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Light spoilers follow for all eight episode of Wonder Man.
2026 is a big year for Marvel. With its cinematic universe struggling to rediscover the consistency that defined its first decade, there’s never been more pressure on highly-anticipated movies like Avengers: Doomsday and Spider-Man: Brand New Day to get people back onside.
And yet, it falls on Wonder Man, the comic book giant’s first Disney+ show of the year, to convince casual fans that the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is worth sticking with or jumping back into. It’s a wonderful thing, then, that Wonder Man is a franchise-disrupting, metatextual caper that’s arguably the studio’s most creative TV original since WandaVision.
I was born to play this character
Produced under the Marvel Spotlight banner, Wonder Man introduces us to Simon Williams (Yahya Abdul- Mateen II), a luckless and capricious actor struggling for work in the MCU’s version of Hollywood.
Williams’ tortured nature is captured with pitch-perfect intensity and gravitas by Abul-Mateen II
When Williams learns that Oscar-winning director Von Kovak (Zlatko Burić) is remaking ‘Wonder Man’, an in-universe movie that’s also his favorite film of all time, Williams vows land the lead role. Well, as long as he can keep his biggest secret – as one of Wonder Man‘s teasers confirmed, that he possesses actual superpowers – under wraps.
Having superhuman abilities should be advantageous for a project like this, right? Not if you’re Simon Williams, a serial overthinker whose passion for his craft often makes him difficult to deal with personally and professionally.
His failure to secure regular work and tendency to lose the roles he does get due to a passion interpreted as overzealous interference are, unsurprisingly, emotionally destabilizing moments for Williams. Add in your demonstrably powerful abilities appearing whenever you experience negative emotions, and that’s a recipe for disaster.
That’s especially true if Williams’ abilities ever manifest while on set. The reason? Enhanced individuals are banned from working in Hollywood, so it’s not the ideal profession for Williams, whose tortured nature is captured with pitch-perfect intensity and gravitas by Wonder Man‘s lead star Abdul-Mateen II.
Wonder Man is as much Trevor Slattery’s (Ben Kingsley) story as it is Williams’, though.
A washed-up thespian and recovering substance abuser who we first met as fake terrorist The Mandarin in Iron Man 3, Slattery is an important cog in Williams’ journey and the Marvel Phase 6 show’s wider narrative.
Slattery is the uproarious fulcrum for many of Wonder Man’s hijinks
Apprehended by the Department of Damage Control (DoDC) at an airport following his redemption arc in Shang-Chi, Slattery is coerced into helping the superhuman-monitoring US government agency keep track of Williams, whom it believes to be a highly dangerous individual.
Rather than position Slattery as a primary supporting character, though, Marvel installs Kingsley as the series’ co-lead. It’s a storytelling decision that not only allows Wonder Man to thoroughly examine this enigmatic and eccentric character’s background, personality, and motives in greater detail than before, but also plays to Kingsley’s strengths as an actor.
Utilizing the British icon’s extensive affiliation with the Royal Shakespeare Company and penchant for playing characters as straight as possible, Wonder Man gives Kingsley a stage to really shine on. Equipped with Slattery’s awkward and unfiltered persona, Kingsley is the uproarious fulcrum for the various hijinks that ensue throughout, too.
Just the two of us
Armed with either of these likeable albeit lost souls, Wonder Man would be an enthralling watch. The resolution to build its plot around both, then, is a match made in heaven.
The decision to build Wonder Man’s plot around Williams and Slattery is a match made in heaven
From their initial encounters at a Midnight Cowboy screening and then the ‘Wonder Man’ auditions, where a regret-filled Slattery takes pity on Williams as he struggles to maintain his composure, they’re a mesmerically mismatched pair that deserve to be added to the MCU’s ever-expanding collection of charming double acts.
A two-hander in all but name, it’s the kind of odd-couple dynamic that doesn’t come along often, but produces all manner of on-screen fireworks from the outset.
It’s a bond initially formed by their mutual love for their craft. Slattery sees his tactless and ego-driven self in Williams and uses his experience and calming influence to guide the less-seasoned actor through the murky world of Hollywood. It isn’t long, though, before their student-teacher relationship blossoms into a genuine bromance – and, like me, you’ll soon be rooting for them to individually and collectively succeed.
You’ll soon be rooting for Williams and Slattery to individually and collectively succeed
That said, I’ll admit my desire to root for them was strained at times. Whether it’s the emotionally unavailable Williams occasionally shutting out his mentor, or Slattery’s duplicity in trying to keep both Williams and the DoDC onside – honestly, at one point, I genuinely thought Slattery would fully betray his new friend – theirs is a companionship buffeted by numerous outside forces. Ultimately, though, the earnestness of their buddy-cop dynamic, plus the hardships these tragic characters have endured, is what’ll make you cheer them on.
And all the world’s a stage
With its intimate, dual-character-study-first approach, Wonder Man plays more as a tragicomedy with sitcom elements than a biting commentary on the corporate Hollywood machine.
Wonder Man doesn’t hold up a taunting mirror to Hollywood in the same way that The Studio does
Sure, Wonder Man‘s metatextual layers run deep, and it doesn’t shy away from the cutthroat nature of the entertainment business. However, it’s not a fourth-wall-breaking project in the way She-Hulk: Attorney at Law or the Deadpool films are. Nor does it hold up a taunting mirror to Hollywood in the same way that The Studio does. Laugh-out-loud funny though Wonder Man is, it’s not as outrageously chaotic or toe-curlingly hilarious in its takedown of the industry as that Apple TV Original is, or as scathingly satirical of the superhero genre like Prime Video‘s adaptation of The Boys is.
I don’t consider those to be faults that Wonder Man possesses, but Marvel’s latest small-screen offering isn’t beyond reproach.
For one, its Williams and Slattery-absent Twilight Zone-esque fourth episode provides context for one of Wonder Man‘s early mysteries, but brings its primary narrative to a grinding halt just as it’s really beginning to build momentum. Similarly, while its circumnavigation of Williams’ complicated comic book history facilitates an easier MCU introduction for the character, this source material deviation will irritate some Marvel Comics purists.
And then there’s the finale, which falls foul of the same problem that’s plagued other Marvel TV Originals on one of the world’s best streaming services. In its favor, it foregoes the archetypal – not to mention predictable – CGI showdown between hero and villain, which is a welcome departure from the Disney subsidiary’s usual TV blueprint.
Nonetheless, just another five to 10 minutes showing how Williams has grown as an individual across its eight-episode run would’ve helped its pacing and stopped it from racing towards an ending that may be perceived as somewhat anticlimactic.
My verdict
Ultimately, though, those niggles didn’t prevent me from having a blast with Wonder Man. Pardon the pun, but it’s a wonderfully executed slice of television that’s both a celebration of the performing arts and an eye-opening peek behind the curtain of an industry that continues to entertain us to this day.
It might be a bit on the short side, runtime-wise, and its narrative flow is a little uneven, especially in the first half. But, armed with a charismatic leading pair firing on all cylinders, and a story that’ll resonate with anyone who’s set out to achieve their wildest dreams and did so, Wonder Man deserves a standing ovation for proving nothing is impossible if you put your mind to it – and if you have a little help along the way.
Wonder Man releases in full on Tuesday, January 27 (North and South America) and Wednesday, January 28 (everywhere else). To learn more about the series ahead of launch, read my guide on everything we know about Wonder Man.
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tom.power@futurenet.com (Tom Power)
