Wonder Man

Hey everyone, and welcome. Today, we will be talking about the show Wonder Man. Fun Fact: Wonder Man made his debut in the Avengers #9 in 1964 and was originally presented as a villain. This show premiered in 2026 and stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Ben Kingsley, and X Mayo and was created by Destin Daniel Cretton and Andrew Guest. So without further ado lets get right into it.

Wonder Man follows Simon Williams, who is trying to become an actor, but he has powers that he is trying to keep a secret because superpowered people can’t be actors. When the role of a lifetime arises to be the lead in a remake of Wonder Man, he attempts to land it and work with legendary director Von Kovak. Meanwhile, the Department of Damage Control has its eye on him, but doesn’t have proof that he is a bad guy, so they ask Trevor Slattery to help prove that he is a villain. As the season goes on, Simon and Trevor build a friendship that makes Trevor question whether what he is doing is right.

Wonder Man is a superhero show that shows the struggles of being an actor while adding the extra stress of hiding these abilities and having the government breathing down your neck. It has similar vibes to The Incredibles, La La Land, or X-Men '97.

Wonderman had an interesting premise because I was like, how could you be an actor and hide that you have powers? This made me more intrigued in watching. The show answers that and introduces us to a character, but it’s a love letter to LA, and I guess the entertainment industry, showing how even though you are doubted by many, some people will believe in you, but most importantly, don’t lose faith in yourself. There are so many heroes in the MCU whose secret identity is known to everybody, so I do wonder if he will manage to still keep his under wraps except for a couple of people.

Simon Williams, played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, is great as this superpowered man who is not looking to be a hero and just has this dream to be an actor. He was really good at stress management cause there were plenty of times I could imagine someone with his abilities causing so much damage due to what he was experiencing, and even when he blew up, he kept it contained.  It was cool seeing how his acting dreams actually came from Wonder Man after seeing it with his dad, and how his dad really passed on the excitement of movies. It’s interesting to see how he struggles with hiding his powers because they are tied to his emotions, and he doesn’t want to hurt anyone or get blackballed from acting. I think his hiding his ability does make him seem closed off, and he tries to prove that he is the best, and maybe one day he can prove that it’s not an issue.

I will say that every scene with Simon adding notes to a director or writer made him seem annoying and cost him jobs. I’m glad Trevor helped him to tone this down so he wouldn’t lose more jobs. I get wanting to do the performance justice, but you sometimes have to go with the flow because you are disposable and they will get rid of you.

I loved seeing more into Simon’s background and his Haitian family. I did wish we could know if they knew about his powers and how his family kept them hidden, and maybe its origins. It was cool seeing the family at a party and seeing how they get together and have these events, and show up for each other. It’s interesting to see how his mom always supported him, and his brother wanted him to get a "real" job, which is probably familiar to people trying to get into acting or any creative pursuit, because you’ll always have a hater that doesn’t appreciate the dream as you do. Even though he and his brother have their differences, one thing that Simon underestimates is his brother’s loyalty to family, because when the reporter comes, he thinks his brother told her about his powers, and his brother actually said nice things about him. I did think this was something I noticed in some minority families, when there is an issue with two family members, it’s an issue dealt with within the family, not something that people bring in outside people to make the situation worse. I love that by the end, his brother saw the vision that their dad had for Simon, and of course, his mom was there, which was no shock since she was his biggest fan.

Simon mentioned that he hides his powers because of Demarr "Doorman" Davis,  played by Byron Bowers, and we don’t understand that at first, but we later learn that he was a superpowered individual who could phase through solid matter, and if people went through him, they could phase through solid matter. Demarr was a doorman who got his powers from a substance coming out of a Roxxon trashcan, which may seem random but Roxxon in a evil corporation that came up in Cloak and Dagger and Spider-Man: Miles Morales. The issue is one actor, the famous Josh Gad, who makes an appearance, goes in, and never comes out. It’s sad before this event because we see how people only want to use him for his powers, and his success is tied to that, not his acting abilities. He tries to show that he is more than that, but it isn’t working. With the Josh Gad incident, everyone turns on the doorman, who is now held by the DODC, and a clause is made that sets with super powered people need insurance, which is expensive, so people decide not to hire them. I do want to know more about him and what they are actually doing with him.

Trevor Slattery is played by Ben Kingsley, who has been around in the MCU since Iron Man 3, and every time I see him, I find him funny. This season gives him a little more depth, and we see how he is trying to turn his life around, but he is conflicted on whether what he is doing is correct since he learns that Simon actually isn’t a threat and the DODC is just looking for someone to add to their prison. I’m glad that in the end he knows to get them off Simon’s back; he needs to make a big gesture, which is bringing back the mandarin and taking blame for it all, which is sad cause he’s trying to escape that persona. I’m glad in the end Simon saves him because he knows the truth about the situation and has had time to think about it.

Trevors betrayal was known by us but not to Simon, which is an example of Dramatic Irony. We see how every interaction was planned and how the DODC said to do it this way, and Trevor said no, he would see through that, and gave them hints on how to handle this.  I love how the NYT reporter poked a hole in his albi which made Simon also question the entire situation. I really like how Simon didn’t stumble upon it or Trevor being a better person and admitting it, but this reporter, who is known for exposing people realizing his story didn’t add up. I just love the scene because Trevor had been so chill and relaxed, and you could see him being more snappy since he was trying to hide his lies. It’s sad to see Simon realizing it, too, after not only being so vulnerable with Trevor but also after him feeling that his ex or his brother would tell about his abilities, which they did not even though he didn’t have a great relationship with them.

I loved seeing Simon and Trevor’s friendship, even though we knew that Trevor was betraying him. It’s nice to see two people on opposite ends of their careers and how they actually help each other get a part of a lifetime. I knew they would get the part, but it was really nice to see them both get their respective parts and come out on top. Even though Trevor isn’t in the movie, he still makes an impact on Simon enough for Simon to risk his career to save him. One thing I noticed with both of them is that they are running from their past, and they need to go ahead and face it because it’s messing up their present-day life. For Trevor, that’s the Mandarin and paying for his crimes, and for Simon its his powers, and realizing that just because it’s a secret doesn’t mean it’s a negative in his life. They help each other, and by the end of the season, they both make leaps that I never thought they would.

I wish we got more insight into the Department of Damage Control. We’ve seen P. Cleary in other projects, but it’s still a mystery if they are government or privately owned, if they are replacing the raft, and who is in their prison. It just seems like they are getting more and more important, but I feel like, over the course of different projects, I didn’t know they would be this important, and still don’t know how much power they actually have.

Speaking of the DODC, there is a moment where they are in a meeting discussing prisons and how they are half empty, and they need to be filled. It seems to mirror the American prison-industrial complex, which shows the relationships between imprisonment and people who profit from it. The conversation wasn’t a happy one about having fewer criminals; it’s oh, we have empty cells, so they need to be filled because it looks like we don’t have people in there. They target Simon and he doesn’t have a criminal background; he just has powers and is black. I don’t think it’s an accident that Wonder Man is a black man whom they are trying to send to prison, because in real life, with info gathered from the national registry of exonerations, more than half of the exonerations between 1989 and 2022 were black. I think the show highlights that even when you haven’t done anything, you could be targeted just because of how you look, and people are watching, just waiting for you to slip up, which is a real problem in the show and in the real world.

My favorite part was when Simon was stressed about being more vulnerable and opening up, but didn’t want people to know about the powers, and Trevor tells him the real you is the sum of everything you have experienced. When actors share their pain, grief, joy, the audience is less alone in theirs. I feel like often when people think back on things they can only think about the negative and fail to balance out the negative and positive that they have experienced and I think with Simon in he thinks about the biggest negative to him which is his powers because they will stop him from doing his real dream of being an actor but he also is not realizing that his life is much more. While Trevor is saying that he is more, I think it’s important to note that he isn’t telling him to be ashamed of his powers, but that that’s not only him; he’s multifaceted. I feel like it helps Simon, but also helps us understand the actor’s role in society and why they are so important.

Wonder Man is a great intro into this character while leaving more open to explore. I wonder if Simon will change the doorman clause or potentially save him in the future. I hope we get more soon because I really enjoyed this show and learning about this powerhouse that I hadn’t heard about before.