Earlier this month, Screen Geek ran a rumour claiming Aquaman and Watchmen star Yahya Abdul-Mateen II was gearing up to make the leap to the MCU in Wonder Man. Well, it turns out the site was correct as Deadline and the trades are now reporting that he's officially being lined up to play Simon Williams.
News of the series first broke in June, with it later being revealed that Oscar-winning Iron Man 3 and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings star Sir Ben Kingsley will return as Trevor Slattery. That seemingly confirmed the Disney+ series' rumoured Hollywood setting.
As of right now, the belief is Wonder Man will be a TV series and not a standalone Marvel Studios Special Presentation. This is yet another new character being added to the mix in The Multiverse Saga, and it's someone we've been waiting to see for a while now.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings director Destin Daniel Cretton is executive producing Wonder Man with writer Andrew Guest. His credits include hit TV shows like Brooklyn Nine-Nine, 30 Rock, and Community, and Guest is set to serve as Head Writer (a.k.a. showrunner) for Wonder Man. Cretton will executive produce and likely direct a few episodes.
Seeing as Cretton also has Avengers: The Kang Dynasty on the horizon, we can't help but wonder if Wonder Man will be a big part of that movie too.
Wonder Man made his Marvel Comics debut in the pages of Avengers #9 in 1964. Initially a villain, he was later retconned and became a hero (and an Avenger) in the 1970s. His brother is the Grim Reaper, while it was his brainwaves that were used by Ultron as a basis for The Vision (giving them something of a brotherly relationship as well).
Later, Simon Williams assembled alongside the West Coast Avengers and ultimately became a successful actor and stuntman. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 very nearly included a nod to the character's Hollywood background with Nathan Fillion lending his face to some movie posters that didn't make the final cut.
Wonder Man doesn't currently have a release date.
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