Where have I seen him before?
Pretty sure he used to be a terrorist.
So honestly, not familiar with the WONDER MAN comics, so definitely didn’t know what to expect from this series after it was announced. But we got our first trailer for the Marvel/Disney+ series, and I have to say, I’m super into it.
Check it out below.
At first blush, looks like a dramedy inspired by the Marvel comic, focusing on the actor’s journey in landing a role. And the fact that they got Ben Kingsley to reprise his role as The Mandarin, ALL THE BETTER! Honestly, I kinda dig all of this. I mean, when the MCU first started, there was very much a package to Marvel movies. From the colors, set design, the general whole production, you can tell it was a “Marvel” movie. More Marvel Studios was putting out a product and not movies.
Don’t get me wrong, I love me some Marvel movies… I mean, up until ENDGAME, then it’s been hit and miss. But the MCU definitely had a look to it and love that projects seem to breaking from that.
THUNDERBOLTS was a great example of that. The look, the tone, look, the overall story, and whether or not it was intended, but the inferred overtones of Mental Wellness… it was definitely different from what had come before. I think Florence Pugh had said it was more an A24 movie than a Marvel one, and I couldn’t agree more, in a positive way.
And it looks like that shift is happening here too. And I love that this happening. Back with the DCEU, with Warner Bros. trying to play catch-up with the MCU, and it suffered from its “packaged” look. And while that worked for Marvel in the early phases, the DCEU couldn’t hit its stride.
But in that regard, I would offer DCEU had its best hits when the movies did their own thing and wasn’t concerned with an interconnected universe. And while I think Marvel will never abandon the idea of an interconnected universe, I think, essentially, giving filmmakers the freedom to create more of an original piece is a great thing.
And that’s something that it looks like we’re getting with WONDER MAN.
But are we getting a superhero series? That’s the question. While the trailer doesn’t speak to it, the IMDB page references “powers”, so who knows how that will play out.
WONDER MAN is coming from Destin Daniel Cretton (SHANG-CHI, which I also LOVED) and Andrew Guest, starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II in the title role.
WONDER MAN hits Disney+ on January 27th. Will you be watching?
