8 episodes, each only 35 minutes long. All dropped at once on Disney+ on Tuesday, January 27th (28th for those of us in Singapore). The second miniseries under the Marvel Spotlight branding, this release format echoed its predecessor, the largely forgettable Echo. It all seemed like a recipe for disaster. Yet Yahya Abdul-Mateen II’s Wonder Man not only defied all definitions but also defied all expectations. And it’s easily the best thing to have come from Marvel in a long, long time.
Wonder Man, co-created by director Destin Daniel Cretton and showrunner Andrew Guest, is a show that is so absurdly confident in what it is. The scripting is tight, pacing is immaculate, the acting is wonderful (pun intended), and, perhaps most of all, it has a truly loving relationship with the source material.
While it’s criminal that the show has had ZERO hype prior to its release, perhaps this is for the best. After all, this is a show where even watching the trailers ruins the perfectly crafted storytelling. Wonder Man wants you to go in with a blank slate, with no expectations, so that it can build steadily towards its stunning climax with an incredible self-assurance that is well-earned.
To Be or Not to Be, that is the Question
Simon Williams (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) is a struggling actor in Hollywood who is his own worst enemy. A series of maddeningly self-sabotaging choices leads to a chance encounter with fellow actor Trevor Slattery (Sir Ben Kingsley), who is trying to make it in Hollywood for his own reasons. When the two men cross paths again, during auditions for the biggest roles of both their careers, they discover how close the path of redemption is to the path of disaster.
Co-creators Destin Daniel Cretton and Andrew Guest proved to be an unbeatable duo. Cretton, who also directed 2021’s Shang-Chi and the upcoming Spider-Man: Brand New Day, brought the same keen reverence for the fragility of human nature that he brings to all his movies, including Just Mercy and The Glass Castle. Guest, as showrunner, elevated Wonder Man with the same kind of dry humour that served him so well on Community, Suburgatory, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
Their exploration of the film and television industry, while not strictly satirical, nonetheless encapsulates its flaws through the equally flawed lens of Williams and Slattery. Williams’ approach to the craft of acting is equal parts noble and narcissistic, and in Slattery, he finds a mentor and a mirror. So effable and effortless is their chemistry that it forms the core of the entire miniseries.
All the World’s a Stage, and all the Men and Women merely Players
There is no doubt that the highest praise must go to Abdul-Mateen, who embodies Simon Williams with a truly sympathetic humanity. The character remains unlikable, arguably, till the very end, and would fail miserably in the hands of a lesser actor. Yet Abdul-Mateen’s ability to consistently find Williams’ emotional core elevates the portrayal. This, of course, is something he has done many times before, in Aquaman, Black Mirror and Candyman.
The supporting cast also helped to ground the crazy Hollywood setting, which can often be stranger than fiction. Kudos go to X Mayo as Janelle, Simon’s no-nonsense agent, and Shola Adewusi, as Simon’s mother Martha, who is loving to a fault. Special kudos also go to Demetrius Grosse, who plays Simon’s brother Eric, an insurance agent (with a truly missed opportunity to make a Grim Reaper reference there) and Byron Bowers, who plays Doorman. Both only get the spotlight in one episode each, but they make the most of it. Speaking of the spotlight, don’t miss out on the cameos by actors playing themselves in the ultimate send-up of Hollywood culture.
But the true gem of Wonder Man comes from the way Sir Ben Kingsley reprises his role of Trevor Slattery. The character first appeared in Iron Man 3 back in 2013, followed by the Marvel One-Shot All Hail The King in 2014, and Shang-Chi in 2021. Over the years, Slattery has proven to be one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s most enduring original characters. It is to Sir Ben’s absolute credit for always finding that throughline, to the point that few will remember how deeply divisive his character was over a decade ago.
Cretton’s choice to make Slattery the tether of both Shang-Chi and Wonder Man to the MCU is inspired. It’s only obvious in hindsight how deeply rooted Slattery is to the franchise, allowing the miniseries to feel like a part of the MCU without the distraction of the rest of Marvel’s superheroes and supervillains.
Now is the Winter of our Discontent
It is not a stretch to say that Wonder Man may be the first and last of its kind. It was developed amid Marvel’s creative upheavals in 2023, when movies like Quantumania and The Marvels marked the nadir of the studio’s waning output. Showrunner Guest revealed at a recent Q&A session that Wonder Man “could have been a tax write-off for Disney”. That it was made and released was a huge gamble for Marvel Studios.
However, should Marvel recognise the success of the show and correctly identify what made it work, building on the warm reception of both Thunderbolts* and Fantastic Four: First Steps, we could finally see a new era for the beleaguered production company, which will hopefully be set back on track by the upcoming Avengers movies.
All Images Credit: Wonder Man (2026) | Marvel
