The Marvel Cinematic Universe has truly come a long way over the past 15 years. While the MCU began with films starring major Marvel Comics characters like Iron Man, Hulk, and Thor, the Multiverse Saga has seen lesser-known heroes like Shang-Chi, Moon Knight, and She-Hulk receive their own movies and TV shows.
The latest Marvel hero to have a new series confirmed for the MCU is Simon Williams, aka Wonder Man. Last year, it was confirmed that Shang-Chi and Avengers: The Kang Dynasty director Destin Daniel Cretton will be developing the series as executive producer, while Community writer Andrew Guest will serve as head writer. So before Wonder Man heads to Disney Plus, here’s everything you need to know about this classic — if somewhat obscure — Marvel hero.
Wonder Man’s Origins, Explained
Wonder Man made his Marvel Comics debut back in 1964 with The Avengers #9 by Stan Lee and Don Heck. The issue introduces Simon Williams as a wealthy industrialist and rival to Tony Stark, who is arrested after embezzling from his company to avoid bankruptcy. Williams is then approached by the Masters of Evil — Baron Zemo, Amora the Enchantress, and Skurge the Executioner — who offer Williams a chance at revenge on Tony Stark. Zemo soon experiments on Williams, imbuing him with ionic energy and transforming him into the super-strong, invulnerable Wonder Man. However, that same ionic radiation is also slowly killing him, ensuring that he won’t survive unless treated by Zemo. Zemo orders Wonder Man to infiltrate the Avengers as a double agent, then lure them into a trap. However, Williams is moved by the Avengers’ kindness towards him, and soon has a change of heart. And so, Wonder Man betrays the Masters of Evil and sacrifices his life to save the Avengers.
Wonder Man remained dead for over a decade in real life, though his legacy lived on in the form of the Vision — when constructing his android offspring, Ultron based Vision’s AI off of Williams’ mind. But eventually, writer Gerry Conway brought Wonder Man back to life in 1976, and Williams finally joined the Avengers for real. Following his resurrection, Wonder Man became fast friends with his teammate Hank McCoy, aka the former X-Men member Beast, whose playful, sophisticated wit meshed well with Williams’ easygoing personality. But in 1981, Wonder Man left the Avengers to pursue an acting career in Hollywood.
Since then, he’s been a founding member of the West Coast Avengers, fallen in love with Scarlet Witch, and battled his supervillain brother Grim Reaper. He’s been transformed into a being of pure energy, become an enemy of the Avengers once again, and tried his hand at being a pacifist. For a while, he was even absorbed by Rogue of the X-Men, permanently granting her all of his powers. These days, Wonder Man has fallen by the wayside, having been completely absent from the Marvel Universe since 2020. But with his MCU debut imminent, it’s only a matter of time before he returns to the spotlight.
Who is Cast in the Wonder Man Series?
Last October, it was announced that Yahya Abdul-Mateen II will be playing Wonder Man in the upcoming Disney Plus series. Abdul-Mateen is no stranger to the superhero genre, as he’s previously played Black Manta in 2018’s Aquaman, and is set to reprise the role in the upcoming sequel Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. He’s even portrayed another superhero powered by glowing energy in HBO’s 2019 Watchmen miniseries, in which he appeared as Doctor Manhattan. And in 2021, he showed off his skills as a cool, charismatic action hero as Morpheus in The Matrix Resurrections. So at this point, it’s safe to say that Abdul-Mateen has what it takes to play a pitch-perfect Wonder Man.
Besides Abdul-Mateen as Wonder Man himself, the series will also feature Ben Kingsley, reprising his role as the eccentric actor Trevor Slattery once more after his unexpected return in Shang-Chi. And considering both Destin Daniel Cretton’s involvement in the series and Wonder Man’s own background as an actor, his inclusion makes quite a lot of sense. Additionally, Demetrius Grosse of Straight Outta Compton and Justified fame has been cast as Simon’s brother Eric Williams, better known in the comics as the villainous Grim Reaper. Finally, Ed Harris (The Truman Show, Westworld, Snowpiercer), will appear as Simon’s Hollywood agent.
Wonder Man’s Relationship With Other MCU Heroes
Curiously, it’s presently unclear exactly how Wonder Man will connect to the rest of the MCU, as most of the characters he has close ties to in the comics aren’t currently in the MCU. His rival-turned-friend Iron Man is long dead following the events of Avengers: Endgame, while his on-and-off love interest Scarlet Witch is presumed dead after Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. And of course, the MCU’s Vision has no ties to Wonder Man either, with his AI instead being based on JARVIS.
As such, the member of Wonder Man’s supporting cast who has the best chances of appearing in his Disney Plus series is Beast, who hasn’t even been introduced to the MCU yet. Additionally, it’s unclear exactly how the live action Wonder Man will receive his powers, since Zemo has long since settled his score with the Avengers. Perhaps he’ll be reimagined as a mutant like Ms. Marvel, strengthening his bond with his best friend Beast. Right now, it’s hard to tell exactly what the Wonder Man series will look like — however, it’ll be interesting to see how this lesser-known hero will fare in the MCU.