Yahya Abdul-Mateen II Cast as Wonder Man in Marvel Studios’ Disney Plus Series
From Deadline, Aquaman and Watchmen actor Yahya Abdul-Mateen II has been cast as the lead in the upcoming Marvel series Wonder Man for Disney Plus.
The series will be executive produced by Destin Daniel Cretton (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) and Andrew Guest (Hawkeye), with the former directing at least a couple of episodes, and the latter acting as head writer.
It has also been reported that Ben Kingsley will return as Trevor Slattery for the series, which is rumored to be a Hollywood satire, a very appropriate pitch given the comic roots of the character — Wonder Man aka Simon Williams is an actor and a stunt performer. Kingsley will reportedly play a major role, though plot details are being kept under wraps.
Deadline also mentions Simon Williams’ origins as the son of a wealthy industrialist, who inherits his father’s weapons company upon his death. In the comics, he is often an antagonist of the Avengers and seems to flip between friend and foe quite often. It’s unclear how much of this background will be incorporated into the show, considering the aforementioned Hollywood satire rumors.
Production could begin within the next few months, possibly aiming for a 2024 release. More casting news are expected to come in the next few weeks as pre-production ramps up. Moreover, Cretton will probably get his hands dirty with Avengers: The Kang Dynasty soon, since it’s in the scripting phase at the moment but could start shooting within the year, aiming for a May 2, 2025, release. He also has an untitled Shang-Chi sequel in the works, but the project hasn’t been officially dated, so it will likely come after The Kang Dynasty.
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is coming off of a Michael Bay film in Ambulance and very strong reviews for his Broadway adaptation of Topdog/Underdog. He will be returning for the Aquaman sequel next year as Black Manta. He also played Morpheus in last year’s The Matrix Resurrections.
The next project from Marvel Studios will be Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, out in theaters next week. Later this month, The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special will enchant Disney Plus with plenty of Christmas spirit. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is up after that, on February 17, 2023.
Miguel Fernández is a Spanish student that has movies as his second passion in life. His favorite movie of all time is The Lord of the Rings, but he is also a huge Star Wars fan. However, fantasy movies are not his only cup of tea, as authors like Scorsese, Fincher, Kubrick or Hitchcock have been an obsession for him since he started to understand the language of filmmaking. He is that guy who will watch a black and white movie, just because it is in black and white.
