WONDER MAN TV Series Casts Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Simon Williams

 
At least he won't be blue and glowing this time...or will he?

Deadline is reporting that the upcoming Disney+ Marvel Cinematic Universe TV series Wonder Man, based on the Marvel Comics character, has cast Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as lead character Simon Williams, a.k.a. Wonder Man. Abdul-Mateen joins Ben Kingsley, who will be reprising his recurring MCU role as Trevor Slattery.

The Wonder Man series was first announced in development back in June, with Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings director Destin Daniel Cretton directing and serving as executive producer, and Hawkeye co-producer Andrew Guest serving as head writer. Filming is expected to begin sometime in 2023.

Abdul-Mateen, 36, is probably best known as Dr. Manhattan/Cal Abar in the HBO miniseries Watchmen, for which he won an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie. In addition, he's known for playing DC supervillain Black Manta/David Hyde in the two Aquaman movies, Morpheus in The Matrix Resurrections, and Candyman in Candyman (2021), He's also appeared in the films The Greatest Showman and Us, along with episodes of The Handmaid's Tale and Black Mirror.

Created in 1964 by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Don Heck, Wonder Man first appeared The Avengers (vol.1) #9 as Simon Williams, the son of rich industrialist Sanford Williams, owner of Williams Innovations. Simon inherited the munitions factory after his father's death, but the company's profits fell due to its biggest competitor Tony Stark and his company Stark Industries. On the advice of his brother Eric Williams, Simon tried to embezzle funds from his company but was caught and incarcerated. Simon blamed Stark for this and accepted the proposition of master villain Baron Heinrich Zemo to become a pawn to infiltrate the Avengers. The desperate Simon Williams agrees and was transformed into an ion-powered being with great superhuman strength and durability.

Called Wonder Man by Zemo, he was then sent to meet and join the Avengers, with instructions to betray them at a critical moment so that Zemo's Masters of Evil could destroy the Avengers. Zemo ensured Wonder Man's loyalty by advising him that as a result of the treatment, his body now required periodic doses of a serum to survive—a serum that only Zemo could provide. The Avengers were lured into a trap and captured, but the plan failed when Wonder Man decided to save the Avengers and aid them against Zemo, apparently at the cost of his own life.

Hank Pym recorded Wonder Man's brain patterns in the hope that one day he could be revived. Unknown to the Avengers, Wonder Man's body had simply entered a catatonic state as it adjusted to the effects of the treatment. In the meantime, Eric Williams became distraught over the apparent death of his sibling and, blaming the Avengers, assumed the identity of the Grim Reaper in an effort to destroy them. The Grim Reaper stole Simon's body at one point, and attacked the Avengers three times before Wonder Man finally returned.

Wonder Man was briefly revived by Kang the Conqueror to battle the Avengers as part of his Legion of the Unliving, and later "resurrected" as a zombie by Black Talon and the Grim Reaper to attack the Avengers once more. On the final occasion, the Living Laser hypnotized a now-awake but still very weak Wonder Man, as part of an unsuccessful attack on the Avengers. After this encounter, Wonder Man was restored to true life and chose to remain with the Avengers, aiding them against Attuma and Doctor Doom. He soon defeated the Grim Reaper, who was intent on destroying the Vision as he was "artificial" and a "mockery" of his brother's brain patterns. At this point, Wonder Man was revealed to have become a being of ionic energy.

This will be the first time Wonder Man will appear in live-action, although the character has appeared in various animated projects, including The Avengers: United They Stand (voiced by Hamish McEwan), The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes (voiced by Phil LaMarr), and M.O.D.O.K. (voiced by Nathan Fillion).

Wonder Man is expected to premiere on Disney+ sometime in 2024.