This is the first time I truly enjoyed a show and found myself asking so many questions. Wonder Man feels like a sure fire hit that Marvel and Disney did not have any faith in. Why do I say this? Wonder Man is a self aware character study that gives Ben Kingsley a chance to finish the redemption arc of a Marvel Cinematic Universe character that was a joke. Wonder Man gives us a new character to love in Simon Williams. However a season dump will hurt the overall impact this show has on the fanbase and leaves me with the question, what’s next for Simon Williams?

Wonder Man was created by Destin Daniel Cretton (who directed Shang- Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and the upcoming Spider-Man: Brand New Day) and showrunner Andrew Guest, based on the character created by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee. Cretton is showing a real passion and understanding of Marvel characters and after watching this 8 episode series, my excitement for Spider-Man: Brand New Day is high. Wonder Man is not a superhero origin story, throughout the whole series we have one fight. Instead, its a human story about someone hiding their powers to achieve a dream of theirs. This is why this gives me hope for the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe films with quality but also a little concern for the tv show side of the universe. Outside of Daredevil: Born Again is there interest and space for more Marvel shows?

Outside of the questions that came from the series finale of this show and questioning the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a whole, I want to focus on how good this show is. Over the last 2 decades, the greatest strength of Marvel Studios has been casting. Yahya Abdul- Mateen II continues that trend of perfect casting for Simon Williams. At one point in the series Simon is told, “You were born for this role.” I feel like this was a meta way of addressing his casting. The premise of Wonder Man is that Simon is a struggling actor that needs to find that major role, however he overthinks too much and needs to hide his superpower due to the Doorman Clause (An industry wide ban of superpower beings in acting). On his journey, Simon stumbles onto a familiar face, Trevor Slattery. Trevor is looking for redemption after his role of The Mandarin (side note, only homework for this show is Iron Man 3). Trevor tells Simon about this big audition for the remake of Wonder Man. This is the beginning of a friendship and mentorship for Trevor and Simon, the whole season is basically Trevor helping Simon become a better actor and human being.

The Department of Damage Control and self doubt seem to be the antagonists in Wonder Man. The Department of Damage Control has played a big part in the MCU since Spider-Man No Way Home and Ms. Marvel, they act as law enforcement on the supernatural and super beings. Self doubt follows Simon throughout the whole show, as Simon is never comfortable and due to this, he has no support system outside of his mom. Trevor presents Simon with something he has lacked his entire life, a friend. Hence the title of this article, Wonder Man does something unexpected, it shows how important having a friend or friends can be for ones own mental health. This got to me, as someone that was never comfortable with myself until meeting likeminded people and creating friendships through nerd culture. I saw myself in Simon and for the first time in a while I cared more about character development over a big action piece in a Marvel production.

Wonder Man reminds me of She Hulk: Attorney at Law with the sitcom setting, however, the pacing and storytelling is way better. Each episode flows into telling one story about Simon and Trevor, there is no filler. Episode 4 is the only episode that does not focus on Simon and Trevor, instead this episode provides background on why superheroes are banned from acting in Hollywood. As She Hulk: Attorney at Law and even Wandavison played as tribute to classic sitcoms, Wonder Man is a love letter to Hollywood and Los Angeles. It explores the success and failures of being an actor in Hollywood, the impacts of being an overnight success to the grind of a struggling actor trying to make it.

Wonder Man will not be everyone’s cup of tea, those looking for a superhero show like Moon Knight or the world building like Loki, this is not that show. I saw someone compare this to a low budget independent film like that of Swingers and have not been able to remove that comparison from my brain. When the credits rolled for the finale, I was overall happy with the story and show, but it left me with doubts that we will see Simon again. As a fan of the MCU, I know that critical response does not matter and its how the fans react. Wonder Man is brilliant, funny and shows that we can tell human stories in this universe. However I would not be surprised if the average and even hardcore fans skip out on this.

I watched the final four episodes twice and even knowing where the story goes, I still had a lot of fun rewatching it. A future article and youtube (please subscribe to our channel!) discussion will be ranking the MCU shows and I wouldn’t be surprised if I put this among my favorites. There are shows within the universe that have bigger impact for the overall MCU, but Wonder Man is just the slice of life that grounds the MCU.