It's been a year of ups and downs for fans of Simon Williams. Wonder Man launched in January to rave reviews, and a Season 2 renewal followed in March. However, we learned last month that Disney and Marvel Studios had walked back on that and cancelled the series.
There's been speculation that viewership was an issue. Of course, the decision to release all eight episodes on the same day wouldn't have done Simon and Trevor Slattery any favours (like Echo, Wonder Man came and went very quickly).
In a new report from The Ankler, it's revealed that low viewership was indeed what sealed Wonder Man's fate. Disney looked at the cost-effectiveness of bringing the series back for another season, and decided it wasn't worth it.
"Disney recently pulled the plug on Marvel’s Wonder Man four months after renewing the comedy starring Ben Kingsley and the Emmy-nominated Yahya Abdul Mateen II," the site explains. "Multiple sources say Disney ultimately didn’t feel like the viewership for Wonder Man justified the costs associated with doing the show and pulled the plug before a season two writers' room even opened."
Marvel Studios has rarely done wrong over the years, but the cancellation of Wonder Man has been singled out as a real misstep. However, with Disney seemingly cutting streaming spending and the MCU shifting back to a theatrical franchise rather than a streaming one, Simon was clearly a business casualty.
Ultimately, if people didn't tune in, then expecting Disney to spend millions of dollars on another season is a big ask. The show had a decent marketing campaign and earned lead star Yahya Abdul-Mateen II an Emmy nomination for his performance.
However, Wonder Man itself didn't receive any nominations, despite the glowing reviews mentioned above. Marvel Studios now finds itself at something of a turning point with its live-action series, especially as it's struggled to crack the code both with those tied to the movies and largely standalone efforts.
It's also hard to shake the feeling that Marvel Studios might be done with streaming series. Nothing has been announced beyond VisionQuest and Daredevil: Born Again Season 3, and like Star Wars, Disney might be looking to make the MCU a franchise that can only be enjoyed on the biggest screens possible moving forward.
"Yahya Abdul-Mateen II steals the show in this delightfully original two-hander about friendship, acting, and being true to yourself," we wrote in our review. "Wonder Man is the cure to superhero fatigue and the most original MCU TV series since WandaVision."
Wonder Man is now streaming on Disney+.