Wonder Man is the next Marvel hero, albeit a lesser-known one, to get his own Disney+ series. The series features Yahya Abdul-Mateen II in the lead role of Simon Williams, who, in the new adaptation, will be a Hollywood stuntperson and actor looking for his big break. While the tone of the series has not yet been confirmed, the prospect of a Hollywood satire set in the MCU is enticing. Assuming, of course, that it's done well.
The exciting thing about the Marvel Universe, both in print and on screen, is its ability to span every imaginable genre. Its Rolodex of heroes and settings serves as a sandbox for just about anything an ambitious creator can cook up. The MCU's willingness to genre-bend is a mark of courage and a good omen for its continued relevance. But for every WandaVision, there's a She-Hulk. Assuming that Wonder Man goes the satire/comedy route, what can it learn from the MCU's much-maligned, genre-bending, legal comedy?
Wonder Man Needs a Sharp Sense of Humor
She-Hulk can proudly boast about having a phenomenal cast, CGI that's a lot better than people give it credit for, and a refreshing concept ripe with potential. Strong comedic writing is not on that list. For a show clearly intent on making its audience laugh, it so seldom did.
What humor there was largely came from seemingly crowdsourced jokes about the horrors of online dating and rinse-and-repeat jokes about navigating a demanding, slightly problematic workplace. That's not to say that She-Hulk was entirely devoid of laughs or that the series made no meaningful points. The dynamic between Jennifer and her best friend/paralegal Nikki was a comedic standout. Just as Jennifer's appearance and powers superseding her brilliant legal mind in the eyes of her superiors was, at least in concept, a thoughtful commentary on what it is to be a woman in the workplace.
It's just that there was no distinct comedic style that lingers with the viewer after the credits role. Something good comedies all have. If Wonder Man is truly going to lean into Hollywood satire, a genre viewers will have seen before, the show needs to develop a strong voice. One lifted up by jokes that actually land. Not low-hanging, heard-it-a-million-times-before one-liners.
By now, Marvel fans have seen just about everything family-friendly superhero comedy has to offer. She-Hulk tried to break from that mold with some of its jokes but failed to be memorable. Perhaps Wonder Man will make it across the finish line.
She-Hulk Fell Short on the "Legal" Part of "Legal Comedy"
Good legal comedies are essentially balancing acts. They have to satisfy their audiences' interest in courtroom drama and legal maneuvering without being so technical as to alienate them. Viewers want to believe that the people in the fancy suits are actually lawyers solving complex problems with crack wit and hard work. All this without having to watch scene after scene of actors breaking down legal concepts and inaccessible jargon.
It's a bit like the compulsory training montage in every sports movie. Audiences want to feel like a character is putting in the hours without feeling the tedium that actual practice and repetition bring. The same is true of any show or film about a niche industry.
Key to this balancing act is having writers, or at least consultants, who not only understand the finer points of their industry but also know what makes that industry cool to a layperson. Though She-Hulk likely had at least one legal consult in the writers' room - it's hard to imagine any big time showrunner skipping that step - much of the show's legal elements feel rote at best and like an afterthought at worst. This is especially disappointing given that Charles Soule's She-Hulk comic run, upon which the show clearly takes inspiration, was so good at weaving law, comedy, and superheroics together. Probably didn't hurt that Soule actually was a lawyer.
If not for the visual intrigue of a giant green lawyer defending a robe-clad wizard in open court, the courtroom scenes are largely interchangeable with those of any other series, only much less satisfying. By-the-numbers tennis matches of objections and snarky comments that don't feel substantially different from an argument between two elementary school kids in the principal's office. As if the writers saw them as little more than opportunities to eat up runtime and fill the gaps between wonky fight sequences and the previously mentioned slice-of-life scenes that they were clearly more comfortable with.
Wonder Man Should Be An Actual Hollywood Satire
It's unclear what the rating will be, but a clever, biting, adult-leaning satire playing out on movie sets and exec rooms could be genuinely exciting. Instead of nibbling on its premise, as She-Hulk did with law, Wonder Man should sink its teeth into the underbelly of the Hollywood film industry. Given that the writers will all be people who actually work in said industry, one would think that it shouldn't be too complicated a task.
Destin Daniel Cretton is directing and executive producing the series. If his work on Shang-Chi serves as any indication, the show's action and emotional beats will be satisfying. The latter is especially important since much of Wonder Man's internal struggle is drawn from his relationship with his abusive father and morally complex brother.
Andrew Guest is serving as head writer, and judging by his lengthy career writing TV shows, he, like Cretton, should know a thing or two about what makes Hollywood tick. That's to say nothing of the cast. Abdul-Mateen II, for one, has worked on many big-budget projects like Aquaman,Watchmen, and TheMatrix. In addition to his acting chops, he'll be able to bring his real world, lived experience as an actor to the role.
Hopefully, together, they can craft a compelling superhero story that takes us somewhere Marvel has never gone before, its own backyard.