After a long, long wait, Marvel’s latest show, Wonder Man, is here, and it lives up to that title. It’s a wonderful show, filled with the kind of character building, twists, and turns we expect not just from great Marvel shows, but great television in general.
The entire eight-episode first (but hopefully not last) season is now streaming on Disney+, and here are the things we liked most—and didn’t like—about it. Beware, there are spoilers.
Liked: Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Simon
From beginning to end, everything that works in Wonder Man (which is most things) comes from the performance of Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. His portrayal of Simon Williams as a confident on the outside, broken on the inside, struggling actor makes us connect to him instantly. It also makes us get wildly happy for him when he succeeds and equally frustrated when he fails. Simon very rarely feels comfortable in his own skin, and that incredibly rare quality is all due to performance.
Liked: Mandarin mentions
This is Sir Ben Kingsley’s third time playing Trevor Slattery in a full-length Marvel project, so, of course, we know he’s great. But after seeing him in Iron Man 3 and Shang-Chi, it’s impossible not to think about how he was hired to play a supervillain called the Mandarin. It’s kind of all you think about. So we love that, even though Trevor desperately wants to leave the Mandarin behind him, people always bring it up to him. It feels so real, and his embarrassment is so genuine.
Liked: The acting insight
One of the things Wonder Man gets so right is depicting all the crazy hoops actors often have to jump through to get a job. Simon and Trevor run lines in the car, build each other up, do stupid improv, go to a crazy director’s house, and do so much more, all in the pursuit of a job. Some of it may have been overexaggerated, but, for the most part, it felt like the team behind Wonder Man had a lot of experience with this kind of thing.
Didn’t like: The imbalance
It’s not a big issue, but Wonder Man, overall, just felt very backloaded. The first five or so episodes really take their time, building and developing these characters. But, once you get towards the end, so much happens so quickly that it doesn’t quite line up with the earlier pacing. It all works, and we’re glad all the storylines get covered, but there’s a point where it very much feels like that won’t happen.
Liked: “Doorman”
When you only have eight episodes, it takes a lot of guts to do an entire, seemingly unrelated, bottle episode. But that’s what happens in the show’s incredible fourth episode. Here we watch the crucial story of DeMarr Davis (Byron Bowers), who realizes he has a power that enables people to walk through him. He uses that power to great fame and fortune, until things go horribly wrong, changing how Hollywood views people with powers. It’s something that’s crucial to Simon’s journey but also opens up the world of the show in some fascinating ways.
Liked: The friendship
Wonder Man doesn’t work if you don’t totally buy into Simon and Trevor being friends. And, thanks to the performances of both Abdul-Mateen and Kingsley, we do. When one feels pride and excitement for the other, the audience feels it as well. That’s a testament to the show doing such a good job of putting these two together. It’s the beating heart at the center of the show.
Liked: The betrayal
And, because that friendship is so well done, Trevor’s betrayal of Simon hits even harder. That he’s been spying on him for the government almost doesn’t feel real once it’s revealed. But, of course, it is, and it adds some delicious drama to the already excellent show. Plus, it all gets paid off in such an awesome way. Especially at…
Liked: The ending
Simon makes a powerful mistake. Trevor takes the blame. Simon becomes the superstar he always wanted to be. But, ultimately, he realizes that his friendship with Trevor is what really matters. So, as we realize Simon is using his new post-Wonder Man fame to get into prison and break Trevor out, you can’t help but shed a tear at the beautiful bow on top of it all.
Didn’t Like: Not enough Wonder Man
Of course, the Wonder Man movie at the center of Wonder Man is never the point of the show. It’s just a means to an end for the characters. And yet, we learn so much about the cheesy, nostalgic original that I was really hoping to see a bit more of how exactly director Von Kovak (Zlatko Buric) was going to reboot it. Alas, we don’t see it. We just have to imagine it. But it would’ve been great to see just a little.
Liked: Joe Pantoliano
Joe Pantoliano is one of those actors who, anytime they show up, you know you’re in good hands. And yet, he rarely gets the kudos he probably deserves. So it was so beyond rewarding to see Joey Pants in Wonder Man, playing himself. Especially a version of himself that feels way more in line with what the star of The Matrix, The Sopranos, The Goonies, Bad Boys, and more deserves.
Liked: The lack of MCU connections
If Simon and Trevor were constantly talking about Spider-Man or Iron Man, Wonder Man wouldn’t have been half as good. By setting itself in the MCU but very, very rarely addressing that fact, Wonder Man unburdened itself from all the baggage that world brings. It allows itself to exist and work on its own in much deeper and more personal ways. And yet…
Didn’t Like: The lack of MCU connections
It would have been pretty cool to get one or two tiny little morsels at the end, right? The show works beautifully without MCU connections, but Marvel stuff has been so forgettable over the past few years, it would have been welcome if there was a way for Wonder Man to be independent and also give fans a little tease. Ultimately, it made the right decision, but we can’t help but think… what if?
Wonder Man is now streaming on Disney+.
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