The Grim Reaper is coming for Wonder Man.
TVLine is reporting that the upcoming Disney+ Marvel Cinematic Universe TV series Wonder Man, based on the Marvel Comics superhero, has cast Demetrius Grosse as Eric Williams, better known to Marvel fans as the supervillain Grim Reaper.
Wonder Man will explore Hollywood actor Simon Williams, who is thrust into the world of superheroes as he gets powers of his own, and becomes the new superhero Wonder Man. The cast also includes Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Wonder Man/Simon Williams and Sir Ben Kingsley, reprising his MCU role of Trevor Slattery.
Grosse, 42, is probably best known as Emile and Josiah LaRoux on the AMC series Fear the Walking Dead, and has appeared in episodes of Dexter, Bones, Heroes, The Cape, Justified, Banshee, Westworld, The Rookie, and Lovecraft Country. In addition, Grosse has appeared in the films Straight Outta Compton and Rampage.
Created in 1968 by Roy Thomas and John Buscema, the Grim Reaper first appeared in The Avengers (vol.1) #52 as Eric Williams, the brother of Simon Williams and black sheep of his family. As they grew older, Simon grew studious while Eric was an athlete. Eric also became more rebellious, and tried to get Simon to join in his petty thefts. Eric eventually became a gambler, joined the Maggia and moved to Las Vegas, while Simon took over the family business, Williams Innovations. When Williams Innovations began to fail, partly due to competition with Stark Industries, the desperate Simon turned to Eric's mob ties for help. Simon embezzled money from the company to invest with Eric, but Simon was caught and jailed. Simon was freed from jail by Baron Heinrich Zemo, induced by an offer of revenge on Iron Man and the Avengers to which Eric's brother was transformed into Wonder Man.
Learning of his brother's death, Eric was inflamed with guilt and anger. Through his Maggia contacts, he contacted the Tinkerer to provide him with his scythe weapon, which was further enhanced by Ultron with coma-inducing abilities. Taking the "Grim Reaper" name, he became a professional criminal and defeated Hawkeye, Goliath and the Wasp, placing the three Avengers in comas, but was beaten by the Black Panther's surprise appearance.
The Grim Reaper later had Wonder Man resurrected as a zombie by the Black Talon to attack the Avengers, leading to Wonder Man being restored to true life. Grim Reaper then captured the Avengers, and staged a trial to determine whether the Vision, who had Simon's brain patterns, or Wonder Man was his true brother. Later still, the Grim Reaper with Ultron, Nekra and other allies, captured the Avengers. Grim Reaper attempted a recreation of "Simon Williams" as a zombie. He was pursued by the Vision and Wonder Man in a cave, and died in a fall from the cave ledge. Grim Reaper was resurrected by Nekra as a zombie, but he believed himself to be alive. The zombie battled Wonder Man and Magneto, but when he realized he was actually dead, he "died" once again.
The Grim Reaper was later restored to life by the Scarlet Witch's magic. When Ultron attempted to create a new "family" for himself, Grim Reaper was abducted as one of the six individuals that came closest to being Ultron's "family" - the others being Hank Pym, Wasp, Vision, Scarlet Witch, and Wonder Man. Ultron regarded Grim Reaper as the first human connection made apart from Pym, as well as the connections to Wonder Man and Vision. While Vision distracted Ultron, Eric was able to escape his bonds and free the other prisoners, although he subsequently fled, informing Vision that he only released the others to save himself rather than any more noble goal.
Grosse will be the first actor to portray the Grim Reaper in live action, although the character has appeared in various animated projects, including The Avengers: United They Stand (voiced by Allan Royal), The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes (voiced by Lance Henriksen), and Avengers Assemble (voiced by Roger Craig Smith).
Wonder Man is expected to arrive on Disney+ sometime in 2024.
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