Marvel’s Wonder Man is packed with Easter eggs, cameos, and deep connections to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Some are obvious, while others are cleverly hidden.
Who better to highlight Easter eggs than the show’s production designers, Cindy Chao and Michelle Yu?
The limited series, currently streaming on Disney+, stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Simon Williams, an aspiring actor with supernatural powers. Hollywood aspiring Simon is touring his familiar Los Angeles studios, restaurants, and movie theaters in hopes of appearing in a reboot of the superhero film Wonder Man.
When Simon is at the Highland Park theater, She-Hulk makeup, Hulk protein powder, and even Kingo appear on the movie poster. For Chao and Yu, this series provided many opportunities to instill teasers that gave fans a lot to discover. Here are some of their favorites.
Simon’s license plate and his apartment
Yu enjoyed reading about the Easter eggs fans found. But the thing she loves and misses the most is Simon’s license plate.
“His car’s license plate number references the cartoon mutant’s ID number,” she says. “I was sure we would all get caught.”
Additionally, Simon lives in Apartment 9, which Yu says is “inspired by the issue in which ‘Wonder Man’ first appeared.” He first appeared in Avengers #9 in October 1964. She further added, “All the numbers and addresses that appeared in the series either referenced comic book issue numbers or existing numbers in the MCU associated with Simon Williams or the creators of Wonder Man.”
great lakes avengers
The “Doorman” episode features DeMar Davis, a founding member of the Great Lakes Avengers. DeMar’s code name is “Doorman” and he is played by Josh Gad. “The doorman had a map of the Great Lakes in his apartment,” Yu said.
Journey to Asgard
On the LAX set of Episode 2, a poster in the background advertises a trip to Asgard. Chao said the posters were beautifully designed by graphic designer Sarah Gonzalez. “She put together a diagram of what Asgard would look like in each region, so the set had a little homage to that planet.”
Trevor Slattery’s apartment
Yu’s personal favorite is the Shang-Chi Easter egg in Trevor’s apartment. When designing the space, Yu began thinking about Trevor’s relationship with his pet Morris, and what happened to this mythical creature. “Something must have happened, but I think Trevor would have had something on hand to remind him of Morris,” Yu said.
The idea was that there needed to be something to remind people of Morris. “When you look at the footstool, it appears on the screen for a moment.” “This is a fur-covered footstool. We tried to give it six legs. We don’t know if it ended up with six legs, but we have a small footstool in his apartment as a tribute to Morris. We think Morris kept it on hand to remind him of his great friend.”
A tribute to Los Angeles
Since the show was set in Los Angeles, Chao and Yu wanted to pay homage to the city they love. A favorite was the recreation of the iconic freeway mural along Route 101. Chao especially loved the mural, which featured Greek statues floating in space. She said, “We did our version of that mural. When they ran out of the hotel, you could see our version of the mural. This was the tiled version, and you could see it in one of the background shots.”
colby poster
Fluorescent inks and bold typography defined Colby Poster Co.’s art. The now-defunct poster company is celebrated throughout the show. Yu explains, “It was a very accessible and inexpensive way for companies to create advertising, and the design was very intuitive. The printing press operator took notes on the desired text, and all design decisions were made in-house at the printing press.”
Graphic designer Sara Gonzalez has once again helped pay homage to the posters of yesteryear. They appear throughout the show.
Yu says: “We gave her all this research material and recreated this look. As you can see in some of the posters, they were always meant to be backgrounds. They were never going to have a front and center moment, but they’re there.”
Tribute to film staff
This is a blink-and-you-miss-it moment. Yu said that during the car chase scene through the Hollywood Palladium, they “did a little photo shoot with some of the staff working in LA. We shot the staff’s band members as if they were playing the next show. We drove right past and couldn’t identify who it was, but that’s what we did.”
In addition, there are wanted posters on the walls of the DODC (Department of Loss Control) offices. The faces belong to various friends.
Simon’s father, chef
Part of Simon’s backstory is that his father died, but not many details were given. However, before his death, it was decided that his father would be a chef and open a restaurant.
Yu says, “It was part of how they built community as a family. We wanted a little hint that he was a chef. We wanted to incorporate something in the dressing set in Martha’s (his mother, played by Shola Adewusi) kitchen, that was indicative of what his father used to do. We framed the chef’s hat that his father would have worn.”
One detail Yu was happy to add was a framed paper tri-fold menu. “The list of dishes was typical of the style of Haitian food that his father would have cooked, while the restaurant’s logo was a replica of the logo of a restaurant my family owned in the ’90s. When the opportunity came that Simon’s father is a chef, I thought, ‘Can I put a little bit of my reality in there?'” These personal touches give people another layer of reality, Yu says.
