Both the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Game of Thrones reached pivotal crescendos in the same week, with Avengers: Endgame hitting theaters and destroying the box office, and Game of Thrones’ “The Long Night” keeping everyone on the edge of their seats with the Battle of Winterfell. It might go down as the single most epic nerd week in history.
As it turns out, the world of Marvel was a big influence on the world of Westeros. When writing the original A Song of Ice and Fire novels on which Game of Thrones is based, George R.R. Martin was heavily influenced by the original Marvel Comics by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, which he had read in his youth. In the video down below from Fast Company (via Laughing Squid), Martin talks about how one Avengers comic in particular influenced his writing style: 1964’s Avengers #9, which introduced Wonder Man.
It seems without the villain-turned-hero Wonder Man, we might not have had the redemptive story arcs for characters like Jaime Lannister and Theon Greyjoy. Interestingly, Marvel Studios keeps teasing Wonder Man, but they have yet to pull the trigger on having him actually appear in a film. The closest we have come was almost seeing Nathan Fillion make a cameo in the form of a movie poster featuring Wonder Man’s actor alter ego Simon Williams in the background of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. He remains one of the biggest Avengers characters to not appear yet in the MCU, along with Namor and She-Hulk. But with the team needing to fill out their ranks here soon, we think it’s high time he showed up.
Maybe Marvel can get get George R.R. Martin to work on a Wonder Man movie or series for Disney+? On second thought, that guy has some books to finish first. Let’s not distract him.
Images: Marvel Comics/HBO