The Screen Scribe

It’s no secret that I have been especially critical of the vast majority of MCU entries in the last few years. Captain America: Brave New World was simply a disaster. I am not even going to get into it. The Thunderbolts* had its merits and I genuinely enjoyed it, but it felt like the wrong film at the wrong time. To be honest, it could be argued that throughout the entire six-year post-Endgame run, Marvel Studios has only had…four? Yes, four successful films. Spider-Man: No Way Home, Shang Chi, Wakanda Forever, and Fantastic Four. Then there is the tv side. I will admit I was genuinely excited when the slate of shows was announced, but nobody could have anticipated the monumental drop off in quality they arrived with. Arguably the MCU has, like the film side, also produced only four, genuinely top-quality shows. There are arguments for What If?, Ms. Marvel, and Moon Knight, (Daredevil: Born Again season one was too much of a mess to even judge). But, its top shelf is definitely Wandavision, Loki, Hawkeye, and surprisingly, its newest fare, Wonder Man.

Wonder Man follows young aspiring actor Simon Williams as he navigates the corridors of Hollywood searching for his big break. However, Simon regularly finds himself caught up in his own acting process, often to his detriment, losing roles and the trust of his agent. Enter our mentor, the dramatic, slightly wacky and always delusional thespian of the MCU, Trevor Slattery. Following his stints in prison, and as a captive of the actual Mandarin, Trevor is pursuing a serious career as an ac-toooor in LA and meets our protagonist Simon. Together, they strike up a heartwarming bromance as Trevor mentors Simon to realise his potential as an actor. However, both men are harbouring dark and dangerous secrets that threaten to ruin their dreams.

Simon Williams aka Wonder Man, was never a character I was overly enamoured of in the comics. Often considered a minor league, second tier character, he certainly wasn’t minor league in terms of power. Thought to rival Thor and the Hulk in terms of raw strength and durability, Wonder Man became a staple of the 1960s Avengers line up, and a founding member of the West Coast Avengers. But I never found him, as a character, interesting. Thus my lack of enthusiasm for the show when it was announced.

Now generally in my reviews I start with the negatives but today I am flipping that, because I cannot accurately define the negatives without first discussing the positives. And there are many. Wonder Man proved my assumption wrong, first and foremost. It is an excellent entry into the MCU and delivers a grounded, character first approach that was a breath of fresh air from the drivel of recent MCU fare.

The performances from Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Ben Kingsley are electric. As Simon and Trevor, they absolutely bounce off one another in every scene and are the heart of the show. The measured and contemplative reveal of Simon and his powers is superbly done, dropping just enough breadcrumbs to keep the viewer engaged and wanting more, but never giving away too much at once. It was entirely refreshing to see the writing handled with such a steady and confident hand, and surprisingly by a writers room and not any one definitive writer. Given that the two lead characters are essentially self-centred narcissists, it is a testament that the writers made us care about them, their bromance and the story itself. I want to see more of this please mister Kevin Feige.

Yet, for all its plaudits, Wonder Man, like its main characters, is by no means perfect. The pacing during acts 2 and 3 is considerably off, often meandering and sluggish. Episode 4 in particular was an egregious offender for me. Yes, I know, the critics loved the black and white stand alone contained episode, but I often found myself checking out mostly because it came just as Simon and Trevor’s story was taking off. While the episode does some lifting for the plot tension and narrative drive for the finale, I do feel an entire episode dedicated to it was unnecessary and could have been handled by a brief flashback or expository scene.

While the low key vibe is a strength of the show, the severe dearth of action, especially for a superhero show, was disappointing. Given episode four did so much heavy lifting and setting up the character Doorman, to not have him return in some capacity was disappointing after sitting through that episode. I have seen some online criticism too for the lack of development and presence of the female characters and while I agree to an extent that a stronger female lead may have been beneficial, at the end of the day this is a show about the friendship of two narcissistic men overcoming their flaws and becoming friends. Job done.

Finally, the finale also felt a little rushed, lacking the measured approach of act 1 and left me wanting just a bit more. Am I asking for too much? Possibly. Did it detract from my enjoyment of the show? Of course not.

Wonder Man is a worthy addition to the pantheon of the MCU and joins alums Loki, Wandavision and Hawkeye as the gold standard for Marvel television on Disney+. With great acting, character first storytelling, and a low key bromance buddy duo vibe, the latest MCU entry is definitely worth a look. Welcome to the Marvel cosmos Wonder Man.

A solid 4 / 5 ✨ from the Screen Scribe.

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