Marvel’s upcoming Wonder Man series on Disney+ will reportedly released under the recently announced Marvel Spotlight banner.
In a report from Deadline detailing the exit of Destin Daniel Cretton from Marvel’s Avengers: Kang Dynasty, it was noted that Wonder Man is set to begin resuming filming after Thanksgiving. The report also notes that Wonder Man “will be under the new Marvel Spotlight series banner.”
According to Marvel Studios, Marvel Spotlight is a new banner or sub-category for upcoming MCU projects released by Marvel Studios that will not necessarily tie into and reference larger plot threads of the MCU.
“Marvel Spotlight gives us a platform to bring more grounded, character-driven stories to the screen, and in the case of Echo, focusing on street-level stakes over larger MCU continuity,” said Marvel Studios Head of Streaming Brad Winderbaum. “Just like comics fans didn’t need to read Avengers or Fantastic Four to enjoy a Ghost Rider Spotlight comic, our audience doesn’t need to have seen other Marvel series to understand what’s happening in Maya’s story.”
What is Wonder Man about?
The Wonder Man series is being developed by Destin Daniel Cretton (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) and writer-producer Andrew Guest (Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Community), with Guest serving as the head writer and Cretton executive producing and directing some episodes. The project will be a part of Cretton’s overall deal with the studio. In addition to Cretton, The Photograph filmmaker Stella Meghie will also be directing multiple episodes.
The Disney+ series will be led by Emmy winner Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Simon Williams/Wonder Man. In addition to Abdul-Mateen, the Wonder Man cast includes Demetrius Grosse as Eric Williams/Grim Reaper, Ben Kingsley as Trevor Slattery, Ed Harris as Neal Saroyan, Lauren Glazier, and Josh Gad.
Wonder Man is one of the oldest characters in Marvel’s long history and was first introduced in 1964 in an early issue of Avengers. The character — named Simon Williams — was created by Stan Lee, Don Heck, and Jack Kirby. He was initially introduced as a supervillain who fought the Avengers.
In the late 1970s, Wonder Man was turned into a hero and eventually ended up joining the Avengers throughout various iterations of the team. Imbued with “ionic” energy by Baron Zemo, Wonder Man has powers similar to other superheroes, including enhanced strength, speed, stamina, durability, reflexes, and agility.
