Wonder Man Series Tone: Marvel’s New Self-Aware Comedy

Marvel's next Disney+ series is set to get meta, taking a satirical and self-aware look at the superhero genre and the machinery of Hollywood.

Marvel Studios is poised to deliver a uniquely self-referential series with the new show Wonder Man, premiering in January.

What’s Happening:

Wonder Man follows Simon Williams, played by Abdul-Mateen II, an actor auditioning for a ‘Wonder Man’ movie while simultaneously grappling with the possibility of developing Wonder Man-esque powers himself.
According to an interview with the lead actor by Empire, This narrative setup leans into meta commentary which was previously explored in She-Hulk, but only in the show's finale.
The new tone for the series will see it address concepts like "superhero fatigue" without letting it consume the core story.
Anchoring this character work is the partnership between Simon Williams and the returning MCU fan-favorite, actor Trevor Slattery, played by Sir Ben Kingsley.
The series is set to stream on Disney+ starting January 27.
We've previously covered the sneak preview of Wonder Man as well as an overview of what Wonder Man is exactly.

What They're Saying:

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, actor: “We’re doing something that, tonally, feels much different than really any other Marvel show, or any other films. We’re doing something that’s fresh, and a bit tongue-in-cheek, a bit self-aware. The show is self-aware, without looking directly into the camera. There’ll be commentary about superhero fatigue and things like that, but to me, it’s just dressing. That’s not really the aim of the show. The focus of the show is about an actor’s journey. It’s about a journey of friendship.”

Beyond the Meta: The Story of Wonder Man’s Mentor, Trevor Slattery

Sir Ben Kingsley’s return as the hapless actor Trevor Slattery is a key element of the meta-commentary in Wonder Man.
Slattery was first introduced in Iron Man 3 as the man hired to pose as the villainous Mandarin.
The shocking twist that the menacing terrorist was merely a washed-up, English stage actor remains one of the MCU's most divisive and satirical moments.
Slattery's journey continued in the short film All Hail the King and later in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, where it was revealed he was kept as a "court jester" by the real Mandarin, Xu Wenwu.
His role as a mentor figure to Simon Williams in Wonder Man ties to the series’ theme of an actor's struggle for authenticity and relevance in a world of manufactured heroism, effectively turning one of the MCU's oldest gags into the emotional anchor of a new series.

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