Simon Williams (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) is a struggling actor in Hollywood, when the role of a lifetime comes his way – the lead in a remake of an old superhero movie called Wonder Man. It was a movie he has warm memories of seeing with his late father, so winning the part has a deep emotional significance for him. However, Simon he a secret which could destroy not just his chances for the role but his entire acting career – a hidden superpower when actors are not allowed to have such enhanced abilities.
Helping him prepare for the audition is actor Trevor Slattery (Sir Ben Kingsley), who biggest career notoriety is having “played” the role of the terrorist, The Mandarin, years earlier (See 2013’s Iron Man III). But if Simon has been careful about hiding his abilities, why does the Department of Damage Control have him under surveillance?
If you’re looking for your standard superhero punch-’em-ups or crazy science-fiction concepts playing out, you won’t get them from the new Disney+ series Wonder Man. While the show very much takes place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it is not concerned with the latest super-powered slug fests or with furthering the currently ongoing “Multiverse Saga” storyline. It isn’t even about a super powered person being in conflict about whether or not to heed the call to be a hero. It’s just the story of someone who gets so close to achieving their goal in life, only to have all that hard work threatened by something beyond their control.
There aren’t a lot of average-life-in-a-superhero-world stories being told outside of comic books. The only other one that springs to mind is Powerless, a short-lived 2017 sitcom. But Wonder Man doesn’t play for laughs, though there are a few moments of levity sprinkled through the show’s eight episodes. This unique approach may not be for some comic book fans, but it feels fresh enough that it may captivate other fans and casual viewers alike.
While the show doesn’t explicitly state it, the idea of actors having to sign a document stating that they did not have superpowers has a slight echo to the the 1950s Hollywood Black List era. In each instance, Hollywood creatives are forced to attest to something about themselves under penalty of not ever working again. The potential parallel goes unexplored however.
Stars Abdul-Mateen II and Kingsley share a breezy chemistry that is fun to watch once their friendship is established. Kingsley, who has a number of award nominations and wins to his credit for serious dramatic roles, looks to be enjoying himself here. He plays Trevor as someone who pretty much lives in the present, partly because there’s not much he can remember of his life prior to getting sober several years back. But there are a few private moments where we see his true feelings about the situation he finds himself in as his friendship with Simon progresses.
Wonder Man is more a story about characters than capes. If you’re looking for something a bit different in a comic book adaptation that doesn’t appear to feed in to any ongoing storyline, Wonder Man could satisfy that craving.
