A few years ago, there were rumours about actors like Bob Odenkirk and Courteney Cox making cameo appearances in Wonder Man. That obviously didn't happen—and we don't know whether they were ever even approached—but Josh Gad (Frozen) and Joe Pantoliano (Daredevil) end up playing fictionalised versions of themselves.
The former is a longtime rival of Trevor Slattery's, who was supposedly responsible for the "Mandarin" being ousted from a TV series they starred in together called South Shore Hospital. In an undeniably hilarious twist of fate, the finale actually revealed that "Joey Pants" has taken Trevor's role in Wonder Man after his imprisonment.
Josh Gad also appears, playing an over-the-top version of himself who performs an EDM remix of Gad's Frozen song, "In Summer", in a nightclub and later befriends Doorman before vanishing into the Darkforce Dimension, never to be seen again.
Talking to Entertainment Weekly, Wonder Man showrunner Andrew Guest confirmed that Pantoliano's role was originally written without a specific actor in mind.
"We had a list of character actors who are some of the best actors out there who maybe not are household names, but there was such a love from every person at Marvel of so many of these people who've meant so much to so many of us," Guest explained. "And Joey just stood out amongst the crop and was the first person we put a call into."
"The wonderful thing about him is he's got so much to say about [acting and Hollywood]," the writer continued. "He's written several books. He'll talk your ear off about acting and about his thoughts about why he got into the business and where his love of the craft comes from. And we put all of that in the script, and it's really incredible."
Gad, on the other hand, was always who Wonder Man's creative team wanted for that memorable fourth episode. "Josh was the first person we asked," Guest confirmed. "And once he said yes, we got to write it specifically to him. And he just jumped in with both feet. He was so much fun to work with on set."
Director Destin Daniel Cretton added, "Obviously, he's so funny and is a bit of a Disney icon. To be able to take somebody like that, who is known for being so charming and wonderfully sweet and supportive, and have him play a bit of an alter ego — in a lot of ways, he's kind of playing the devil in this episode."
"He's taking somebody who was very happy with his life, who was very content with where he was, and he planted this seed of power of like, 'You're better than this.' He planted this seed that creates a bit of a monster that ends up in a very tragic place. But because it's Josh Gad, it's really funny and really fun to watch."
It's already been confirmed that, if Wonder Man Season 2 happens, we'll learn what became of Gad. As for Doorman, with an origin story and power set not all that different from Cloak & Dagger's Tyrone Johnson, it's hard not to wonder whether Cloak might be the one who finds the Frozen star.
All eight episodes of Wonder Man are now streaming on Disney+.