The Avengers call themselves Earth’s Mightiest Heroes because they’ve got the heaviest hitters around. One of their physically strongest, Wonder Man, debuted in 1964 as a villain so powerful he could take on the Avengers themselves. After a redemption arc, Wonder Man joined the Avengers and gained a bit of popularity. He was a member of various Avengers teams and had his own on-going series in the 1990’s. So how did the Marvel Cinematic Universe choose to finally introduce him? By making him a struggling actor who hides his powers and cares more about landing a role than saving the world.
The name “Wonder Man” in the MCU belongs to a cheesy 80’s sci-fi movie while the name “Simon Williams” belongs to the show’s protagonist. Young Simon Williams loved the Wonder Man movie and gets a chance to star in its modern day remake. Fortunately for him, former Mandarin stand-in Trevor Slattery takes him under his wing and coaches him on how to be a better actor. Unfortunately for him, Trevor didn’t enter his life by chance. Trevor was arrested by the Department of Damage Control for all the Mandarin stuff, and he worked out a deal with them to spy on Simon, who has been on their radar due to the super powers he’s been hiding.
Despite being an incredible departure from the comics, the show has a solid premise and fits well into the Marvel Spotlight banner on Disney+. On the surface level, you have a character-focused show about a decent, if in his head too often, guy just wanting his big break. He’s not interesting because he has super powers; he’s interesting because he has to actively avoid using them to get work. On a deeper level, the show is about a mentor/mentee relationship and the idea of trust and betrayal. While Simon Willims wants to play Wonder Man, Trevory Slattery ends up auditioning for the role of Wonder Man’s confidant, Barnaby. In the new movie, Barnaby betrays Wonder Man, which plants the question in the audience’s mind of if Trevor will betray Simon.
The driving force of the show is the relationship between the two leads, and they are both 
amazing. It should be no shock that Ben Kingsley is brilliant as Trevor Slattery. He surprised everyone when it was revealed he was a fake terrorist in Iron Man 3, and he was a real treat in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. This was the MCU debut of Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, although he’s no stranger to comic book material. He played Black Manta in both Aquaman movies and Cal Abar in the 2019 Watchmen TV series. While he was solid in both roles, Wonder Man got an even better performance from him as Simon Williams. It must be difficult for an actor to play an actor, especially one who struggles with line deliveries and has to make some performances more believable than others. Abdul-Mateen II and Kingsley nail it, though. They’ve got heart, humor, and you care what happens to them. The stakes aren’t as high as your typical world-ending superhero story, but the personal stakes feel just as important.
Despite what it’s billed as or being promoted as, Wonder Man is not a superhero show. It’s not action, adventure, or science fiction. Yes, Simon has powers and lives in the Marvel Universe, but he rarely uses his powers and there aren’t really any action scenes (there’s even one notable use of Simon’s power that ends up being a fake out). Obviously, they needed to give Simon powers or the show’s premise wouldn’t work, but this show is primarily a character-focused drama. Given the Hollywood setting, celebrity culture, and a few cameos where actors play themselves, this show has more in common with something like Entourage or Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip than Daredevil: Born Again. As long as Disney+ is creating many shows with Marvel properties, it’s important that each show has its own unique feel. It’s hard to compare Wonder Man‘s quality against other superhero shows. It’s great at what it does, but it exists in an entirely different genre. It’s entertaining enough for people who are turned off by the standard superhero fare and aren’t steeped in MCU lore, but it’s not exactly a draw for superhero fans. Taking genre out of the equation, as a TV show, it’s well done. There are some really good tracking shots that follow Simon through a set or a location that creates a quite immersive atmosphere. I also enjoyed the use of licensed music. Someone like Belinda Carlisle or Chaka Khan will be mentioned in the episode, and then one of their songs will play over the end credits. In a fun bit of Disney synergy, we get Josh Gad singing a remix of “In Summer” from Frozen.
While the show is compelling, I can’t say individual episodes are particularly strong on their own. The show consists of eight half hour episodes, and they are mostly about Simon navigating through Hollywood while trying to land auditions and prove his worth to director Von Kovak. There aren’t a ton of surprise twists and turns, and, naturally, the secret of Trevor working for Damage Control is kept from Simon for quite some time. The only episode that really breaks from the narrative and typical format is the “Doorman” episode that explains why actors and super powers don’t mix. That and the finale might be the two standout episodes. It’s better to view this show as a mini-series because it’s strong as a complete narrative but doesn’t look as impressive taken episode to episode.
Ultimately, it’s best to leave all expectations behind when going into the show. Once upon
a time, there was a chance we would have Nathan Fillion playing a version of Wonder Man, but outside deleted Guardians of the Galaxy scenes and an episode of the M.O.D.O.K. cartoon, that never manifested. Aside from comic book Simon Williams being an actor, everything about him was jettisoned for the show. It’s a show where everyone in the audience starts fresh, whether you’re a diehard comics book Wonder Man fan or have never heard of him. The most you’ll get are some Easter Eggs with the costumes (I counted three Wonder Man costumes from the comics that found their way into the show) and a bit of significance with Wonder Man’s iconic sunglasses.
Having said that, I can’t say there are no disappointments that come with this kind of adaptation. Maybe the Avengers have so many characters they don’t need a Wonder Man, but I feel like this show robbed us of a decent villain. In the comics, Simon Williams’ brother is Eric Williams, the villainous Grim Reaper. While Eric appears on the show and antagonizes Simon to an extent, he is about as far from a comics accurate Grim Reaper as you can get.
Just because the MCU is a shared universe, there’s no reason for every bit of the MCU to continue characters and plots from one show or movie to another. Sure, we get the Department of Damage Control playing an active role (and every time they show up I’m reminded of how much I miss there being a S.H.I.E.L.D.), and while there’s no mention of the Sokovia Accords, the Doorman Clause stands in its place as a way to show how the general public reacts to people with super powers. So it’s light on MCU elements and doesn’t really introduce anything that will continue on outside this show.
So with Wonder Man being better off standing on its own, where do we go from here? Even if this show serves as Simon Williams’ origin as the superhero Wonder Man, it wouldn’t make for a smooth transition to something like an Avengers movie. Simon’s a great character, but I can’t really see him pitching in with other superheroes in his next appearance. With the final episode ending with a question mark, Simon can return anytime and anywhere. It would probably be for the best to keep him in something like a second season of Wonder Man rather than risk putting him in a more traditional superhero role. And while this show was successful in what it wanted to do, we probably don’t need more non-superhero dramas in the MCU trying to imitate Wonder Man. We will just have to wait and see until we learn where things take Simon Williams and Trevor Slattery.
