“Wonder Man” has arrived at Marvel. Not superheroes, but superhero characters. The first full trailer for the Disney+ series stars Emmy Award winner Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Simon Williams, a struggling actor struggling to land the role of his childhood idol Wonder Man. Marvel also announced that Wonder Man, which was originally scheduled to be released in December, will now premiere on the streamer on January 27th.
In the trailer, Simon is shocked when famous film director von Kovac (Zlatko Buric from Superman) announces that he will be remaking the classic Wonder Man, which Simon loved as a child. In his quest to land the role, Simon becomes friends with fellow actor Trevor Slattery (Ben Kingsley), who played the role of infamous international terrorist The Mandarin in 2013’s Iron Man 3. Kingsley reprized his role as Trevor in the 2021 film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, who co-created and executive produced the series and directed the first episode.
Cretton is currently the executive producer on Spider-Man: Brand New Day and co-created the show with Andrew Guest (Hawkeye, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Community), who also served as showrunner. “Wonder Man” co-stars X. Mayo, Demetrius Gross, Arian Moayed, and Olivia Thirlby.
Created in Marvel Comics in 1964 by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Don Heck, Wonder Man is the alias of Simon Williams, the son of wealthy businessman Sanford Williams. After Williams Innovations faces financial difficulties due to competition from Stark Industries, Simon accepts Baron Zemo’s offer to give him Aeon’s superpowers. After spending over a decade as the Avengers’ villain, Simon finally makes a fresh start and becomes a long-time member of the team. Later in his career, Simon became interested in acting and moved to Los Angeles, where he worked as a stuntman and accepted bit-part jobs in blockbusters.
Watch the trailer below.
