It looks like Simon Williams isn’t ready for his final bow just yet. Despite being originally billed as a miniseries, Marvel Studios has officially greenlit a second season of Wonder Man for D+.
The news was revealed by the studio via social media and confirmed that both Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Sir Ben Kingsley are set to return for the sophomore season.
Simon Williams and Trevor Slattery will return for Marvel Television's #WonderMan Season 2, co-created by Destin Daniel Cretton and Andrew Guest, coming to @DisneyPlus. pic.twitter.com/XnOBYrYHaA
While Season 1 was produced under the Marvel Spotlight banner— reserved for more grounded, standalone stories—the series became an immediate breakout hit. It still sits as the #1 show on Disney+, with fans praising its “acting nerd” charm and the undeniable chemistry between its two leads.
Executive producer Brad Winderbaum previously said Season 1 concluded a trilogy for Trevor Slattery (following Iron Man 3 and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings). A second season means the MCU’s greatest actor is officially entering a new, unscripted chapter of his life.
Showrunner Andrew Guest has already been dropping hints about the potential direction of a second season, telling The Direct back in January that if it happened, he’d want to explore “the deal to be worked out” between Simon’s burgeoning superhero status and the restrictive “Doorman Clause” of Hollywood.
Marvel is clearly listening to the fans. Wonder Man was a gamble—dramadey about the craft of acting set in a superhero world—but its success proves there is a massive appetite for character-driven stories.
Marvel Studios’ 2026 got off to a fantastic start with Wonder Man. A character study led by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Ben Kingsley, the eight-episode series was roundly praised by critics and fans for its change of pace from typical Marvel fare.
The original shows were created as limited series… That made it challenging to make season 2s… But there are shows that were caught in the middle. I’d put Wonder Man on that list where we have to see. Season 2s could be on the table if people watch.
-Brad Winderbaum
According to insider Daniel Richtman, Marvel Studios is “very close” to giving the green light to a second season of Wonder Man.
Richtman’s report comes on the heels of a tease by Brandon Davis who responded to a comment about the potential lack of more Wonder Man in the MCU’s future by saying “Wonder Man will get more 👀.”
Though nothing is official, co-creator Destin Daniel Cretton is a certified idea man who most likely found plenty of potential for future stories while developing and overseeing Season 1: a supply to meet the demand for more. Should the studio decide toove forward, late-2027 would seem the earliest a sophomore season could be expected.
Described by Marvel Studios’ Head of TV, Streaming, and Animation, Brad Winderbaum, as a “love letter to Hollywood” and a story “that anyone who came up in Hollywood or in the arts in general can relate to,” Marvel Television’s Wonder Man may indeed be just that…though at times anyone who did not come up in Hollywood might find themselves feeling a bit like a fifth grader on the outside of an inside joke. True to the word of Winderbaum, Wonder Man is entirely unlike anything Marvel has done because, at least in part, it feels as though it was created for the enjoyment of those who create.
A character study at its core, Wonder Man is almost entirely devoid of superhero action, choosing rather to spend its narrative currency peeling back the layers of the psyches of Simon Williams and Trevor Slattery. Like Midnight Cowboy, the film that brings the two together, Wonder Man is indeed, as advertised, a two-hander in which each of the dual protagonists recognizes the other as, perhaps, the first genuine human connection either has ever had. Over the course of seven of the eight episodes (an entire episode of Wonder Man is dedicated to NEITHER Simon nor Trevor), the leads’ personas are stripped bare, with Simon’s history told through fragmented flashbacks that deconstruct the damaged and insecure boy that lives behind the facade of an overconfident man. Simon is ALWAYS acting; however, it’s only when he realizes that he’s acting that he struggles.
As a character study devoted to the genre, Wonder Man stands apart from traditional superhero fare. By the design of co-creators Destin Daniel Cretton and Andrew Guest, the stakes of its plot are emotional rather than physical. Despite Simon being perhaps one of the MCU’s most powerful individuals, the series eschews the genre’s classic climax for one that is simply anticlimactic. The earliest marketing for the series gave away the fate of Simon’s pursuit of his dream role, even if it did cleverly conceal the project’s best twist which isn’t a revelation about Simon. As such, Wonder Man follows a couple of actors talking about acting while pursuing acting roles for the vast majority of its runtime, with very little time spent on the unnatural abilities possessed by Simon Williams. By focusing on the mundane aspects of being a powered individual in the film industry (auditions, stunt work, publicists), the show humanizes Simon. While Wonder Man does provide Simon with the occasional opportunity to show off his powers on street-level cannon fodder, there’s more tension present in scenes where he’s trying to crack the backstory of his character in American Horror Story.
Though the time spent with Simon is rewarding, such little time is devoted to his innate ionic powers that the presence of the series de facto antagonists, the Department of Damage Control, feels shoehorned and contrived. Arguably, this is the one area in which Wonder Man taking place within a deeply developed shared universe based on superheroes forces a betrayal of Cretton and Guest‘s intent. Classic character studies rarely involve a conflict with an external aggressor, focusing rather on how the protagonist’s psyche prevents him from achieving his desired purpose. Given that Wonder Man thoroughly and expertly explores that avenue, it seems clear that the DODC’s inclusion was *suggested* by the Marvel Parliament rather than being narratively native. While it seems Marvel’s intent is that the DODC is destined to become the precursor of the MCU’s anti-Mutant division–even though it is not clear if Simon is a mutant in the MCU–their presence is one of the primary perplexities of the series.
Another is why Simon William is the protagonist of Wonder Man at all. Though it’s hardly the first time it has done so, Marvel Studios significantly reinvents Simon Williams–and those around him–for the MCU. And strangely, given the series’ designation as a Marvel Spotlight project–there’s no guarantee the decision to do so will eventually be paid off or explained. Yes, this Simon is prone to bouts of self-doubt, works in Hollywood and has incredible ionic powers; however, the decision to make Simon a mutant rather than a mutate strips him of the agency that made him such a polarizing character in his early adventures in the pages of Marvel Comics. An interesting choice to be sure and one that may never be liquidated. From his background to his family connections to the source of his powers, the MCU’s Simon has surprisingly little in common with his comic book counterpart…but nearly none of that matters when a star the caliber of Yahya Abul-Mateen II is involved.
In Wonder Man, Cretton and Guest created the equivalent of an HBO prestige streaming series. Rather than fill the runtime with superhero moments, Wonder Man lingers on the mundane, revealing the true natures of Simon and Trevor in a strangely slow burn for a series with such short runtimes. In the case of Simon, Wonder Man introduces an insecure man seeking validation. But brilliantly, the series uses Trevor as a dark mirror to Simon. If Wonder Man presents Simon as a study of a man trying to find himself through fame, Trevor is a study of a man who has completely lost himself to the performance. Trevor’s character study is built on the tragedy of a failed artist who finally found his greatest role by accident.
Whether he’s in a high-security prison or a warlord’s compound, Trevor’s constant performing ensures people find him too entertaining to kill. This reveals a deep instinct for self-preservation: Trevor doesn’t know how to be authentic because, in his world, being yourself gets you hurt. Strip away the accents and the anecdotes about “the stage” and his “mum” and you meet a man with a fundamental void of identity. Trevor is a character study in codependency. He needs an audience to tell him he exists. Without someone watching him, Slattery effectively vanishes. Using Trevor as a secondary character study reveals a man who uses acting as a survival mechanism and a psychological shield, serving as a near-perfect foil to Simon Williams’s worldview. And in Simon, he meets his co-dependent.
Where Trevor’s patience and experience provide him the relief of being the consummate actor, Simon holds the power of a god but the temperament of a struggling artist, creating a fish-out-of-water dynamic that makes Wonder Man such a particularly clever choice for a character study. While most superhero projects focus on the hero’s journey, Wonder Man is designed as a satirical character study, peeling back the layers of a man who is literally and figuratively performing for a living.
Tonally, Wonder Man balances comedy with a sense of isolation. Tragicomical character studies often use humor to mask a character’s deep-seated loneliness and Wonder Man is no different here, other than that it is led by Yahya Abdul-Matteen II, whose filmography reveals a generational talent.
Despite the series’ shortcomings in terms of its utility as another entry in the MCU’s shared narrative tapestry (it’s only in its last 15 minutes that Wonder Man feels like it belongs in the MCU), the series is undoubtedly one of Marvel Television’s best and, despite some other heavy competition, is carried by the studio’s strongest cast. At the end of the day, the only question that remains is why is was developed as a superhero study at all.
Marvel Television’s Wonder Man will hit Disney Plus one week from today, introducing fans to Simon Williams and providing a look at what goes on behind the scenes in Hollywood. Described as a “two-hander” featuring the “odd couple of Simon Williams and Trevor Slattery,” the 8-episode series will follow Yahya Abdul-Mateen II‘s Williams as he attempts to land the role of a lifetime in a remake of his favorite childhood film.
Developed for Disney Plus by Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Spider-Man: Brand New Day director Destin Daniel Cretton and Hawkeye and Brooklyn Nine-Nine writer Andrew Guest, Wonder Man kicks off Marvel’s 2026 slate and, in a rare move, the studio has decided to release the entire series on day one. Now, as the marketing for the series continues, they’ve revealed the titles for each episode and one is certainly eye-catching.
Episode 4, titled “Doorman”, certainly stands out on the image released by the studio both because it’s written in red and because it’s the name of an incredibly interesting character who will be played by comedian Byron Bowers. It’s also been well-established via marketing that super-powered individuals aren’t welcome in Hollywood projects and all potential actors must sign off on the “Doorman Clause,” confirming they are not enhanced.
Doorman, real name DeMarr Davis, made his debut back in West Coast Avengers #46 (1989). A John Byrne creation who, on the surface, seemed like a joke waiting to happen, DeMarr is a mutant, but not one who could level a city block or fly at Mach 5. His initial power? He could turn his body into a portal that connects two parts of the same room, essentially letting people pass through him to get to the other side of a solid object.
Naming an entire episode for a character usually associated with low-brow comedy certainly stands out and it appears Doorman will get more than just a passing reference in the series.
Marvel’s 2026 slate kicks off on January 27th with the eight-episode streaming series Wonder Man. Revealed to be in development in the summer of 2022, Wonder Man was shrouded so heavily in mystery that some fans questioned its existence. Developed for Disney Plus by Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Spider-Man: Brand New Day director Destin Daniel Cretton and Hawkeye and Brooklyn Nine-Nine writer Andrew Guest, the series will see Yaha Abdul-Mateen II step into the role of Simon Williams, a longtime Avenger in the pages of Marvel Comics whose jump to the MCU took a little longer than expected after Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron director Joss Whedon divulged he could never “figure out what he was for.”
You know it’s a two-hander between two amazing characters. There’s this odd couple of Simon Williams and Trevor Slattery and you get a little bit of glimpse of that in the trailer. I don’t wanna go too much into story details, it’s very fun to see people speculating about what the plot will be.
With Whedon long-since out of the loop, the Marvel Parliament determined that the best way to use Simon Williams was to satirize Hollywood. Marvel Television top dog Brad Winderbaum has said that the Marvel Spotlight series “is a love letter to Hollywood in a lot of ways,” including providing the audience with “a peek behind the curtain of the entertainment industry.”
As the viral and meta marketing for the project has revealed, the series will follow Williams as he attempts to land the role of a lifetime as the lead in a remake of the classic, in-universe superhero film Wonder Man. However, with super-powered folks not allowed to work in the industry, Simon will be forced to try to hide his powers from not only those in Hollywood but also the Department of Damage Control, the organization first seen on screen in Spider-Man: Homecoming and the de facto villains of the series
That is part of the fun of it. If you’re a fan of West Coast Avengers and know a little bit about Simon Williams you’re going to be… I mean, I hope if you’re anything like me, you’re going to be very excited to see how much homage to the source material there is.
Unlike Ironheart, which followed up on Riri Williams after her MCU debut in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Wonder Man marks the first MCU appearance of the character but that doesn’t mean there’s not a little homework to do before checking out the Marvel Spotlight series. And so we bring you the Ultimate List of What to Watch Before Wonder Man!
Iron Man 3 (2013)
🍅 79%
Though Simon Williams is making his MCU debut in Wonder Man, the other half of the show’s odd couple, Trevor Slattery, has had plenty of screentime over the last decade and change.
When we look back at the Infinity Saga, few moments caused quite the seismic divide in the fandom as the “Mandarin Twist” in Shane Black’s Iron Man 3. At the center of that controversy? A washed-up, drug-addled British actor named Trevor Slattery. To understand Slattery’s role, you have to separate the marketing from the movie, because that was the genius—and for some, the betrayal—of the character.
It kind of has this trilogy feeling. After ‘Wonder Man’ Season 1 you can map out…
-Brad Winderbaum
For the first half of the film, Slattery (played to perfection by Sir Ben Kingsley) was presented as The Mandarin. He was the ultimate boogeyman, a classic warlord broadcasting lessons of terror to the United States. Then came the scene in the Miami stronghold. Tony infiltrates the headquarters, expecting a final showdown with a mastermind. Instead, he finds Slattery fresh out of the bathroom, popping open a beer, and rambling about his drug supply in a thick Liverpudlian accent.
Slattery wasn’t a warlord. He was a struggling stage actor with a substance abuse problem and a history of failed pilots. Aldrich Killian, the film’s real villain, hired Slattery to be the face of his Extremis experiments. Killian needed a terrorist narrative to cover up the volatile explosions caused by his unstable super-soldiers.
Despite the hate, Slattery’s role was crucial for Tony Stark’s character arc. It forced Tony to stop chasing ghosts and face the reality that his demons were of his own making, not some foreign mystic.
All Hail the King (2014)
If Iron Man 3 was the movie that divided the fanbase, All Hail the King was the olive branch Kevin Feige and crew extended to bring us all back together. Released with Thor: The Dark World‘s home media, this 14-minute short film is arguably one of the most important pieces of canon in the Infinity Saga, fundamentally retconning the MCU to make room for the real Mandarin.
We pick up with Trevor Slattery living his absolute best life inside Seagate Prison. He’s not being treated like a terrorist; he’s being treated like a celebrity. He has his own “butler,” a fan club, and he’s still completely oblivious to the gravity of the crimes in which he was complicit.
The narrative frame is a documentary being filmed by a journalist named Jackson Norriss, played by Scoot McNairy. Norriss is digging into Trevor’s past, looking at his failed pilots and his childhood. Trevor thinks this is just another puff piece to stroke his ego. He’s rambling about his acting method, completely unaware that the vibe in the room is shifting. Norriss isn’t there to celebrate Trevor; he’s there to bury him. In the final act, Norriss drops the act. He pulls a gun, kills the guards, and reveals his true allegiance. He isn’t a journalist. He is a member of the Ten Rings.
The Ten Rings are furious that a drug-addled British actor made a mockery of their leader’s name. Norriss isn’t there to kill Trevor in prison. He’s breaking him out to take him to the boss. As Norriss puts it, the boss “wants his name back.”
By revealing that Killian merely co-opted the iconography of a real ancient warlord, they satisfied the comic purists without invalidating the events of Iron Man 3. It was a brilliant bit of retroactive continuity that kept Trevor Slattery on the board as a comedic pawn while setting the stage for Wenwu’s eventual debut in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
🍅 92%
While everyone was busy watching Tom Holland stick the landing as the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man in Homecoming, what appears to have been a massive piece of world-building was also taking place with the introduction of the Department of Damage Control (DODC).
A construction company that cleans up after superhero battles, in the comics, Homecoming rebranded them as a federal executive department that’s part of a joint venture between the U.S. Government and Stark Industries. After the Battle of New York in 2012, the city originally hired Michael Keaton‘s Adrian Toomes for the cleanup. But then, in swooped Anne Marie Hoag and the DODC, flashing federal badges and ultimately forcing Toomes and his crew into the choice to become weapons dealers.
It’s a brilliant narrative flip for the MCU where organizations like S.H.I.E.L.D. or the Avengers are meant to be the “good guys.” Here, the DODC represents the cold, corporate side of heroism. They locked down the alien tech not just to keep people safe, but to hoard it.
The DODC’s debut in Homecoming set a dark precedent. They started as a cleanup crew, but as seen No Way Home and Ms. Marvel, they’ve evolved into a much more aggressive, enforcement-heavy agency.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2022)
🍅 92%
After being dragged out of Seagate Prison by the Ten Rings, presumably to face a gruesome execution at the hands of the real Mandarin, Slattery disappeared from the MCU for nearly a decade. Rather than killing him, Wenwu kept Trevor as a sort of “court jester” to perform Shakespeare recitals whenever the warlord needed entertainment. In a hilarious twist, the terrifying terrorist from Iron Man 3 saved his own skin solely by doing acting improvisations of Macbeth and Planet of the Apes.
He manages to escape from the real Mandarin and from Shang-Chi land, and he flies back into Hollywood to give his career a second chance and to prove to his dear mother Dorothy, who always had faith in him and his talents, that he was truly the actor his mom always hoped he would be and that he always aspired to be.
-Ben Kingsley on Trevor Slattery’s role in Wonder Man
Slattery’s inclusion here isn’t just comic relief; it’s narrative utility. He is the only person who can communicate with Morris, the mythological Dijiang, who knows the safe path through the dangerous bamboo forest to reach Ta Lo. During the final battle against the Soul Eaters, Trevor pulls off his greatest performance yet: playing dead. He survives the chaos by pretending to be a corpse, a meta-commentary on his cowardly nature that somehow ends up saving him.
Trevor sees in Simon a friend, a colleague, but he also sees Simon as someone he can absolutely exploit for his own ends,” Kingsley teases. “It’s quite a classic, basic human condition story. You are associated with somebody and you have an affinity with that person, but at the same time, you know that you’re going to have to exploit that person to get to where you need to be.
-Ben Kingsley
Director Destin Daniel Cretton pulled off a magic trick. He took a character that half the fanbase hated because of the “Mandarin Twist” and made him undeniably lovable. By pairing him with Morris and stripping away the drug-addled malice of Iron Man 3, Slattery became a sympathetic, wholesome uncle figure, setting him up for his role in Wonder Man, which Cretton co-created.
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
🍅 93%
Though Spider-Man: Homecoming introduced the DODC as a bureaucratic nuisance, Spider-Man: No Way Home took the gloves off. In No Way Home, the DODC stopped being the janitors and started being the cops. The moment Mysterio outed Peter Parker’s identity, the DODC was on the scene—and not to help. The DODC, led by Arian Moayed’s Agent Cleary, took lead on the investigation, seized Stark Industries’ assets, putting Happy Hogan in legal limbo, and dragged Peter, MJ, Ned, and May into interrogation rooms.
Beginning with No Way Home, the DODC has absorbed massive legal authority regarding “enhanced individuals.” They aren’t just managing the tech anymore; they are managing the people connected to it. The DODC is no longer the “Stark Joint Venture” trying to do good. With Tony gone, the checks and balances seem to have evaporated. They are now a government entity with access to the most dangerous tech on Earth and a mandate to police superheroes without oversight. If you are looking for the bad guys in the post-Endgame world, look no further than the windbreaker-wearing DODC.
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (2022)
🍅 80%
While She-Hulk was lighter in tone, the implications for the DODC were arguably the most dystopian yet. They aren’t just investigating “enhanced” individuals anymore; they are now the primary jailers of the MCU.
She-Hulk gave us our best look yet at the DODC Supermax Prison. This facility, located in the middle of nowhere, is where they were holding Emil Blonsky. This is a massive shift in power dynamics. A long way from cleaning up rubble, the DODC now manages long-term incarceration for high-threat assets.
Taking it a step further, She-Hulk showed the weaponization of bureaucracy via the inhibitor chip. When Jennifer Walters “hulked out” at the Gala, thanks to Intelligencia’s provocation, the DODC was on the scene instantly to detain her. But they didn’t just lock her up; they forced a plea deal that required her to wear an inhibitor device preventing her transformation.
This is a game-changer for the MCU: the DODC now possesses the legal and technical ability to strip a superhero of their identity. They aren’t just arresting villains; they are regulating heroes. They turned She-Hulk into a monitored civilian with the stroke of a pen.
Ms. Marvel (2022)
🍅 98%
No Way Home and She-Hulk acted as a bridge for the DODC’s portrayal in Ms. Marvel. The aggressive tactics we saw Cleary use against a teenager (Peter) were dialed up to eleven when they went after Kamala Khan. In Ms. Marvel, the DODC officially crossed the line from antagonists to straight-up villains and the Jersey City incident wasn’t just an investigation; it was a witch hunt.
The DODC’s good cop/bad cop bit in Ms. Marvel gave a closer look at the agency’s internal friction. While Agent P. Cleary, represented the bureaucratic, “by the book” side of the agency, Agent Sadie Deever represented the radicalized arm of the DODC—agents who view enhanced individuals not as assets to be managed, but as threats to be neutralized. This dynamic is crucial because it shows the DODC isn’t a monolith; it’s a volatile organization struggling to control its own power.
The most disturbing aspect of the DODC’s role in this series was the targeted harassment of the Muslim community. The DODC is now effectively the MCU’s version of the Sentinel program’s early days—a government body driven by fear and prejudice against the “other” and it’s clear that will be further explored not only in Wonder Man but also in Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
About Marvel Television’s Wonder Man:
The eight-episode series is created by Destin Daniel Cretton (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Spider-Man: Brand New Day) and Andrew Guest (Community, Hawkeye) and stars Emmy Award winner Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Simon Williams and Academy Award winner Ben Kingsley, who reprises his role as Trevor Slattery following appearances in Iron Man 3, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and All Hail the King.
Aspiring Hollywood actor Simon Williams is struggling to get his career off the ground. During a chance meeting with Trevor Slattery, an actor whose biggest roles may be well behind him, Simon learns legendary director Von Kovak is remaking the superhero film “Wonder Man.” These two actors at opposite ends of their careers doggedly pursue life-changing roles in this film as audiences get a peek behind the curtain of the entertainment industry.
-Official synopsis for Wonder Man
All eight episodes will stream exclusively on Disney+ at 6pm PT January 27.
While most folks might not even know that a team of heroes known the Great Lakes Avengers exist in the Marvel Universe, some of those that do might think of the group of oddballs count among their number some of the most powerful heroes found on Earth-616.
In 2017, Freeform began development on a New Warriors series that would have seen a couple members of the GLA make their way into what would certainly have been considered a non-canon project similar to Runaways and Cloak and Dagger. While the series never got off the ground, one character from it, Mister Immortal, made a cameo appearance in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. And now, a new rumor suggests he’ll soon be joined in the MCU by another incredibly powerful member of the Great Lakes Avengers, the most wonderfully dysfunctional government-recognized super-team based out of Wisconsin.
According to social media’s busiest bee, My Time To Shine Hello, OG GLA member Doorman will appear in Marvel Television’s Wonder Man.
Doorman, Doorman, does whatever a door can.
When you’re talking about Marvel Comics’ Doorman, you’re talking about one of the great punchlines—and then one of the great cosmic surprises—of the entire Marvel Universe.
The Great Lakes Avenger
Doorman, real name DeMarr Davis, made his debut back in West Coast Avengers #46 (1989), a John Byrne creation who, on the surface, seemed like a joke waiting to happen. DeMarr is a mutant, but not one who could level a city block or fly at Mach 5. His initial power? He could turn his body into a portal that connects two parts of the same room, essentially letting people pass through him to get to the other side of a solid object.
Yes, that’s right. He’s a human door. Highly situational, right?
Despite his seemingly limited powerset, DeMarr remains one of the team’s most cynical and long-suffering members, constantly comparing their low-stakes adventures and general incompetence to the “real” Avengers.
An Angel of Death
Here’s where the story gets a whole lot more interesting—and a lot less funny.
His mutant ability isn’t just “turning into a door”; it operates by tapping into the Darkforce Dimension, the same spooky, interdimensional energy source used by characters like Cloak and the Darkforce user known as Deathurge.
In a surprisingly dark twist for a GLA member, Doorman was killed by the cosmic villain Maelstrom. However, his connection to the Darkforce got the attention of the cosmic entity Oblivion–the personification of all that will not be. Oblivion resurrected DeMarr, not as a hero, but as his new Angel of Death.
His new gig as a psychopomp—a guide for souls—came with a massive power upgrade:
Supernatural Durability and Intangibility.
Light-Speed Flight (often on ethereal skis—still a punchline, but a fast one).
Darkforce Constructs. So like Green Lanterns but with Darkforce.
The ability to sense and interact with the spirits of the dead.
A major increase in his intelligence and cosmic awareness.
Despite being a servant of Oblivion, Doorman managed to keep one foot in the world of the living, occasionally returning to his friends in the GLA. He’s a character who combines low-brow comedy with genuinely high-stakes, cosmic responsibility, making him a unique figure in the Marvel lineup.
MTTSH gave no further details on Doorman’s role in Wonder Man but it does seem unlikely he’ll be major character in the series. Interestingly, actor J.E. Burton is listed in IMDB as having an unknown role in Wonder Man and bears at least a passing resemblance to Doorman. We’ll all find out together when Wonder Man streams on January 27, 2026.
As part of the Marvel Animation and Marvel Television panel at New York Comic Con, the first teaser for the upcoming eight-episode streaming series Wonder Man was released. The series, starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Simon Williams and Sir Ben Kingsley as Trevor Slatter, follows Williams as the actor “seeks to make his mark in the world of blockbuster Super Hero movies.”
From the minds of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings director Destin Daniel Cretton and Brooklyn Nine-Nine writer Andrew Guest, Wonder Man will dive into the entertainment industry and looks to be fairly self-aware. While the main premise revolves around Williams hoping to land the role of Wonder Man in a modern-day remake of a superhero film from his youth, it looks as though it won’t be the only role Williams plays.
As seen in the trailer, Williams will play the role of Professor Harpin in an episode of an in-universe season of American Horror Story.
At the :46 mark of the teaser, a trailer door reveals that Professor Harpin is a character in American Horror Story, as the logo for the popular horror anthology can be seen.
While it’s nothing more than a fun Easter egg, it does indeed canonize the beloved Ryan Murphy series into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, giving it a little touch of reality. Though AHS is an FX Original, Disney acquired the network in its 2019 deal with 21st Century Fox, allowing the show to be included.
“We don’t want it to get swallowed up by people watching Home Alone and Die Hard and Elf,” said Winderbaum of the move, which comes ahead of Marvel Animation and Marvel Television’s appearance at New York Comic Con.
Created by Spider-Man: Brand New Day director Destin Daniel Cretton and Andrew Guest, Wonder Man stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen as Simon Williams and his journey trying to make his way as an actor in Hollywood.
Wonder Man continues to be one of Marvel’s most enigmatic projects. Announced via trade report in June 2022, the series was created by Spider-Man: Brand New Day director Destin Daniel Cretton and Andrew Guest but was never acknowledged by the studio until Marvel Parliament member Stephen Broussard confirmed it was happening in a 2023 interview. Incredibly enough, despite being filmed on location in and around Los Angeles, production began and ended with very few set photos or plot leaks, leaving only rumors and speculation about the show’s true nature and some to believe it only to be a product of the Mandela Effect.
Via Discussing Film, a new in-universe promo for Wonder Man has been released that provides some intriguing new details about the series.
Based on the character of Wonder Man, one of Marvel’s oldest characters, first introduced in 1964 in the pages of Avengers No 9. Known as Simon Williams, a celebrity actor and stuntman. In a nutshell, it is a story of two actors struggling to make it in the Hollywood of the MCU, [asking] the big question what does Hollywood look like in a world where super heroes are real?
-First synopsis for Marvel Television’s Wonder Man
The eight-episode Marvel Spotlight series was heavily influenced by the comics and was described by Winderbaum as a “love letter to Hollywood.” It’s also been rumored to satirize the filmmaking industry and the new promo seems to confirm that.
In it, actor Zlatko Burić is in character as Von Kovak, an MCU in-universe “award-winning director” who is remaking Wonder Man, a classic superhero film.
Award-winning director Von Kovak tells us why his remake of the classic film ‘WONDER MAN’ will be one of the best superhero movies of all time.
“The Wonder Man story spoke to me on a very deep level, there is an opportunity to reimagine a whole genre of storytelling” pic.twitter.com/07dHyETu8W
This all tracks with what little we’ve seen of the project, which included Abdul-Mateen‘s Simon Williams auditioning for Wonder Man. At this point, it seems safe to assume a full first teaser trailer for the project will debut this weekend.
After sitting out the summer convention circuit, Marvel Studios will have a presence in the Big Apple this weekend where Marvel Television and Marvel Animation will provide an update on their respective upcoming projects. Per the official NYCC website, Up Next From Marvel Television and Marvel Animation will take place on Saturday, October 11th at 1:30 PM EST and feature “special guests” who will give “a look behind the scenes at Marvel’s upcoming Disney+ shows from Marvel Television and Marvel Animation.” What can fans expect? What should they not expect? Let’s think it through.
Part of the rebranding was a signal to the general audience that we’re creating a lot of options, and you can follow your tastes within this brand. Some will be more comedic, some will be more dramatic, some will be animated, some will be live-action.
-Brad Winderbaum
With Marvel’s streaming boss, Brad Winderbaum, having recently said that the studio was looking at viewership numbers before unleashing a second season of Marvel Zombies, it’s very possible that announcement could come at NYCC. The TV-MA show has been a hit, all but ensuring a return to the world run by the Dead Queen.
Speaking of second seasons, fans should certainly expect release windows and perhaps first looks at X-Men ’97 Season 2 and Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Season 2, both expected to stream in 2026.
We will have a Spider-Man season every year if I have anything to say about it. What usually happens, as you know, in animation, is that there’s a bigger gap between Season 1 and Season 2 than in subsequent seasons, and that’ll be similar in Friendly. We will have to wait a little bit more than a year for Season 2, but then after that, it should come out on an annual cadence, hopefully.
-Brad Winderbaum
Given that animated projects are far easier to keep under wraps longer than live-action, it’s also possible that the studio could unveil a surprise on its 2026 streaming slate. With the success of X-Men ’97, fans have been hoping for Marvel to green light Spider-Man ’98 as a revival of Spider-Man: The Animated Series, though Winderbaum has done his best to temper expectations on that front. Still, animation holds incredible potential for Marvel, which is just only starting to be explored.
Marvel Television
More than any other of the studio’s divisions, Marvel Television has become a different entity since the Great Rebrand of 2024. As Winderbaum explained in a February interview with Screen Rant, the studio’s “priorities have shifted,” with the studio looking to produce “shows that can exist as annual releases, more like television.”
Unlike Daredevil: Born Again, the eight-episode Marvel Spotlight seriesWonder Man won’t be an annual release but it is a near-lock to be a major part of the NYCC panel. Very little is known about the project, which stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Sir Ben Kingsley and with it set to stream in December, fans should probably expect an updated logo to accompany a teaser trailer and a more defined release date. With its streaming debut 2-ish months away, the teaser may even be released online, allowing those not in attendance to catch a glimpse at what Winderbaum called “one of his favorite things ever.”
Another project shrouded in mystery, the Paul Bettany-led Vision series, will also likely be included in the presentation. After wrapping principal photography in the UK earlier this year, the studio should be up for sharing an official title, logo, artwork, release window and maybe a first look at some footage from the show, which is shaping up to be weird in all the best ways.
Marvel Television’s portion of the panel should also provide a logo, release window and synopsis for The Punisher Special Presentation that will serve as a bridge between Frank Castle’s last appearance in Daredevil: Born Again and his next appearance in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. The “shotgun blast of a story” was co-written by star Jon Bernthal and will be among the studio’s most highly-anticipated projects next year as it will likely feed the blood lust of the Netflixers.
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