When it comes to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I tend to let a lot of the shows and movies get away with murder. In the sense that I just love seeing what my superheroes are up to, even if some of their outings don’t make the most sense. Luckily, my dedicated leads to gifts like Wonder Man.
Simon Williams (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) is a working actor in Los Angeles. But he has a secret: He has superpowers and doesn’t want anyone to know. The catch? He’s going through the process of trying to audition to play his favorite superhero on the big screen. A new adaptation of the movie Wonder Man is being made by critically acclaimed director Von Kovak (Zlatko Burić) and the rest is history.
What makes Wonder Man such a fun show for me is incredibly nerdy. But not in the way that you’d think with a superhero show. It isn’t about the comics or the history of the character for me though. This show is incredibly nerdy about acting. And as someone who has an acting degree, getting to see the show go that nerdy in terms of an actor’s process delighted me.
For most of the MCU, the “nerdy” aspects of these properties comes from the superhero of it all. But Wonder Man gives us a look at a more grounded series. There is still the “MCU” moments. Particularly with characters like Trevor Slattery (Sir Ben Kinsley) and Agent P. Cleary (Arian Moayed). For the most part though, Destin Daniel Cretton and company allow Wonder Man to be unique, grounded, and a lot of fun.
Get ready to be nerdy about acting!
Often, the process of acting is something that intrigues me. How does an actor get into their role? What method do they use? But it is rare that you get to see that applied to a film or television show, especially within the Marvel universe. Luckily, Wonder Man allows Simon’s more nerdy qualities about his profession to shine.
So much of this show is rooted in Simon’s love for acting and storytelling. And you forget while watching that the show is connected back to the MCU. It is a Marvel Spotlight series, meaning it is more standalone and a more grounded series overall. But it really works to allow Wonder Man to be unique and fun and not find some way to bring it back to the MCU at large.
That being said, I left this series hoping that this was far from the last time we’d see Simon. I don’t yet know how he’d play in with the larger Marvel world quite yet but the show does make him charming (all thanks to Abdul-Mateen’s performance).
But there is one thing we all should be able to agree on with Wonder Man: It is a lot of fun and what these “Spotlight” series should be. Luckily this one just feels like a breath of fresh air for the Marvel Cinematic Universe and is well worth the watch.
Wonder Man will release all six episodes on January 27.
(featured image: Disney+)
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