Is Marvel’s Wonder Man series with Yahya Abdul-Mateen II doomed, or due to be scrapped and restarted like Daredevil: Born Again? In the past few days, we’ve learned of the huge problems at Marvel TV that have led to a number of shows being shelved or repackaged, with the studio finally giving up their previous method of making television in favor of a more traditional approach. And now a new The Watch podcast sheds more light on the mounting issues that may have consumed one more series.
The news comes from the podcast’s guest, MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios author Joanna Robinson, who along with her co-author have interviewed more than 100 Marvel sources for the new book. And she drops what we’ll call a rumor for now, that Marvel is “trashing” the Wonder Man series from Shang-Chi and Avengers: Kang Dynasty director Destin Daniel Cretton.It’s unclear whether this means the show is dead, or just getting retooled like Daredevil: Born Again. Robinson added that “a lot of stuff” is “going to go in the can.”
I’ll just add my two cents here that Robinson feeling confident enough to say this, in the wake of this week’s Marvel TV reporting, means a lot. Understandably, there’s a lot more scrutiny on news regarding this issue right now, and to be disproven would not do anything good for the prospects of her book.
Wonder Man is set to star Abdul-Mateen II as Simon Williams, in the comics a key member of the Avengers with rather unique ties to Vision and Scarlet Witch. He’s also a superhero with a Hollywood acting career, an aspect that would’ve been played into in the series. Ben Kingsley is expected to return as failed super-villain/actor Trevor Slattery, seen in Iron Man 3 and Shang-Chi. Demetrius Grosse and Ed Harris were also cast.
It’s been made clear by Disney already that Marvel TV output would be scaled back, and this could be part of that movement. We’ll just have to wait and see because if true, confirmation should come fairly quickly.