Wonder Man: The MCU Goes Hollywood (Early Review)

Ever since Marvel Television made the choice to start to distance itself from the specific inner workings of the MCU film efforts, the result has been more effective and grounded storytelling that revolves around characters, more so than whatever happened in such and such movie. Focusing those efforts under a new banner, known as ‘Marvel Spotlight,’ 2024’s Echo was its first project, one that was certainly ambitious, but that ambition didn’t necessarily pay off. However, Wonder Man, based on the saga of the titular lesser known comic book character whose real name is Simon Williams. A character with a story running adjacent to Hollywood, Williams, moonlighting as an actor, proves to be an interesting vehicle for some strong meta commentary about the Hollywood system. That being said, still very much a superhero story, as its eight episodes make for a fun pseudo-origin story that is more about Williams than anything else. An unknown actor, he was also unknown to the Department of Damage Control, a department who knew him as a powered individual but not whether he posed a threat. Looming over the proceedings, Williams (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), trying to make ends meet as a working up-and-coming actor, saw his fortunes change upon meeting veteran actor Trevor Slattery (Ben Kinglsey), a name that will be very familiar to longtime fans of the MCU.

Taking place in Los Angeles, California, Williams, going from small job to small job, trying to support himself and prove to his family that he made the right career choice. However, often getting in the way of that career was his overly-cerebral process, getting caught up in his own head while looking to better understand his roles by ascertaining a deeper meaning to his characters, even when there wasn’t meant to be any on the page. Rubbing a lot of people the wrong way, his agent (X Mayo) stood by him, but her patience was wearing thin. Meeting Slattery by chance, the two would strike up a quick friendship, with Slattery offering his decades of knowledge and wisdom, rekindling Williams’ passion for the craft. Meanwhile, Slattery’s reputation, following his most prominent role as The Mandarin, continued to hound him. Nevertheless, both facing bouts of loneliness, the pair found one another at just the right time in their lives, becoming close friends. Helping him to hone in his audition skills and learn to get out of his own head, Williams’ potential big break sprang out of nowhere, or so it seemed. The next big project for Academy Award winning director Von Kovak (Zlatko Buric) was ‘Wonder Man,’ a remake of the 1980s superhero film. A big fan of the original, playing a large part in his childhood, Williams saw it as his big break, making it his mission to secure an audition.

Securing a ‘Wonder Man’ audition, Slattery was there for the same reason, but to audition for Barnaby, a companion character to Wonder Man in the original film. From a different generation, he believed in supporting his fellow actors. Above all else, Wonder Man is at its best when Williams and Slattery are just riffing off of one another. Finding themselves in a series of precarious situations, their dynamic felt similar to that of buddy cops, except with actors. Playing up the contrast between both characters, life experience but more so personalities, for laughs, the strong writing works more often than not, further lifted by the chemistry of Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Ben Kingsley. However, aside from the adventures and the laughs, there was still the story of Simon Williams. A superpowered individual with aspirations of being a big Hollywood actor, his powers could potentially be a detriment to those aspirations, if not managed properly. The series revealed that he was not the first facing the same circumstances. Keeping them hidden from others for so long, this fact perhaps contributed to his loneliness, fearing that he would be exposed and locked away. On the other hand, Slattery, never quite shaking off his role as The Mandarin, that role is all people see, not any of the accomplished actor’s other works. Leading to some awkward exchanges, he got used to it and mostly kept his head down.

While people haven’t forgotten about Slattery and The Mandarin, neither has the Department of Damage Control. Having committed crimes as The Mandarin and been sentenced to lengthy prison time, before escaping in the Marvel One-Shot All Hail the King, the government hasn’t forgotten about him either. Always with the natural instinct for self-preservation, leveraging him against Williams was a relatively easy task. From there, as these situations often go, feelings change the longer two people spend together. Slithering his was deeper into Williams’ inner circle, Slattery became intimate with his internal struggles and the family dynamic and history that led him to who he was today. Leaving him in a conflicted position, the more entrenched he was, the more difficult it was to inform on him, something that did not go unnoticed by Agent Cleary (Arian Moayed), a man whose superiors wanted results.

In the midst of all of this is the making of ‘Wonder Man,’ a commentary on superhero fatigue and the Hollywood machine. Lauded as a genius filmmaker, Kovak was an eccentric director with an unusual process. Submitting to that process, Williams and Slattery went about navigating their way through together, eventually coming out on top. All things considered, whether or not a film would actually be made wasn’t necessarily a sure thing, with the ticking time bomb that was Williams and his unpredictable powers. In the end, with actors, it is all about the next project. Keeping the door open for more, whatever fashion that may be, Williams is just getting started and he wasn’t going to forget those who helped him along the way.

Staying on a grounded level, Wonder Man ultimately gets by on a pure filmmaking level. While not overly flashy, strong directing, writing, and performances work together to craft a compelling character-driven story about a pair of struggling actors pulling themselves back up to face the new set of challenges ahead of them. Banding together to navigate through current day Hollywood and each other’s baggage, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Ben Kingsley were a blast to watch as Simon Williams and Trevor Slattery, the latter being a frequent scene-stealer for his delivery alone. Abdul-Mateen II seamlessly handles both sides of Simon, showing vulnerability when it comes to his internal conflict he’s had all his life about his powers and putting that aside to be the snobby, overthinking actor whose abrasive personality rubbed people the wrong way. Compartmentalizing the two, his breakthrough truly came when those walls came down and he learned to open himself up and live in the moment, something that made him a better actor, and a better person.

Wonder Man is an ambitious series that mostly pays off, crafting a compelling character-driven underdog story in the midst of all the glitz and glamor of Hollywood.

still courtesy of Marvel Television

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.