‘Wonder Man’ Review – Marvel’s Most Self-Aware, Heartfelt Meta-Comedy Yet

Disney+’s Wonder Man is interesting and more nuanced than most comic book and superhero offerings. For years, Marvel and DC created franchises revolving around mythical characters who hid their true identities. Over the last twenty years, beginning with Iron Man, the genre has proudly embraced extraordinary abilities. It now welcomes fame and celebrity. However, it also deals with the double-edged sword that comes with it.

Now, with Wonder Man, it may be one of the first coming-of-age superhero stories about arrested development into adulthood, outside of Spider-Man or any story set in high school. The titular character has learned to hide his true identity without fully exploring who he is as a person. Meanwhile, a Marvel story that operates more as a buddy comedy is just as much about wrestling with unresolved issues of identity, relevance, and authenticity.

And a way to explore those themes is to do so without much spectacle, using the profession of acting to help the main character hide in plain sight.

The story follows Simon Williams (Watchmen’s Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), an actor who seems to specialize in making a quick impression, for better or worse—mostly worse. For instance, Simon is called in for an audition for a guest spot on a supernatural show. In that show, his character is set to die immediately. He takes so much time trying to understand the character and flesh out a larger role. Because of this, the showrunner fires him because the show falls behind schedule.

The fallout from his constant self-sabotage causes his girlfriend, Vivian (Oppenheimer’s Olivia Thirlby), to leave him and tests the patience of his agent, Janelle (The Blackening’s X Mayo). However, after wandering around and moping, he runs into Trevor Slattery. Trevor is a former character actor known for playing the “Mandarin”—the performative British actor who once fooled audiences into believing he was the leader of an international terrorist organization known as the Ten Rings (who we saw in Iron Man 3 and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings).

They form an unlikely bond, one whose career has never caught fire, the other whose career flamed out long ago. Yet they manage to finagle their way into auditioning for a new film by Von Kovak (Triangle of Sadness’s Zlatko Burić). The legendary director is remaking Wonder Man, which happens to be Simon’s favorite movie from childhood. However, the question remains: will each other’s ambition cost them their friendship? Or, as Simon fears, will it expose a secret that Hollywood, in the MCU universe, has outlawed for decades?

Wonder Man is from Destin Daniel Cretton and Andrew Guest, and together they create an almost trauma-informed workplace buddy comedy that considers the isolation and avoidant coping Simon has grown up with. The chemistry between Abdul-Mateen II and Kingsley is excellent, as they play off each other comedically while finding an emotional sweet spot beneath layers of male toxicity. The writing between the two, and what revolves around them, emphasizes self-awareness of their situation rather than allowing traditional MCU immersion.

Perhaps that is what makes Wonder Man so clever and heartfelt—its ability to give comic book characters real human feelings, emotions, and situations. Cretton and Guest create a meta-world-building approach that allows you to understand Simon’s behaviors and suppressed emotions. This becomes a perfect metaphor for how unchecked mental health issues can have consequences for himself and everyone around him. At the same time, Kingsley’s Slattery is an example of a Marvel character who can rewrite his own mistakes in life.

Oddly, when it comes down to the final two episodes, the series becomes just as much about Trevor as Wonder Man himself. Which, if it were any other actor, you’d wonder if, once removed, more story might have been dedicated to Simon’s backstory. For example: How he came to be an unchecked superhero, while also exploring more in depth his family and ex-girlfriend? It would also show how that kind of pressure as a child formed the man he is still trying to find within himself today. That is a small quibble, considering how absurdly entertaining the show can be at times.

However, the creators use insecurity and identity that draw parallels with fame and masks we put on ourselves when we cannot come to grips with who we really are. In the end, this Marvel Television offering uses meta-comedy to explore the side of (superhero) fame like insecurity and avoidance, with humor and insight. A redemption story that is thoughtful, funny, and heartfelt.

Wonder Man proves that the most powerful Marvel stories aren’t about saving the world, but about learning how to live in it.

You can stream the entire season of Wonder Man exclusively on Disney+ on January 27th!