Marvel Studios' Wonder Man has found a promising director for multiple episodes in Stella Meghie. This is the latest in a series of additions to the project, which stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and is set for release on the Disney Plus streaming platform.
Based on a long-standing but oft-overlooked character from the pages of Marvel comics, Wonder Man will follow the story of Simon Williams, an Avengers villain turned hero with ionic powers bestowed by Baron Zemo that grant him strength on par with Thor and the other heavy hitters of the Marvel universe. While the character’s comic origins might not necessarily fit into the MCU's current framework, older comic book fans are still excited at the opportunity to see the character in live action, with speculation running rampant even before the Wonder Man series was announced in 2022.
Speculation ramped up after the announcement, focusing on who would take the lead role on the project, which was confirmed to be helmed by Shang Chi director Destin Daniel Cretton. Since then, news from the project has streamed steadily, with a new report from Deadline announcing the latest addition to the crew in the capable Canadian director Meghie. While there is no official statement yet, the talented director will likely be in charge of multiple episodes of the upcoming series while working alongside Cretton and others.
Despite making her splash with The Weekend, an indie project that shone at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival, Meghie has previously worked with large studios. For starters, the director already has a prior working relationship with Disney that has her pegged as an executive producer of another upcoming animated project for Disney Plus titled Tiana, based on the characters from the hit animated movie The Princess and the Frog. The Marvel Studios series, which announced Abdul-Mateen II as Wonder Man in October, is Meghie's biggest industry credit.
While plot details are still rare and under wraps, the Wonder Man show is set to be one that fans will enjoy, with Ben Kingsley's Trevor Slattery returning for the show a cherry on top of the bountiful potential. Meghie's inclusion as a director alongside Cretton, with multiple episodes of the show written by Andrew Guest, should bring a fresh new style to the MCU that Cretton might find challenging to bring in alone.
A new series with appeal for new fans and older comic savants might be just what the MCU needs. The success of Marvel's IP is likely doubly important behind the scenes, as Disney Plus recorded a loss of subscribers for the first time earlier this month. Whether Wonder Man and other similarly Disney Plus-bound projects will be the remedy to possible audience fatigue remains to be seen.
Wonder Man is set to premiere on Disney Plus on a yet-to-be-announced date.
Source: Deadline