For over a year, we’ve had some revealing trailers and images for the new Wonder Man Disney+ series released by Marvel Television. But now, we have our final trailer, showing us a bit more of what the MCU is like for regular folks. Well, regular folks and Hollywood actors, that is. The trailer for Wonder Man shows Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as out-of-work actor Simon Williams, who is up for the lead role in a remake of the ’70s superhero franchise, Wonder Man. But in a post-Snap MCU, Hollywood has a strict “no-superpowers” rule for movies. As a result, Simon has to hide the fact that he has powers aplenty, or lose the life-changing opportunity.
The trailer also shows that Ben Kingsley is pretty much a co-star in this comedic take on Wonder Man. He is reprising his Iron Man 3 and Shang-Chi role as bumbling British actor, Trevor Slattery. It seems his and Simon’s fates intertwine when they both audition for a role in the Wonder Man remake. It doesn’t seem like this will be an origin story for Simon, as he has powers from the jump. From the look of things, it appears he has super strength, some kind of energy/vibration powers, and possibly super speed. We only get a hint of the usual red/purple energy around Simon’s hands, which fans of the Marvel Comics iteration associate with the character. We see a touch of the red/purple hue in his eyes as well.
Since he already has powers, does that mean that MCU Simon Williams is a mutant? In the comics, Simon was a wealthy CEO who lost his company to Tony Stark. He then volunteered for ion energy experiments with Baron Zemo to get powers to infiltrate the Avengers. All this was part of a scheme to get revenge on Stark. He had a change of heart, and died a good guy. He was later resurrected, and it was only then that he became a Hollywood actor/stuntman/superhero. It seems the MCU is skipping everything but the “Hollywood actor” part. But if Simon is a mutant, this could be another hint towards the MCU X-Men. We’ll find out for sure when Wonder Man drops on Disney+ on January 27.