Wonder Man (miniseries)

Wonder Man is an American television miniseries created by Destin Daniel Cretton and Andrew Guest for the streaming service Disney+, based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. It is the 17th television series in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) from Marvel Studios and was produced under its Marvel Television label. Sharing continuity with the films of the MCU, the series follows actors Simon Williams and Trevor Slattery as they try to land roles in a remake of the film Wonder Man. Guest served as showrunner.

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II stars as Simon Williams, alongside X Mayo, Zlatko Burić, Ben Kingsley (Slattery), Arian Moayed, Joe Pantoliano, Byron Bowers, and Josh Gad. In December 2021, Cretton signed an overall deal with Marvel Studios to create television series for Disney+, with a comedy series already in development at that point. Two different ideas about actors, one centered on Simon Williams and the other on Trevor Slattery, were combined into a single series which was reported as Wonder Man in June 2022, with Guest involved and Cretton directing episodes. Kingsley was set to return from previous MCU media in August and Abdul-Mateen joined the cast that October. Filming began in April 2023 on location in Los Angeles, with James Ponsoldt, Tiffany Johnson, and Stella Meghie also directing episodes. Production was shut down in May due to the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike, and resumed by early January 2024. Filming concluded that March and post-production ended around September. The series was officially announced by Marvel Studios a month later.

Wonder Man was released in its entirety on Disney+ on January 27, 2026, and consists of eight episodes. It is part of Phase Six of the MCU, and was released under the "Marvel Spotlight" banner. The series' release was delayed by over a year due to the strike and changes to Marvel's release schedule. It received positive reviews from critics.

Premise

In the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), superpowered individuals are banned from working in Hollywood by the Doorman Clause. Struggling actor Simon Williams, who secretly has superpowers, forms an unlikely friendship with Trevor Slattery as the pair attempt to land roles in a remake of the in-universe superhero film Wonder Man.

Cast

• Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Simon Williams:
  A struggling actor who auditions for the lead role in the remake of an in-universe Wonder Man film. Simon has ionic energy-based superpowers, giving him superhuman strength and the ability to create explosions. Showrunner Andrew Guest and Marvel Studios executive Brian Gay explained that Simon just wants to be an accomplished actor and does not care about his powers, which he does not fully understand. Simon has to hide his powers due to the Doorman Clause which bans superpowered individuals from working in the Marvel Cinematic Universe's (MCU) fictional version of Hollywood. Abdul-Mateen approached the way that the character's powers are "bottled up" like someone with anger management issues. He was drawn to Simon's awkwardness, passion for acting, and relatability, and appreciated being able to explore a character with depth, including through his relationship with his Haitian family, while still being able to do some "superpower stuff every once in a while". Kameron J. Meadows portrays a young Simon.
• X Mayo as Janelle Jackson: Simon's agent
• Zlatko Burić as Von Kovak: The director of the Wonder Man remake. Guest said he is a combination of filmmakers Werner Herzog, Krzysztof Kieślowski, Paul Thomas Anderson, and Christopher Nolan.
• Ben Kingsley as Trevor Slattery:
  An experienced actor who took on the guise of terrorist leader the Mandarin before being kidnapped by Xu Wenwu's Ten Rings organization. Executive producer Brad Winderbaum said the series concludes a trilogy for Slattery following the MCU films Iron Man 3 (2013) and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021). In Wonder Man, Slattery returns to Hollywood after the events of those films hoping to find a second chance and live up to his mother's hopes for him as an actor. Gay said the series would show Slattery taking ownership for his past behavior. Guest compared Slattery to Chauncey Gardiner from the film Being There (1979) and the title character of the film Forrest Gump (1994), saying he gets "caught up in bigger-picture things". Winderbaum described the character's arc in the series as sincere, earnest, and uncynical, with Kingsley adding that Slattery gets pulled in two directions by the story. Some of Slattery's backstory is shown, based on ideas that Kingsley developed when he was first cast as the character for Iron Man 3.
• Arian Moayed as P. Cleary: A Department of Damage Control (DODC) agent who considers Simon to be a threat
• Joe Pantoliano as a fictional version of himself:
  Pantoliano co-starred with Slattery in the in-universe series South Shore Hospital and is seen as a rival by Slattery. He represents what Slattery could have been if he made different life choices. Pantoliano ultimately replaces Slattery in the in-universe Wonder Man film, a joke that was inspired by the film The Player (1992).
• Byron Bowers as DeMarr Davis / Doorman:
  A former doorman at the Wilcox Club in Los Angeles who is transported to a door-filled dimension. This gives him the ability to phase through solid matter, and for objects to teleport by passing through his body. After becoming an actor, Davis's powers cause an on-set incident that lead to the creation of the Doorman Clause. Guest saw Davis as a cautionary tale for the kind of acting career that Simon could end up with.
• Josh Gad as a fictional version of himself:
  A conceited, ultra-famous actor who befriends Davis and gets him into acting. Gad disappears inside Davis, leading to the creation of the Doorman Clause. Director and co-creator Destin Daniel Cretton thought it was funny to take a "Disney icon" and turn him into the devil on Davis's shoulder. The series does not reveal where Gad goes, but the production did record dialogue of Gad living inside Davis.

Additional cast members include: Ashley Greene as a fictional version of herself; Béchir Sylvain as Sanford Williams, Simon's late father who took him to see the original Wonder Man film when he was a child; Olivia Thirlby as Vivian, an actress and Simon's ex-girlfriend; Phumzile Sitole as Lauren, the director of the American Horror Story episode Simon is fired from; Jon A. Abrahams as Frank Preminger, Davis's agent; Dane Larsen as Brent Willard, the actor who played the title character in the original Wonder Man; Shola Adewusi as Martha Williams, Simon's mother; Demetrius Grosse as Eric Williams, Simon's "stable" older brother who works in insurance; Dan Donohue as DODC Deputy Secretary Heyerdahl; Charlotte Ross as Bridget, owner of the Wilcox Club; Mario Lopez as a fictional version of himself who hosts Hot Goss; Joseph D. Reitman as Patrick Connor, a drug dealer who Slattery owes money to; Brandon Wardell as Jayden, someone who records Simon using his powers; Carlito Olivero as Esteban, Jayden's chamoy-making business partner; Bradley Tejeda, Alex Polcyn, Carlos Leal, and Simon Templeman respectively as Olly, Jake, Manuel, and Richard, all actors auditioning for a role in the Wonder Man remake; Juliette Ortega as Melanie, Kovak's assistant; Lauren Weedman as The New York Times reporter Kathy Friedman; Blake Robbins as Chuck Eastman, a DODC worker whom Simon shadows to gain access to the prison where Slattery is held; and Torrey Vogel as a DODC agent.

Episodes

Production

Development

While working on the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021), director Destin Daniel Cretton and Marvel Studios producer Jonathan Schwartz joked about making a television series centered on the character Trevor Slattery, an actor who was introduced posing as terrorist leader the Mandarin in the film Iron Man 3 (2013). Schwartz had the art department create a mock poster for a potential series called Trevor Goes to Hollywood, and Cretton was excited about pursuing the idea. By that time, Marvel Studios producers Stephen Broussard and Brian Gay were already developing a series set in Hollywood that would be centered on the Marvel Comics character Simon Williams / Wonder Man. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige wanted to invert the character's comic book background, where he is a superpowered industrialist who happens to be an actor, instead making the character an actor who happens to have superpowers and believes they are an impediment to his acting. Brad Winderbaum, Marvel Studios' head of streaming, television, and animation, said both ideas followed an actor's journey in Hollywood and naturally merged into a "two-hander" series featuring Simon and Slattery. Feige and Cretton approached Slattery actor Ben Kingsley about the series soon after Shang-Chi premiered in August 2021.