Marvel Television's Wonder Man arrives on Disney+ later this month, and with an all-star cast and creative team, it stands a chance of being a sleeper hit in 2026.
A new TV spot for the series has just been released, emphasising that it's down to Simon Williams to save Hollywood...where superpowers are currently banned. With the Department of Damage Control hot on his heels, can Simon do the right thing and become an A-lister in the process?
That (and a tongue-in-cheek nod to "superhero fatigue) appears to be the main focus of this series, and whether it's enough to keep fans hooked over 8 episodes is the biggest question right now. All signs point to Wonder Man being largely standalone, meaning the show isn't necessarily setting the stage for Simon to assemble alongside The Avengers, for example.
Wonder Man comes from the tail end of Marvel Studios' Disney-mandated "quantity over quality" era, but the hope is that the series—which began production in early 2023—will deliver.
Trevor Slattery also features in this new preview, and Ben Kingsley recently teased his role in Wonder Man. "[Trevor] manages to escape from the real Mandarin and from Shang-Chi land, and he flies back into Hollywood to give his career a second chance and to prove to his dear mother Dorothy, who always had faith in him and his talents, that he was truly the actor his mom always hoped he would be and that he always aspired to be."
"And a series of extraordinary events place him exactly in that space, which crowns him and compromises him at the same time," the actor continued. "He's pulled in two directions at the same time." As a result, Trevor will be "faced with a terrible dilemma: he can reach his ambition, but it's at a terrible cost. He has a choice to make — it's fascinating."
"[Trevor] sees in Simon a friend, a colleague, but he also sees Simon as someone he can absolutely exploit for his own ends. It's quite a classic, basic human condition story. You are associated with somebody and you have an affinity with that person, but at the same time, you know that you're going to have to exploit that person to get to where you need to be," Kingsley concluded.
Check out this new TV spot for Wonder Man in the player below.
Wonder Man is created by Destin Daniel Cretton (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Spider-Man: Brand New Day) and Andrew Guest (Community, Hawkeye).
The series stars Emmy Award winner Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Simon Williams and Academy Award winner Ben Kingsley, who reprises his role as Trevor Slattery following appearances in Iron Man 3, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and All Hail the King. Arian Moayed, X Mayo, Zlatko Burić, Olivia Thirlby, and Byron Bowers also feature.
Wonder Man follows aspiring Hollywood actor Simon Williams, who is struggling to get his career off the ground. During a chance meeting with Trevor Slattery, an actor whose biggest roles may be well behind him, Simon learns that legendary director Von Kovak is remaking the superhero film "Wonder Man."
These two actors, at opposite ends of their careers, doggedly pursue life-changing roles in this film as audiences get a peek behind the curtain of the entertainment industry.
All eight episodes of Wonder Man will stream exclusively on Disney+ at 6pm PT January 27.