Wonder Man is coming out this week, and there is always a fear from fans that they have to do homework to prepare for a new MCU release. The new Disney+ series follows actor Simon Williams as he attempts to win the leading role in a movie remake of the classic Wonder Man. An award-winning film director wants to prove that superhero movies can be prestigious, and he wants to succeed despite superhero fatigue setting in. While it all sounds meta, the early reviews are mostly positive. However, fans still might be worried they will be lost if they try to watch it.
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The good news is that Wonder Man is enjoyable without hardly any prior knowledge of current MCU storylines, but there are a few things you might want to know just to be completely caught up on the characters.
5) The Events of Iron Man (& Shang-Chi)
Ben Kingsley is back in Wonder Man as Trevor Slattery. He made his first appearance in Iron Man 3 as the Mandarin. However, as anyone who watched that movie knows, he wasn’t the real Mandarin, and was instead an actor hired by Aldrich Killian to cause a distraction as AIM perfected its Extremis virus. When Trevor revealed the truth, it was one of Iron Man 3’s best moments, and Kingsley absolutely stole the show.
Kingsley then returned as Trevor Slattery in Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. The real Mandarin had kidnapped Trevor and forced him to entertain him as punishment for stealing his identity. Slattery helped Shang-Chi and his allies fight the Mandarin and his terrorist organization of the Ten Rings, after the film revealed that Mandarin was Shang-Chi’s father. Once again, Kingsley stole every scene he appeared in.
In Wonder Man, Kingsley is back as Trevor Slattery. This time, he is a friend and fellow actor with Simon Williams, as they are both trying out for the Wonder Man movie. He also seems to be someone that Damage Control is forcing to assist them when it comes to apprehending Simon Williams.
4) That All Hail The King Exists
There has been a huge disconnect with many MCU fans over Trevor Slattery’s timeline. When Iron Man 3 ended, Slattery was arrested along with the other survivors of AIM to pay for their crimes concerning the terrorist attacks. He was next shown in Shang Chi, with Mandarin having kidnapped him. However, what happened in between was not shown in a movie or streaming series. It was shown in a short film that was released as a DVD and Blu-ray special feature, and temporarily online.
The short is called All Hail the King, and it revealed what happened. In this Marvel One-Shot, Trevor Slattery is in prison, and he agrees to an interview with a documentary filmmaker (Scoot McNairy). It is a hilarious short, as everyone seems to love Trevor in prison, and they even protect him when his life is in danger. However, it turned out that the filmmaker was working for the Ten Rings and was sent to extract Trevor from the prison and deliver him to the Mandarin.
3) Civil War Might Be Over, But Not Everyone Likes Superheroes
The conflict that started in Captain America: Civil War seemed to have ended after Avengers: Endgame, but that does not mean that it is completely over. In fact, some things that happened since that war might have made things even worse. In Civil War, the United States passed the Sokovia Accords, which made existing as a superhero illegal unless that hero signed to work directly for the government. Iron Man supported it, and Captain America opposed it.
In She-Hulk, it was revealed that the Sokovia Accords had lapsed and were not renewed, which means that it is no longer a requirement to sign up to work for the government. However, as Ms. Marvel showed, there are still government forces who set out to apprehend anyone with superpowers that they deem a “threat.” They only pulled back there because of the bad press when the citizens stood up to them. In Wonder Man, they are still hunting down “dangerous” people with powers, even if those people are just actors who want to be left alone.
Additionally, the Wonder Man trailer shows that Simon had to sign a release form that promised he had no superpowers or he wouldn’t be allowed to read for a role. With the Skrulls infiltrating Earth in Secret Invasion, and that series ending with regular people murdering those they believed were Skrulls, it is clear that humans are now scared of heroes, and the trust is gone.
2) The History of the Department of Damage Control
The organization that deals with superhuman “threats” is called the Department of Damage Control (DODC). Damage Control first appeared in the MCU in Spider-Man: Homecoming. They were the group that took over the cleanup operations after the Battle of New York (with Loki and the Chitauri). This had the side effect of turning Adrian Toomes into a supervillain as the Vulture since his contract to clean up the city was voided, leaving him with nothing.
They have also caused a lot of problems since then. It is the DODC that showed up in Ms. Marvel and tried to attack teens in the school to get their hands on anyone with superpowers. The one familiar face in both appearances was P. Cleary (Arian Moayed), and he is back in Wonder Man. He is leading the charge to bring in Simon Williams for simply existing with powers. If DODC is willing to attack schools and apprehend teenagers, there is no telling what they will do with Simon Williams.
1) This is Not Your Comic Book Favorite
For fans who know about Wonder Man from Marvel Comics, this is not that character. Technically, it is the same character, but he has been completely reinvented for the streaming series. The comic book version of Simon Williams was that of a young man who had been arrested for embezzling money from his family’s company to try to help save it. Baron Zemo and the Masters of Evil bailed him out and gave him superpowers, and then forced him to help them fight the Avengers under the threat of death. Wonder Man sacrificed his life to save the Avengers.
This is not that character. There were also a lot of storylines about how Ultron used Simon Williams’ brain patterns for Vision when he made him, and that obviously never happened in the MCU either. The only thing that remains the same is that Simon Williams is a Hollywood actor, which is his day job in the comics as well. He also has powers, but don’t expect those to line up with Marvel Comics either. It is nice to be familiar with Wonder Man, but it isn’t necessary to enjoy the Disney+ MCU series.
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