Has Marvel Made a Series for the Art House Film Lovers with “Wonder Man?”
It’s 2026 and finally time for Marvel to acknowledge that people are tired of superhero movies. We’re also probably tired of hearing about “superhero fatigue.” Enter Wonder Man. It’s the latest miniseries from Marvel and part of Phase Six of MCU. Released under the Marvel Spotlight banner, Wonder Man promises something new for people who want their superhero content to be different. It’s the first time Marvel is reaching out to the snooty, art house film lovers (me) who have always complained about superhero movies. Wonder Man delivers on that olive branch…until it becomes what it was always intended to be: a superhero series.
Simon Williams (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) grew up with the dream of being an actor on the big screen. His dad showed him Wonder Man, a Star Wars-like space fantasy adventure film, as a child, and Simon points to it as the reason he wanted to get into acting. As an adult, it’s been over a decade of acting gigs for Simon that never panned out. A chance encounter with Trevor Slattery (Ben Kingsley), an actor with a long filmography who hasn’t found any recent work, leads Simon to an audition for the remake of Wonder Man that is directed by Von Kovak (Zlatko Burić), a celebrated arthouse director. Simon longs for the role of Wonder Man, but his secret, uncontrollable superpower threatens his acting dreams.
courtesy of Marvel Television
It feels wrong to be upset that Wonder Man goes down the path it was always going to traverse. At the end of the day, it’s a superhero show in a much wider universe of superhero content. It’s not fair to judge the show as something it never claimed to be. The problem is that Marvel has never given a reason to want something more from its shows. The first three episodes are about pretty much everything except superheroes, and that puts the viewer under a spell. This is a story about a struggling actor and the hell he has to go through to get a chance at his dream. Wonder Man lulls the viewer into the same hopeful version like the one in La La Land. This is a city that will always try to beat you down, but there’s nothing like a callback that could change your life.
The chemistry between Simon and Trevor is the heart and soul of Wonder Man. These are two men at different points in their careers. They don’t have a lot in common, but they share a profound love for acting. It’s lovely to see the passion that fuels them. There is palpable joy when they share in the creation of their craft, both on the level of the characters in the film and then the meta level of Abdul-Mateen II and Kingsley. They’re grounded actors playing actors desperate for their break, but also just so happy for the chance to make something. Wonder Man is a love letter to the pursuit of a dream and all that comes with it. It’s a small shame that this is, at the end of the day, bound by the confines of being a superhero show.
Marvel Television
“Human and spectacular. That’s where this movie needs to live,” Von Kovak says, describing what he envisions for the remake of Wonder Man. That’s where the beauty of the Wonder Man series lives as well. To be human is to be spectacular. As a genre, superhero movies are loud, out of control, and otherworldly, but the real magic lies in the humanity of reaching for a dream. Of a passion that’s so wholly fulfilling that it drives someone to wake up every single day and try, even though they could fail.
Simon looks at acting as an immense process. He has to prepare and reflect on the entirety of the character before he can begin to perform. Trevor is less about preparation and more about focusing on being present in the moment when he acts. Trevor tells Simon that “the real work is living.” When Wonder Man is about superheroes, it’s standard Marvel fare. When Wonder Man isn’t bogged down by the superhuman antics of its inherent premise, it’s a magnificent ode to the creative pursuit. What a shame this isn’t the focus of the entire series.
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