After a decade of domination starting with 2008’s Iron Man upto 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, Marvel and the MCU’s fortunes dwindled a little bit in the 5th Phase. With films like Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and The Marvels not finding favor with audiences and critics, and series like Secret Invasion sinking without a trace, a lot is riding on the franchise to resurrect itself in future projects.
To achieve this, Kevin Feige and team are moving forward with a few exciting projects. Feige recently confirmed that the franchise will develop a miniseries on Marvel’s powerful villain Wonder Man starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. While the franchise head sounded extremely confident about giving audiences a new experience, the film’s other key actor who plays a pivotal role, firmly backed up his claim.
Marvel Has High Hopes On This Upcoming Miniseries
‘Move over Wonder Woman, we have Wonder Man’ seems to be the mantra for Kevin Feige at the moment. After having brought many iconic Marvel superheroes and villains to life on screen, the Marvel head and team are now stepping into unchartered territory as they introduce Simon Williams aka Wonder Man to audiences for the first time in a brand new Disney+ miniseries.
The character who first appeared in The Avengers #9 in 1964, is initially seen as a supervillain who fights the Avengers. But later, he is reborn a superhero to ultimately join forces with them. He also has a volatile relationship with his brother Eric Williams aka Grim Reaper.
Williams who is the son of a rich industrialist, has complicated history with Tony Stark aka Iron Man whom he blames for his incarceration after he tries to steal funds from Stark Enterprises. Wanting to seek revenge against Stark and the Avengers, he submits himself to an experiment which transforms him into an ionic superhero with extreme strength and endurance.
In the Original Marvel Podcast, Feige spoke extensively about the franchise’s future path and the efforts taken to ensure that fans will be completely invested in the storylines. Having said that, he also stated that the studio had always relied on its gut instinct and trusted its narrative choices with regard to every script, irrespective of the result.
Speaking specifically about the prospects of Wonder Man and what audiences can expect, Feige was confident that fans will be in for a special treat, and will witness something completely fresh and new in terms of the story and plot line.
We have a show coming up that we’ve talked very little about, called Wonder Man. I won’t talk much about it today either, except to say it’s extremely different than anything we’ve done before.
Apart from the announcement that the show is in production, there is no other information regarding date of release or any other specific details about the path the narrative could take. But with Feige’s high hopes for the project, fans will be hoping that the series will be a memorable outing for Marvel.
This Wonder Man star Firmly Backs Kevin Feige’s Instincts
Despite very little being known about MCU’s upcoming miniseries Wonder Man, there is already a buzz surrounding the show that will introduce one of Marvel’s powerful villains who will be portrayed by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, known for his presence in famous franchises like The Matrix and his portrayal of Doctor Manhattan in The Watchmen, among others.
The show will also see Demetrius Grosse playing Wonder Man’s brother Eric Williams who becomes the deadly Grim Reaper. The two character have a complex relationship growing up that ultimately leads then down different paths. Grim Reaper is also seen as one of the Avengers’ most dangerous adversaries.
Grosse who is a recognizable face from the superhero series Heroes and FX’s Justified, appeared on an interview with Comic Book Movie’s Josh Wilding and spoke about his involvement in Wonder Man. The actor like Kevin Feige, was careful to not give anything away, but firmly backed up the Marvel head’s claim about how the show will be viewed by fans, especially with regard to the relationship between the two brothers.
I think people are going to be intrigued by the dynamic between Simon Williams and Eric Williams as much as they’re excited about the dynamic between Grim Reaper and Wonder Man. This series is gonna be a very, very different kind of show, but pleasantly so.
While there is still a long way to go before the series hits Disney+, Marvel buffs will be hoping that the vote of confidence given by Feige and Grosse along with the expectation of seeing these exciting characters on screen, will come to fruition.
