‘Wonder Man’: Disney+ Taps Yahya Abdul-Mateen II For New Marvel Series
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is someone who is no stranger to comic book characters, and now it seems he could be adding another to his CV, as it’s reported Disney+ has tapped him to lead their ‘Wonder Man‘ Marvel series.
If you’re unfamiliar with Wonder Man, the character first appeared in 1964. Simon Williams, son of a rich industrialist, inherits his father’s company, Williams Innovations, however, the company is failing, mainly due to competition from Stark Industries. He is caught trying to embezzle money from the company, but is bailed out by Baron Zemo who offers to transform him into an ion-powered superhuman in exchange for infiltrating the Avengers. Williams agrees, and becomes ‘Wonder Man’, although eventually betrays Zemo and sides with the Avengers instead.
This will be the third comic book character for Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, but his first for Marvel. He previously starred as Black Manta in DC’s ‘Aquaman’, and also played Cal Abar in HBO’s ‘Watchmen’ series, based on the DC comic, which earned him an Emmy. His other work includes the films ‘The Matrix Resurrections’, ‘Candyman’, and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’, along with appearing in tv shows ‘Black Mirror’ and ‘The Get Down’.
News of a ‘Wonder Man’ series first surfaced in June this year, with ‘Shang-Chi’ director and co-writer Destin Daniel Cretton set to direct and exec produce the project. ‘Hawkeye’ co-producer Andrew Guest is set to serve as head writer.
The show will also see the return of Ben Kingsley, reprising his MCU role of Trevor Slattery, last seen in ‘Shang-Chi’. As with most MCU projects at this stage, the exact plot details are being kept under wraps. However, it is rumoured that the origins of ‘Wonder Man’ are to be a little different to the comics, and it is being set as a “Hollywood satire”. In the comics, Simon Williams does work as a stuntman for a time (which, given he is an invulnerable superhuman, makes sense,) and it looks like that may be part of the plot they will use for the series.
The ‘Wonder Man‘ series has yet to be officially announced by Marvel, and Marvel Studios don’t comment on developing projects, however, we will let you know when we hear more.
