Marvel Studios’ upcoming television series Wonder Man has one of the most unusual origin stories in the Marvel Cinematic Universe — it began as a joke.
While working on the set of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, director Destin Daniel Cretton casually joked with a producer about the possibility of spinning off a streaming series centered on Trevor Slattery, the lovable yet deeply incompetent actor portrayed by Oscar winner Ben Kingsley. Slattery, who had already appeared in Iron Man 3 and later in Shang-Chi, had become a fan-favorite comic relief character.
To everyone’s surprise, the joke quickly took visual form. On a whim, the art department mocked up a fictional poster titled “Trevor Goes to Hollywood.”
“And I was like, now we have to figure out how to do this show,” Cretton recalled.
A Different Kind of Superhero Story
At the same time, Marvel was already developing a Hollywood-set series focused on Simon Williams, better known to comic readers as Wonder Man. Traditionally, the character is portrayed as a wealthy industrialist who gains superpowers and later becomes a successful movie star.
But Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige wanted to flip that formula entirely.
Instead of making Simon a powerful businessman who dabbles in acting, Feige envisioned him as an aspiring actor first — someone whose superpowers complicate his life rather than elevate it. In the series, Simon is played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, and his abilities are anything but a blessing.
“What if we made the superpowers his problem?” said Brad Winderbaum, head of Marvel’s television division. “It was never designed to be: let’s watch him beat up a bunch of bad guys.”
Rather than leaning into traditional superhero spectacle, Wonder Man focuses on identity, ambition, and frustration — with Simon’s powers acting as an obstacle to the one thing he truly loves: acting.
Trevor Slattery Returns — And It Just Works
Pairing this reimagined Wonder Man with Ben Kingsley’s Trevor Slattery proved to be the missing piece.
Slattery, first introduced in Iron Man 3 as a washed-up actor so desperate for work that he agrees to pose as a terrorist mastermind, embodies everything chaotic and absurd about Hollywood. His return in Shang-Chi only deepened the character’s cult appeal.
Bringing Trevor into Wonder Man wasn’t just fan service — it became central to the show’s tone. The series leans heavily into satire, skewering both superhero tropes and the entertainment industry itself.
The result is a Marvel show that isn’t about saving the world, but about surviving auditions, managing egos, and figuring out who you are when the thing that makes you special also holds you back.
A Fresh Direction for Marvel TV
With Wonder Man, Marvel appears to be pushing further away from formulaic superhero storytelling and closer to character-driven narratives. The show’s Hollywood setting allows it to explore fame, failure, and reinvention — themes that resonate both inside and outside the MCU.
It also signals Marvel’s willingness to experiment, especially as the studio recalibrates its television strategy after years of rapid expansion. Rather than spectacle-first storytelling, Wonder Man aims to deliver humor, heart, and self-awareness.
What began as a throwaway joke on a film set has evolved into one of Marvel’s most intriguing upcoming projects — a series that asks what happens when superpowers aren’t the solution, but the problem.
And somehow, Trevor Slattery is right in the middle of it.
