Think of it as the anti-Barry, or at least the more serious, grounded version. More than a being your run-of-the-mill Marvel Studios/Disney+ series, Wonder Man is an ode to the L.A. struggling actor and the current entertainment industry.
The show’s concept stemmed from Shang-Chi and the Legend of Ten Rings filmmaker Destin Daniel Cretton‘s fascination with Ben Kingsley’s acting process for his lampoon-ish, sometimes-villain Trevor Slattery. It turns out Marvel was trying to create its own take of Wonder Man based on the comic book, but they gave Cretton and series co-creator Andrew Guest full rein to devise their own as they saw fit.
The original Wonder Man in the comics was an industrialist who dies and becomes a zombie, and in his second 1990s iteration he’s a Tom Cruise-like actor who does his own stunts.
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Wonder Man the show revolves around Simon Williams (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), an actor who is trying to make ends meet. He lands the role of a lifetime as he’s cast as Wonder Man in a big superhero movie. It’s also a part he’s prized since childhood. Only thing is that Simon isn’t aware of his superpowers. However, working actor and sometimes fill-in villain (from Iron Man 3 and Shang-Chi fame) Trevor Slattery knows who this guy is; in fact, he’s working with the government to try and nab Simon. Wonder Man in the comics infiltrates the Avengers, but no word whether he’s making a cameo in the Russo Brothers’ Avengers: Doomsday and beyond.
Cretton and Guest share with us what changed about the series after being paused due to the strikes, how they landed on Abdul-Mateen, and the state of Season 2 (not many Marvel/Disney+ series land a second season). In addition, Cretton lets us know what’s up with Shang-Chi 2, the first film owning the biggest opening for Labor Day weekend ever with a four-day cume of $94.6M domestic and final of $224.5M in the U.S.-Canada and $432.2M worldwide.
Cretton also tells about his next movie, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, specifically how the production handled Tom Holland’s injury as well the current franchise’s future.
“Is there ever a last Spider-Man?” Cretton tells Crew Call. “Everyone should go to this (movie) as if it’s the last Spider-Man.”
Wonder Man‘s Season 1 is available to watch on Disney+. Spider-Man: Brand New Day from Sony and Marvel Studios opens July 31.
Listen to our chat below:
