Check out our thoughts on every episode of Marvel’s Wonder Man! All photos provided by Disney PR for use in this review.
Hey All!
The first Marvel Studios property getting released for 2026 could possibly be the most unique of the year and maybe the most unique in a long time. We were allowed to watch the entire season of Wonder Man in advance of it’s release. Wonder Man is a Marvel Studios/Marvel Spotlight production and is only the second production released under the Marvel Spotlight “label.”
The previous Marvel Spotlight production was Echo, another very unique production which focused on telling the story of a young antiheroine who was of Native American descent as was also deaf. The Marvel Spotlight productions, with Wonder Man now, seem to be aiming for more grounded themes and struggles which occur in a world of superheroes, magic, and aliens. I think of it as the Fox Searchlight to the Fox Studios productions from the early 2000s.
Wonder Man follows the character of Simon Williams, who does exist in the Marvel Comics but in a very different capacity. Simon Williams is a struggling actor in modern day Hollywood, California and is portrayed by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Aquaman, The Matrix Resurrections) in what I now regard as his best performance I have seen him give to date. The range of humor, drama, charisma, and quietly powerful presence that Yahya brings to the role of Simon Williams is the best showcase of him as a leading man in a major property and I hope people site Wonder Man when considering him for future projects.
Though Yahya is the star, it cannot be understated the contribution that Sir Ben Kingsley (Ghandi, House of Sand and Fog, Iron Man 3) brings to the production. An actor of Ben Kingsley’s ability and regard could have easily stolen any scene from any actor, but his performance is immensely complimentary to both Yahya’s performance and the wild rollercoaster that is the Wonder Man series.
The rest of main cast is Simon Williams’ agent Janelle (X Mayo from The Blackening), the fictional celebrated director Von Kovak (Zlatko Burić from 2025’s Superman), and Arian Moayed (Spider-Man No Way Home) returning as Agent Cleary.
In a standalone episode which has the most visual departure and flare in the series, Byron Bowers (No Sudden Move) appears as another superpowered person named Demarr Davis The Doorman. Two major cameos of actors playing themselves are Joe Pantiliano (The Matrix, The Goonies) and Josh Gadd (Olaf from Disney’s Frozen).
The show’s tone is very reminiscent of HBO’s Entourage with the blending of ridiculous humor, moments of poignant introspection, and celebrity cameos playing exaggerated versions of themselves by their own name. The struggles of an actor in Hollywood to be taken seriously is showcased very well in that the struggles are not just those by having the intense competition for roles but also how an actor can sometimes unintentionally sabotage themselves.
It also explores, in unexpected detail, the process of developing productions. The Studio on Apple TV Plus is another show which looks deep into this detail with a feeling of the same reverence for the art and admitting how ridiculous “the business” can be. That is the kind of show Wonder Man is.
As aforementioned, there is also one standalone episode called Doorman about the character Demarr Davis who is an allegory for exploited people who get 15 minutes of fame and the dangers of not being able to control the up and down spiral that fame throws into one’s life. It may become the most talked about episode of the series and deservingly so.
I was not sure what to expect from Wonder Man, but I am very pleasantly surprised that it was not hiding what it was and not like something the Marvel Studios has done before. Do not begin this show thinking it is covering up some hidden meaning or that there will be an insane and earth-shattering reveal.
This is just good storytelling with a morale tale that just happens to take place in a world where some people have superpowers. And it is not over saturated with superpowers or even special effects. There is no name dropping for the sake of name dropping, except maybe a real-life celebrity or two.
Perhaps the biggest surprise is the handling of the character of Trevor Slattery who first appeared as a joke in Iron Man 3, continued as comedic relief in Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Without changing any aspect of the character, this story and Ben Kingsley’s performance recontextualizes the character. Still very silly, Trevor’s tragedy gets more fleshed out as he becomes a cautionary tale and mentor of sorts for Simon Williams; the has-been actor guiding the rookie into his first big break.
In addition to the actor’s struggle, it should be said that the Marvel element in the story is that Simon Williams does in fact have superpowers and those powers put him on the radar of Damage Control (the government agency which monitors and tries to clean up messes created by super powered individuals which was introduced in the MCU back in Spider-Man Homecoming).
Arian Moayed (Spider-Man No Way Home) reprises his role as Agent Clearly of Damage Control. Agent Clearly is not a villain, just a member of an authoritative agency and he is looking to rise in the ranks by “collaring” a major threat. This makes up the minor story arc in the first season of Wonder Man which could lead to Wonder Man returning (fingers crossed he and the show does).
The best part of the show and its focus is the journey of friendship and fame with Simon and Trevor. Admittedly, I have not read a lot of Wonder Man comics so I cannot say that fans of the character will appreciate this take. I am not sure if anyone will be disappointed at the lack of super heroics.
That is not to say that there is not a heroic moment, but the heroism is more about making good decisions; the battles are internal as each character struggles with their own moral compasses.
Disney Plus will be releasing all eight episodes on January 27th. They are very fast watches as no episode exceeds 35 minutes in length and the pacing is also fast. Do not sleep on watching Wonder Man. Make it your next binge! Wonder Man is an excellent showcase of talent and storytelling that veers away from the more bombastic nature of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and its more grounded, though no less entertaining, the tone is a wonderful and welcome surprise.
Additionally, I will say that there is nothing that is actually inappropriate for younger audiences, but the less explosive nature of the show may be underwhelming for those younger audiences. That’s just a long winded way of saying you can totally watch Wonder Man with the kids in the room but they may not be into it as much as more mature viewers.
