What Exactly is Marvel's "Wonder Man" Series?

Marvel made a splash at New York Comic Con today, unveiling release plans and new details for several series. One of the most surprising upcoming projects discussed is Wonder Man. While we’ve known about this new series for some time, the plot had been kept under wraps. And while we now have the first official trailer for the series, I’m thinking a big chunk of it still is.

Who is Wonder Man?

Simon Williams is, in fact, a character from the Marvel Comics. Debuting in “Avengers #9" all the way back in 1964, he found himself in a tough situation and was bailed out (literally) by Baron Zemo and some other villains. Zemo conducted some experiments and turned Williams into a super villain with the hope of using him to take down the Avengers. Taking the moniker Wonder Man, Williams now had all the cliché super powers (superhuman strength, invulnerability, flight, etc.).

Things didn’t work out for Zemo as Wonder Man saved the Avengers and sacrificed himself. He was later resurrected by Kang and returned to his villainous ways before eventually becoming a hero, then a villain again, then a hero again. You know, typical comic book stuff.

Generally though, Wonder Man is considered to be a hero and was even a longstanding member of the Avengers. He is also an actor with anything but the typical hero attitude.

What is the show about?

As you can see in the trailer above, this series appears to be anything but your typical superhero show. In fact, it doesn’t seem to be a superhero show at all. Instead, it’s about an aspiring actor hoping to land his dream role, which just happens to be a superhero. The only connection to the MCU seems to be the return of Trevor Slattery.

Is this really it?

While Marvel has been very adventurous and willing to play around with different genres in recent years, I’m guessing there is more than meets the eye with this new series. Wonder Man does have a very clouded past in the comics, complete with multiple deaths and revamps of the character. It seems completely possible the version of Simon Williams we are seeing in the trailer could eventually actually become a superhero himself. Or, if Marvel really decides to get crazy, perhaps this is all just playing out in Williams’ head and he already really is a superpowered individual of some kind.

Who else might we see in this series?

While I do think this series will take a turn at some point, I don’t expect it to become a large-scale MCU epic. I don’t think Spider-Man will be swinging in at any point. However, if one existing Avenger were to make an appearance, there is one with whom Simon Williams shares a romantic history.

That’s right. Wonder Man and Captain Marvel date for a while in the comics. Still it seems like a longshot we will see Carol Danvers making an appearance in this series.

There is however a character who has not yet made their MCU debut that very well could do so here. Simon’s brother, Eric Williams, takes on the supervillain moniker of the Grim Reaper. And while he’s not the highest profile baddie in the Avengers rogues gallery, he is one who has been on fans’ radar for some time. In fact, there was seemingly a nod to the character way back in one of the intros to an episode of WandaVision.

In the animated introduction to episode two, you can briefly see the Grim Reaper’s helmet underneath the floorboards of Wanda and Vision’s home.

In the comics, it’s Eric’s criminal ways that put Simon in that tough situation in the first place, which lead to him becoming Wonder Man. Perhaps we will see a similar situation play out in the series, whether it be real or just acting… or something else.

Marvel’s Wonder Man will debut January 27 on Disney+.