The best and worst thing Wonder Man has going for it is that it’s a Marvel show. It’s a good thing because, obviously, it’s Marvel, which has such a rich history across all media. Lots of great stories to draw from, lots of fond memories, and lots of expectations to live up to. However, the bad thing is that over the past few years, Marvel projects—especially on streaming—have left much to be desired. So, a Marvel show releasing somewhat randomly in late January without any big hoopla could lead you to assume the worst. You could very easily assume that Wonder Man wasn’t any good. And, actually, that’s true. Wonder Man isn’t good. It’s freaking fantastic.
Recent Marvel shows have made the conscious decision to, for the most part, detach themselves from the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe. The hope is that audiences who haven’t seen all the movies or shows could tune in and still enjoy the show on its own. So far, the results have been a mixed bag, but those lofty ambitions reach their purest form with Wonder Man, a show that works on so many other levels before you get to its MCU connections; the fact that it’s a Marvel show at all isn’t even the point.
In Wonder Man, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II plays Simon Williams, a struggling actor who has reached a point in his career where he’s just about ready to give it up. We’ve all been there. He’s tried his best, nothing has worked, and he realizes maybe it’s time to face reality and stop chasing an unattainable dream. But, just then, he learns that his favorite movie of all time, a throwback B-grade action movie called Wonder Man, is being remade and its legendary director, Von Kovak (Zlatko Buric), is looking for someone to star. It’s the part Simon was born to play, but can he make it happen?
Oh, and Simon has superpowers that he has to hide; otherwise, he’ll be automatically denied everything he’s ever worked for.
© Marvel Studios
At its heart, that’s what Wonder Man is about. It’s a show about struggle. About chasing your dreams. About creating relationships that help you get there. That happens in the person of Trevor Slattery, played by Sir Ben Kingsley. Slattery is the show’s most obvious and direct connection to the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe because he’s appeared in both Iron Man 3 and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. And if you know that about him, that’s great. But if you don’t, it doesn’t matter because, as we saw in those movies, Trevor is also a struggling actor, which is why he took the role of the Mandarin in the first place. He meets Simon at an audition; the two bond over their struggles and become fast friends.
And so we live and die with Simon and Trevor’s desperate attempts to star in this new mega movie, which, it’s probably only a minor spoiler to reveal, eventually happens. And when it happens, Wonder Man becomes about something else. It becomes a story of ultimate wish fulfillment. We marvel, pun intended, as we watch a character we’ve come to love achieve the most incredible thing he’s ever imagined.
However, as you might expect, things don’t go smoothly for Simon and Trevor. That’s in large part due to Simon’s powers, which, if revealed, would cause a big problem. We assume that’s because of everything people in this world have been through (the Battle of New York, being snapped out of existence, etc.), but there’s more to it. A stunning bottle episode later in the series shows how an actor uses his powers for fame and fortune and why the world will never allow that kind of thing to happen again.
© Marvel Studios
Unfortunately for Simon, though, that is his true self. Yes, he’s an actor. Yes, he’s a human. But he’s also got powers, so he goes through life harboring and hiding this secret that could destroy him, figuratively and literally. And that becomes yet another poignant throughline in Wonder Man: being forced to hide who you really are out of fear.
Simon is a complex character who is portrayed beautifully by Abdul-Mateen II. We’re used to seeing the Watchmen and Aquaman actor as an imposing force, and he brings some of that to this role. But, more so, he’s able to infuse Simon with a heartbreaking innocence that makes you both root for and cry for him as he goes through these trials and tribulations. The performance is only bolstered in tandem with the Oscar-winning Kingsley, who explores and reveals more about Trevor than ever before. Together, they’re a true dynamic duo.
Then, on top of all of that, Wonder Man also works as a show with some meta commentary about Hollywood and superhero fatigue. It’s not the point of the show, but it’s there. And when you put that together with everything else the show is saying and doing, something happens.
© Marvel Studios
There was a point about six episodes into the eight-episode season where I got a horrible feeling. The show is so good, so smart, and so fun that I got this pit in my stomach that there was no way Marvel could pay everything off by the end of the season. I feared that all the goodwill the show had earned might go away because there was too much left to be resolved. I almost didn’t want to watch the rest out of fear that the show would end with some wild cliffhanger for a season two that will never come.
Thankfully, that doesn’t happen. While the show does certainly leave the characters places to go if they do return, for the most part, season one of Wonder Man ends perfectly. It builds to a worthy conclusion that wraps up all the major beats in ways that are satisfying on every level.
Basically, Wonder Man is the perfect case study of what Marvel Studios wants to do with its shows. It tells a relatable, enjoyable, emotional story with lots of great superhero specificity that works whether you know the world of Marvel or not. In fact, I’d argue that not knowing what’s happening outside of this story might even make the show better. Wonder Man doesn’t need Marvel as much as Marvel needs Wonder Man, and if this is all we ever see of these characters, well, that would be the opposite of wonderful. This might just be Marvel’s best and most complete show yet.
All eight episodes of Wonder Man drop January 27 on Disney+.
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