The whole superhero genre in general has had a rocky couple of years, with Marvel Studios bearing most of the grunt. While the studio has tried to reinvent itself after the events of Avengers Endgame, many of the projects weren’t received with a lot of love. Their journey into shows and mini-series has also given mixed results, with only a few that have hit the mark. However it seems like Marvel might be able chalk up another show as a win, with their new mini-series Wonder Man collecting praise from every avenue in town.
The series follows the life of Simon Williams, a struggling actor who wants to make it big in Hollywood. During his journey he bumps into Trevor Slattery, which should bring back some good memories for Marvel fans. For the unversed, Trevor is also an actor who was used as the pseudo villain in Iron Man 3. Tony Stark later uncovers the truth and gets the real bad guy during an exciting climax scene consisting of all of his Iron Man suits.
Trevor was also a part of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, which was one of the few Marvel films that performed well from a critical and commercial point of view. Now Wonder Man seems to be walking the same tune, and the critics of Rotten Tomatoes have given it a score of 90%. Mike Hale of the New York Times wrote, “Wonder Man is consistently charming, though, when Abdul-Mateen and Kingsley are together, playing a very odd couple whose friendship is repeatedly put through the wringer in the style of Midnight Cowboy, a film they bond over.”
Fans took to social media to praise the series as well. One of the fans wrote on X, “I just finished Wonder Man, and Marvel Studios, please make a season 2. Also, I would love this as a video game. This might be one of the best Marvel shows out, to be honest.” Another fan wrote, “The fact they didn’t make the episodes release weekly does the show a major disservice. One of the best MCU shows for sure. Only really matched in quality with both Loki seasons.”
Created by Destin Daniel Cretton and Andrew Guest, the cast of Wonder Man includes Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Ben Kingsley, Arian Moayed, X Mayo, Zlatko Buric, Dan Donohue, and Joe Pantoliano.
