Marvel’s Wonder Man Series Reportedly Adds New Director

Phase 5 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is almost underway, bringing a number of movies and Disney+ television shows to the franchise’s fans. One project that has had a unique significance in the MCU’s future is Wonder Man, a Disney+ show that will follow the adventures of Simon Williams / Wonder Man (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II). Updates surrounding Wonder Man have been pretty scarce thus far, outside of Abdul-Mateen II and Ben Kingsley’s castings in the show — but apparently, that is about to change.

According to a new report from Discussing Film, The Spectacular Now and Shrinking director James Ponsoldt is set to helm a currently-unknown number of episodes of Wonder Man. He is believed to be sharing directing duties with Avengers: The Kang Dynasty‘s Destin Daniel Cretton, who is directing and executive producing the show through his first-look deal with Marvel.

Who is Marvel’s Wonder Man?

Created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Don Heck in 1964’s Avengers #9, Wonder Man was a villain-turned-hero with a variety of super powers, including iconic energy manipulation, teleportation, and strength. The character is possibly best known for being a founding member of the West Coast Avengers, which lead to him working as an actor and stuntman in Hollywood. 

In the comics, Wonder Man also has a unique connection to both Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch and The Vision, with him essentially being like a brother to the android. He also became a love interest of Wanda’s following Vision’s dismantling during the “Vision Quest” storyline (which, coincidentally, Marvel is also rumored to be developing a Disney+ series about).

Has Wonder Man appeared in the MCU?

Wonder Man was briefly poised to cameo in 2017’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, with writer-director James Gunn casting Nathan Fillion in the role. Fillion’s Wonder Man was supposed to briefly appear in a series of in-universe movie posters during a sequence set on Earth, but it was ultimately cut from the film.

“I really do love the character of Simon Williams/Wonder Man in the comics – a sometimes douchey actor/superhero – and could see Nathan clearly in that role (not because he’s a douchebag but because he’s great at playing one),” Gunn shared on his Facebook page at the time. “But, of course, in a movie set 99.9% in space I didn’t really have a place for him. So in a small flash to earth I decided to put a theater playing a ‘Simon Williams Film Festival,’ with six Simon Williams movie posters outside. Obviously, from the posters, he’s had a run of B movies. Most of them in themselves are Easter eggs of some sort or another. Unfortunately, the small section of the scene where they appeared slowed down the movie and I had to cut the Easter eggs from the film (along with storefronts named after comic book luminaries Starlin, Mantlos, Annett and others),” he continued. “Equally a bummer was that a lot of people took photos of these posters on the day so suddenly every fan site was reporting that Nathan was playing Wonder Man in he movie. He was even the third-billed actor on IMDB!”

What do you think of the newest update surrounding Marvel’s Wonder Man? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!