Every Episode Of Wonder Man, Ranked Worst To Best

We’ve finally come to a point where the Marvel Cinematic Universe has released a series that actually manages to rival the quality of WandaVision. Loki came close, but there’s a good chance that, in time, Wonder Man will be seen as either the best or second-best of the Disney+ series. The primary reason for this is that it’s so unlike the remainder of the MCU, which is precisely what it needs at this point in time. This one is all about character, and it never falters in having that be the primary focus. And thanks to the work of Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Ben Kingsley, the dynamic at the show’s core never feels like anything other than a real friendship in the making.

This is not a show that is worried about delivering big set pieces, yet it’s nonetheless arguably the most bingeable MCU series thus far. It’s also a testament to co-creator Destin Daniel Cretton being the MCU’s most important current director. But not all of its episodes (none of which are bad or even bland) are masterpieces. So where do the pilot, the finale, and all in between rank? Let’s find out.

8) “Self-Tape” (Episode 2)

“Self-Tape” exists to flesh out Trevor Slattery’s deal with the DODC and establish that those at the DODC are correct: Simon Williams does in fact have powers. We also get to have a nice bonding moment between Simon and Slattery at Joe Pantoliano’s house, in terms of Simon sticking up for his new friend.

But the episode is mostly the two of them trying to self-tape an audition in various places that make it hard for them to do that. The result is something that feels rather inconsequential to the overarching narrative. It does have a nice dig at the failure of M3GAN 2.0 towards the beginning, though.

7) “Found Footage” (Episode 5)

Like with the attempts at creating a self-tape in “Found Footage,” the chasing down of a kid who caught Simon’s superpowers on camera functions as a fun but ultimately not entirely important one-off narrative. After all, “Found Footage” ends with a shootout between the LAPD and the gangsters chasing down Slattery and our protagonist duo end up just kind of slinking away.

But there’s nothing wrong at all with being light, and much of the time that is precisely what Wonder Man is striving for. The only time it fully deviates from that was in the episode that preceded this one, but we’ll get to that in a bit. The point is, even though this and “Self-Tape” ranked last and next to last in no way means they’re bad episodes.

6) “Call Back” (Episode 6)

Part of one’s enjoyment of “Call Back” hinges on how they take to Zlatko Burić’s (Superman) eccentric portrayal of Von Kovak. Granted, he is playing the character as written, but he definitely comes across as an odd duck.

This episode is both a memorable single locale narrative and an important character study of Simon. We see Simon’s self-doubt on full display and, to counter that, there is one of the series’ more touching scenes where, from Kovak’s porch with the L.A. skyline just behind them, Slattery tells Simon that the emotions he wants to show needs to trump the fear he feels about his powers being revealed. Part of the reason his powers start burgeoning every now and then is precisely because he’s keeping deep-rooted emotions bottled up. Then there’s the duo’s final scenes together, which has them both being cast in Wonder Man and driving off with big smiles on their faces. It’s enough to put a smile on the viewer’s face, as well.

5) “Matinee” (Episode 1)

“Matinee” does a sublime job of telling us all we need to know about Simon. Within the first 10 minutes we learn that he’s an actor, we learn that he’s struggling in that profession, and we learn that he’s struggling in that profession because of just how seriously (too seriously) he takes it. We also see his girlfriend leave him, and just as we understand why he got canned from his new American Horror Story role, we get why his girlfriend is leaving him.

Better yet, Simon seems to understand this as well. He made too many suggestions on set and was emotionally distant from her. And, while he seems to want to change, we can tell that he doesn’t know how. In one episode Simon is set up as a believable and relatable human being. Also coming across as a more believable human being this time is Slattery. He was once a character used as a “look how stoned I am” joke but, here, the seeds are laid for a fully rounded character to sprout from the dirt, and it works like a charm.

4) “Kathy Friedman” (Episode 7)

Throughout “Kathy Friedman” we watch Simon try his best to become acclimated with his new life not as a day player, but as a bonafide star. We also watch him do everything in his power to hide his powers from Kathy Friedman, who is hovering around him all day so she can write a piece in The New York Times about him. That sounds easy for Simon to do, but she’s a well-known character assassin, so we feel just how much her presence puts Simon on the line.

This is also the episode where Slattery’s work for the DODC becomes known to Simon, and the resulting tense conversation between the two is arguably the best few minutes of acting in a series all about acting. Not to mention, as far as closing scenes of a penultimate episode go, it’s hard to beat the protagonist accidentally destroying the soundstage in which he works.

3) “Pacoima” (Episode 3)

“Pacoima” is a winner because it manages to turn a birthday party into a source of consistent tension. Birthday parties can often be like that if there are some members of your family you don’t get along with, but not to this extent. On Simon’s end, he wants to keep the fact he lost his American Horror Story role a secret. For one, he’s embarrassed by that, but just as important is the fact that he knows his brother, Eric, will belittle him for sticking with a dream for so long instead of just entering the business world like he’s successfully done. As for Slattery, he’s really only there to get dirt of Simon’s past for the DODC, and every time he enters a conversation, we get the growing sense that he is truly awful at this whole espionage business. It’s as if he’ll be called out at any moment.

On top of the tension, there are also some good laughs, e.g. when Eric confronts Slattery about having been the Mandarin and he replies with “I took a role posing as an international terrorist to pay my drug and prostitution debts.” That’s about as honest as honest can be. Furthermore, this episode ranks high because it has a few beautiful moments, especially right at the end when Slattery destroys the wiretap he’s been using, which is then quickly followed by the smile-inducing revelation that they both have been given callbacks for Wonder Man, which was something Simon pretended to have received in front of his family. Lastly, Shola Adewusi is wonderful as Simon’s mother, Martha (that name sure has a way of attaching itself to superhero moms, doesn’t it?).

2) “Yucca Valley” (Episode 8)

Wonder Man is classified as a miniseries, but it leaves us with a cliffhanger, and it’s a very good one at that. This is a fantastic finale, and it’s primarily because it takes what was once a fake terrorist used as a punchline and turns him into a hero in his own right. And the way he becomes that hero is by going back to being the fake terrorist. It’s a wonderful bit of full circle storytelling.

“Yucca Valley” also works because it’s just so touching. The phone conversation between Simon and Slattery just before the former learns the latter is going to take place for the movie studio explosion really does sound like organic dialogue between two friends. Some may be disappointed that Wonder Man doesn’t every really embrace many super-heroics, but if it’s proof of anything it’s that the MCU is still capable of telling a great story. After a few critical and commercial failures throughout the past few years, that’s exactly what it needed to do.

1) “Doorman” (Episode 4)

Simon and Slattery’s growing bond is the heart of Wonder Man, yes, but the best episode is ironically the only one that steps away from that throughline entirely. In fact, we never even see Slattery. Instead, it’s a monochrome flashback to an entirely different character, DeMarr Davis.

Davis is exposed to toxic waste and gets the ability to phase, which he uses to save a nightclub full of patrons, including Frozen star Josh Gad. From here we get to see a Tony Montana-esque rise and fall (though without the drugs and guns) that breaks one’s heart, because we feel for Davis. He’s an average joe who resisted this chance to be seen as a star because he doesn’t really see himself as one. He’s humble, but he gets an in to fame through Gad nonetheless, and the result is one actor trapped in another dimension and another under constant government surveillance “here” on Earth-616. It’s a very well-orchestrated and tightly written tragic tale. If there was a better potential explanation for the show’s Doorman Clause, which bans superheroes from being movie or TV stars, it’s hard to imagine what that could have been.

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