By Elijah Noggle, SCO Cultural Critic
On January 27, the newest TV series in the long running Marvel Cinematic Universe released all eight of its episodes, and I am really excited to share my thoughts on it. Wonder Man stars Yahya Abdul Mateen II as Simon Williams, a struggling actor in the MCU’s version of Hollywood/Los Angeles, who has powers but must keep them a secret for the sake of his career. He learns that esteemed director Von Kovack is doing a remake of the 1980s cult classic Wonder Man, and sees this as the opportunity of a lifetime. He is accompanied by veteran actor Trevor Slattery, a returning character first introduced all the way back in 2013’s Iron Man 3.
This is easily one of the most unique MCU series to date. It was such a pleasant surprise! My favorite Marvel projects tend to be the ones that feel different compared to everything else. For example, WandaVision was a tribute to television sitcoms, and Werewolf By Night was an homage to 1930s monster movies.
And Wonder Man is another one of those for me. It’s essentially a love letter to Hollywood, taking place in the MCU’s version of the famous capital of American cinema. There are several references to real life actors and real life movies, making this version of Los Angeles feel more like the real life one, only that it just so happens to be in a world where superheroes exist.
One of the strongest aspects of this series is the character writing. Simon Williams is a very compelling character. He’s also flawed in a way that makes him relatable. For example, something you see a lot in the series is that he sometimes has trouble trusting others. It feels like a consistent theme in the series. Also, I found Trevor compelling in this series because he truly does care about the art of acting, but at the same time has to deal with his past playing The Mandarin, a literal terrorist on live television. Furthermore, Yahya Abdul Mateen II and the great Sir Ben Kingsley are at the top of their game in these roles.
The writing in this series overall has a really genuine sincerity and earnestness to it. These characters’ struggles in the world of Hollywood feel very real. It doesn’t rely on the same type of quippy humor that Marvel movies and shows have been known for in the past- it instead chooses to mostly focus on the emotional beats and the characters, which works in its favor. Whenever there was humor, for the most part it felt natural to me.
The most noticeable flaw in this series is the pacing. Multiple times in this season, there were episodes that felt like they didn’t quite advance the plot as much as they could have. This results in some plot points not feeling quite as fleshed out as they could. Without directly spoiling anything, episodes 2, 4, and 5 exemplify this quite a bit. Episodes where it feels like the characters go on a “side quest” of sorts.
I just have to mention though (without spoilers) that even though episode 4 titled “Doorman” does grind the pacing to a halt, this one-off episode focusing on an entirely different character ended up being one of my favorite episodes of the entire series. It really showcased this show’s artistic vision and willingness to take risks.
The show’s visual look and cinematography feel very in line with this show’s identity of being about Hollywood and the experience of a struggling actor. Someone online mentioned that it felt like an A24 production, and I couldn’t agree more. Tonally, I love how different it felt to me compared to many of the marvel projects I’ve watched in the past few years.
Wonder Man was a really enjoyable watch. It’s got a couple of small issues I think could be ironed out if this received a second season. But overall, the amount of heart present in this season of TV really elevated it for me. It was very focused in what it wanted to say about Hollywood, the experience of acting and what goes into making a movie, and even superheroes. I would give this an 8.5 out of 10. I think you can really enjoy this even if you have never seen any MCU film or series, so I heavily recommend it.