Here is the trailer for Marvel’s upcoming Disney+ series, Wonder Man. The show centers on Simon Williams (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), an aspiring actor who gains superhuman powers and is thrust into the world of showbiz and celebrity heroism.
In the comics, Simon Williams / Wonder Man has a complex backstory: he gained ionic powers, initially became a foe of the Avengers, was briefly revived, and eventually became a long-standing Avenger, famously co-founding the West Coast Avengers. A unique aspect of the character is his side career as a Hollywood actor and stuntman.
The series appears to lean heavily into this meta-Hollywood angle. The trailer is less about classic superhero action and more about the struggles of an actor trying to make it in a world saturated with real superheroes. The footage highlights an in-universe remake of an old, over-the-top, B-movie version of “Wonder Man,” who appears to be a Flash Gordon-like character on screen.
We know that the original, fictional on-screen Wonder Man was a white actor (as briefly established in a Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 deleted scene, which Marvel considers canon). The new series sees African American actor Yahya Abdul-Mateen II play the lead role of Simon Williams, who will become the actual, super-powered Wonder Man of the MCU.
Adding to the Hollywood satire, the series also features the return of Sir Ben Kingsley as the beloved and bumbling former fake-Mandarin, Trevor Slattery. Slattery appears to be an acting coach or mentor to Simon Williams, offering a hilarious “two-hander” dynamic between two actors navigating the bizarre reality of the MCU.
I am definitely intrigued by this unique and self-aware approach to the superhero genre.
See the Trailer below.
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