Chase for the Crescent Throne"
• The Cameo: The "Everman" segments in D-DAY AND KNIGHT shows us a fictional rendition of what happened to Everett after the events of ROCKEFELLERTREETRAGEDY. It's shown that he met the Horned Serpent itself, a climber, and the Starry Sphinx.
• Canon Immigrant: Various characters from THE HOUSE IN THE OCEAN make an appearance in the series.
  • C/H/A/S/E is shown to be a member of the Last Son's Rogues Gallery, and a notable one at that!
  • The Crescent Creatures are shown to be the "peasant" Lunarians.
• Casting Gag: Two in one! Kirk Alyn, the first actor for Superman and the "face-claim" for the Last Son in-canon, portrays him in a fictional series of movies called "Hero Without A Home," which title makes a clear allusion to Rebel Without a Cause.
• Cast of Expies: A large portion of the series' cast is formed by expies of renown comic book figures; villains, heroes and civilians alike.
• Classified Information: The Last Son of Alcatraz's motivations are left classified by the U.S government. Chris Arnoldson's shaken up reaction seems to imply that it was for good reason.
• Creator Cameo: Everett is shown to have met and befriended Cthnonaut A. during his time in Wonderland, even giving us a glimpse of how he stored his universe's history.
• Cutting Off the Branches: The Nixonverse Retold clears up on many Ambiguous Situations from its source material.
  • It was left up to viewer interpretation whether the Everett that stayed with Virginia in Wonderland and Everett Arnoldson were one and the same. In The Nixonverse Retold, it's practically confirmed that they are.
  • In general, it was a subject of debate whether the Nixonverse and Virginia's home universe were meant to be the same in-canon. The Nixonverse Retold outright avoids this by just being a third universe, the "Starverse," where Virginia Arnoldson straight up never existed and therefore the Tree Tragedy never happened.
• Cybernetics Eat Your Soul: Albert Einstein is still alive and kicking as a Cyborg in the Last Son's Rogues Gallery. It's likely that he's meant to be an Expy of Brainiac.
• Dastardly Dapper Derby: Mr. Corner Joe is, as his name implies, a Cornerfolk. The only difference between him and a regular Cornerfolk is that he wears a floating bowler hat.
• Death of a Child: The death of a child in the middle of the battlefield is what led to the Last Son interfering in the Korean War, and eventually becoming judged for it.
• Defiant to the End: The Last Son verbally calls out the U.S. Army even when captured and hauled before a Kangaroo Court.
• Deity of Human Origin: The Lunarians are described as both omniscient and apotheosized humans, with their God, Richard Nixon, being the most notable example.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: Everett Arnoldson manages to go from a Missing Child endlessly wandering the Special Tree Wonderland to a successful businessman and CEO of Morlin Industries in the Starverse. He's also heavily implied to be The D-Day Knight, who used his powers for good before retiring and becoming "Everett Morlin". Even as Everett Morlin, he was finally able to reunite with (a) Virginia Arnoldson and make sure she lived her life to the greatest, finally amending for abandoning both versions of her back in ROCKEFELLERTREETRAGEDY.
• Elaborate Underground Base: As every good Batman Parody has, Everett is implied to have used the basement of his mansion as an armoury/Bat-Cave equivalent during his days as the D-Day Knight.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Chris Arnoldson firmly believes that the Last Son must have some hidden motivations behind his good-doings, thinking that none of it can come from the goodness of his heart. When he demands to know the truth from him, he's revealed something he wish he didn't hear.
• Evil Counterpart: Wonderlander, a clear Expy of Bizarro and Rockefeller's first attempt to bring a being in Wonderland to the Starverse, serves as this to the Last Son of Alcatraz.
• Evil, Inc.: The Rockefeller Corporation is building up to be this, being willing to use extremely unethical methods to capture the Last Son such as nuking him and planning an encounter with every single one of his enemies to kill him, as well as being the ones behind the Apollo 12 mission that led to the Last Son's brainwashing.
• Eye Scream:
  • Close-ups of the Last Son post-nuking are shown, showcasing his burnt, charred face and his empty eye cavity.
  • Richard Nixon is stated to be the Lunarian whose eye was shot and retrieved by the Rockefeller Corporation. Pictures of his eye being kept secure somewhere by the Rockefeller Corporation are shown by Molly Avenue.
• Fantastic Caste System: The Lunarians apparently have one, with Richard Nixon and the "Homo Lunaris" at the very top while the Crescent Creatures are the "peasants". "Her" seems to outrank them all, being their creator.
• Fantastic Racism: Among the various synonyms for Lunarians in the dictionary definition shown in ALL-STAR ALCATRAZEAN, the derogatory term "Moonies" can be seen.
• Fix Fic: The later part of D-DAY AND KNIGHT is this. During most of the episode, Everett is seen to be unforgiving to himself after breaking his promise to keep Virginia, and by extension her friends, safe. Only after Everett finally lets go of his past, does he get a second chance in the form of an alternate universe version of Virginia and her friends appearing at Rockefeller Center, giving him a chance to atone for his broken promise.
• Foregone Conclusion: We, as an audience, already know what the Last Son of Alcatraz's fate is going to be throughout the first episode. Lampshaded by Molly, who after introducing the Lunarian eye and its donor says that they know what happened to the Last Son after that.
• Historical Villain Upgrade: Kaiser Wilhelm and Albert Einstein are said to be a part of the Last Son's Rogues Gallery, with Wilhem in particular being chummy with the Rockefelller Corporation.
• Humanoid Abomination: James Dean/The Last Son and The D-Day Knight are both humanoid creatures from the Deanverse who have unnatural powers. Whether James Dean was already non-human and already had superpowers or gained these powers from the Great Division is anybody's guess.
• Hugh Mann: Inverted. The Last Son claims to be an "Alcatrazean," from the planet of Alcatraz rather than an Alternate History Earth. Somewhat justified given the anomalous properties of Alcatraz and how it affected the Deanverse's Earth.
• Loved by All: In typical James Dean fashion, the Last Son of Alcatraz is beloved by practically every civilian that isn't a total Jerkass. In fact, due to his role as a superhero instead of a political figure with set ideals, it's likely that more people like him in the Starverse than in the Deanverse.
• Meaningful Rename: Despite not sporting the same meaning as it does in-canon, the Last Son of Alcatraz being brainwashed into becoming "Jesus" still makes sense, as the Lunarian Eye used to brainwash him came from Nixon, the Lunarian God himself.
• My God, What Have I Done?: As per usual, Rockefeller suffers one of these after he accidentally unleashes Wonderlander, the Last Son and the Knight into the world.
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: The Last Son of Alcatraz was not only sent to trial, but also nuked multiple times, imprisoned for more than a decade, and brainwashed into being "Jesus," all for wanting to save a poor child in the middle of the battlefield.
• Scenery Dissonance: The Rockefeller Corporation's plans to capture and/or outright execute the Last Son of Alcatraz are shown to the audience in a flashy, almost charming cartoony presentation.
• Sealed Badass in a Can: The Rockefeller Corporation succesfully achieves to contain the Last Son of Alcatraz in a state-of-the-art containment chamber. He is however expected to breach containment within the next decade of being captured, though.
• Stock Audio Clip: James Dean is voiced not by an impersonator, but by actual voice clips of the man himself in his role as Jimmy in Rebel Without a Cause.
• Richard Nixon, the Used Car Salesman:
  • The Lunarian high-ranks are solely composed of notable celebrities, such as Alan Turing, JFK, Dolly Parton, and more.
  • Instead of being an oil tycoon or a president like his previous incarnations, John D. Rockefeller was inspired by the mirage of the Great Division and hired the top scientists of his time in order to figure out a way to breach between worlds, eventually leading into the Origin Story of the Last Son and the D-Day Knight and the creation of the Rockefeller Corporation.
• Shout-Out: Like THE NIXONVERSE, the title of some videos are based on actual comic book storylines, such as All-Star Superman.
• Kryptonite Factor: The Rockefeller Corporation attempts to invoke this to the Last Son via "Alcatrazonite." Inverted in that the only pieces of "Alcatrazonite" that were able to be synthesized affects everyone but the Last Son.
• Uncertain Doom: Every single one of the high-ranking Lunarians. Molly explicitly states that they could be in a better place or a worse one. In the Partial List of Lunarians shown by Molly, some of them are labelled as being "Gone," whereas Alan Turing is the only one labelled as "Dead."
• Was Once a Man:
  • While James Dean was heavily implied to not be a regular human, he either has completely given up the masquerade in the Starverse or was somehow powered by the Great Division and his time in Wonderland, becoming a Superman Substitute.
  • Wonderlander, on the other hand, is implied to have been mid-way through the process of becoming a Wonderland Climber before being pulled into the Starverse.
  • As implied by canon, the Lunarians were once common human beings, mostly American citizens, who were chosen by "Her"'s will and turned into glowing beings described as omniscient and immensely powerful living on the Moon.
  • If he's anything like any other Cornerfolk, Mr. Corner Joe was once a citizen of the Deanverse/"Alcatrazean" who became this way after an unknown process during the Great Division.
• Wham Shot:
  • In ALL-STAR ALCATRAZEAN, there is nothing that could indicate that the Rockefeller Corporation is planning on dealing with the Lunarians (or their king) until you see their logo turn into a Crescent Moon.
  • D-DAY AND KNIGHT is FULL of these.
    • The episode's way to reveal the D-Day Knight's identity to the viewer in a quick manner is to have his skull appear drawn on top of Everett's portrait for a split second.
    • Just as Everett seems to come to terms with his past deeds as the D-Day Knight and the Rockefeller Tree Tragedy, he reads a newspaper just to realize that 11 children had mysteriously teleported to the Rockefeller Center that very same morning.
    • The aftermath of the 1948 Wonderland Teleporter Accident caused several of individuals stuck in Wonderland to leak into the Starverse, the ending of the episode shows us the consequences this had in the ensuing years, showing us multiple supervillains' arrival to the Starverse.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Nobody besides the Rockefeller Corporation and maybe the military took the Last Son's imprisonment well. Just 24 hours after his imprisonment, over hundreds of thousands of letters would have been sent to the government, as well as protests and riots all over America.

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