In July, we got word that Marvel Television had decided not to move forward with a second season of Wonder Man - after the series had already been renewed.
Just a couple of months earlier, excitement was high at the news that stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Ben Kingsley were set to reprise their respective lead roles as Simon Williams and Trevor Slattery. The Disney+ show's creative team was also back on board, with Destin Daniel Cretton to return as director and executive producer, and Andrew Guest as showrunner and executive producer.
We still don't know exactly why the show was cancelled, but Abdul-Mateen II said he was told it was "something to do with the viewership numbers" during an interview with Vanity Fair. The Aquaman actor also had a few other things to say.
"I think the optics are obvious. If I’m a big business, if I’m Disney, if I’m Marvel, I don’t want to be attached to these optics. So it should be a priority to change that narrative and to do what it takes to responsibly change that narrative with quality stories, with quality resources."
In a more recent interview with SyFy.com to promote By Any Means, Abdul-Mateen II gave a slightly more diplomatic response when asked about the show being axed.
“Nothing bitter about this experience. I'm blessed. I got to play the role. I feel like I had the best seat in the house. I feel for the fans who were expecting to see the show come back," he added. "It's still a celebration of the work that we did over here,” he added. “I'm looking forward to representing myself and representing the show and the fans come Sept. 14.”
Wonder Man was reportedly the second most-watched Disney+ original TV season by both minutes streamed and estimated season views in the U.S., and according to Luminate (via Deadline), the show also met and passed a key audience retention benchmark for gauging streaming success.
A project will usually be considered a success if it scores a 50% retention rate, meaning at least half of the audience that started the first episode made it to the end, and Wonder Man retained 52% of its audience over 12 weeks.
It's obviously not an exact science, but the more we learn about how popular this series was, the more perplexing Marvel's decision to cancel it becomes.
We may not have seen the last of Simon Williams in the MCU, but we're not expecting him to make the jump to the big screen anytime soon. He could turn up in another Disney+ show down the line, although with Marvel seemingly moving away from streaming, that might not be very likely, either.
Aspiring Hollywood actor Simon Williams 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 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.
Along with Abdul-Mateen II as Simon Williams, Wonder Man will star Demetrius Grosse as Simon's brother Eric Williams, aka the Grim Reaper, along with Sir Ben Kingsley as the returning Trevor Slattery. Byron Bowers is also on board as Doorman. We had heard that Ed Harris, Bob Odenkirk, and Courteney Cox had been enlisted for cameos, but none of them actually showed up (Josh Gad played himself).