Marvel Studios is kicking off its 2026 slate with Wonder Man, a Disney+ series that’s dropping all eight episodes at once. In many ways, that method feels wholly unfair to the creatives behind the show as well as fans who welcome a more “appointment viewing/let ’em cook” approach to streaming content versus a “binge/marathon watch.” However, after viewing all eight episodes of Wonder Man, it sorta makes sense to release the entire series at once.
Other shows like Stranger Things have a spaghetti of plot lines and major twists that warrant stretching it out over time. But Wonder Man tells a decidedly grounded and oft-weird friendship story about self-actualization, reconciling the past, and the merits of opening your heart to what is unfamiliar or seemingly impossible. Does it do that well? Both yes and no. As a buddy comedy, this show excels but as a superhero origin story, it fails to take flight.
It is a story that, in fact, did not even take eight episodes to tell. Despite a tight 30-minute runtime for most of the episodes (with the exception of one clocking in closer to 20 minutes sans credits), Wonder Man somehow found time to toss in a humorous yet wholly unnecessary filler episode about an even lesser known Marvel Comics character. After reflection, it would have worked better as a straight to streaming film versus what I assume is a one season only series.
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is unsurprisingly brilliant as Simon Williams, a struggling actor hoping to land a big role as the titular superhero in Wonder Man, a reboot of one of his favorite childhood films. Simon hides behind an emotional wall, partially due to his secret and destructive super powers that can level a building to its foundation. Triggering moments, anger, and nervousness are typically the culprits behind his explosiveness, so he shies away from deeper connections, choosing to dive into his work. His guarded persona causes him to live in his head and overthink waayyyy too much, which costs him his girlfriend, a closer relationship with his family, and quite a few good gigs.
That changes when he meets Trevor Slattery (played by the incomparable Sir Ben Kingsley), whom we’ve all seen previously in the MCU. He’s the actor who played the terrorist known as the Mandarin in Iron Man 3. Slattery seeks out Williams for his own self-serving yet totally valid reasons but finds an unexpected friendship along the way. Wonder Man’s adventures of Simon and Trevor are when the show is at its best. Two guys from completely different backgrounds trying to feel their way through a big audition and inadvertently getting into shenanigans along the way is a fun and fresh take on MCU life.
From trying to find a quiet place to film a video to running from thugs and going on a dummy mission to retrieve a motorcycle, zipping around the Los Angeles area in a beat up Toyota Camry, and coming to terms with their faults, their adventures were quite the delightful ride. And, on a deeper level, finding connection and camaraderie with someone who understands your greatest love (in this case acting) and diving into the intricacies of that is incredible special. But, Wonder Man also chooses to dive into commentary about the politics and hierarchies of Hollywood and the entertainment business, which simply isn’t as interesting. These scenes put a dampener on what’s otherwise a joyous ride.
And, of course, there’s the superheroness of it all. How does this series interweave Simon’s super abilities and how they affect his desire to become an A-list actor? The answer: not in a way that’s all that interesting. In a world where superheroes are not allowed to work as full-time actors after a shocking on-set incident, the series could have easily taken Simon’s journey down a few different routes.
He could have been spending his days working as an actor (perhaps still doing day player work but wanting more, like in this series) to fund his secret moonlighting as an actual superhero. There’s always some conflict and the potential of being outed as a superpowered dude, which would cause him to lose it all. Slattery still could’ve fit into this narrative well as he tries to ascertain what’s really going on with Simon. Alternatively, he could have had a known status as a superhero that leads to his booming acting career and he must reconcile both lives to see what actually matters when the stakes are high.
Or, even better, Simon is a successful actor who plays a superhero until his career goes up in smoke because he has powers and then he actually tries his hand at being a superhero for real. That’s a fun journey that still showcases him as an actor yet also gives his super powers time to really shine. Instead, the series acknowledges that he has powers, yet we can count the number of times they actually come into play. And usually, its not in a way that has a profound effect on his story outside of his interpersonal relationships.
Weirdly, this show doesn’t bother to even explore how those powers came to be despite this being an origin story. Simon simply tells Trevor that he doesn’t know, not offering any confirmation about when he learned about his abilities. Even the life-shifting accident that left his family divided doesn’t get the fleshing out that it should’ve. And, up until the literal last minutes of the finale, we don’t even get to see the full extent of what he can do with said powers. Save for one incident, the stakes of him being “found out” are virtually nonexistent. So it leaves you wondering what is really the point of him even having powers to begin with. In this case, I’d rather have the buddy comedy that leads to an incident where he gains abilities.
RELATED ARTICLEWonder Man’s Comics History Points to a ‘Hollywood Hero’ SeriesFor those who are looking for major connections to the MCU at large and in-depth Easter eggs, you won’t find them here. It’s a Marvel Spotlight show, which indicates that Wonder Man won’t have a major connection to what’s coming in the films of Phase 6. Considering Wonder Man’s comic book history, place in the Avengers collective, and close ties to Tony Stark as well as Vision and Wanda, it simply feels like he came into the MCU a few years too late and no one was totally sure what to do with him.While we cannot rule out his return in some fashion, the ending of this series doesn’t give us much faith in his future. And that’s a shame! Yahya gave this role a whole lot more than what was presumably on paper, proving just how good of an actor he is. And damn did he look good when he finally got to don a proper superhero outfit.So, if you’re looking for something super, Wonder Man won’t give you that. But, if you’re down for a duo who gets into hijinks, tries to understand deep feels, and one of who happens to have a very, ahem, explosive response to inconveniences, then you’ll find something to enjoy in this series that should’ve been a streaming movie. Wonder Man ⭐ (3 of 5)
All eight episodes of Wonder Man will stream on Disney+ on January 27.
The post WONDER MAN Is Good at Buddy Comedy, Not Great at Superhero Storytelling (Review) appeared first on Nerdist.
This articles is written by : Nermeen Nabil Khear Abdelmalak
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