"I'm gonna let you take the fall, Slattery, but my eyes are on Simon."
"I do not know what the hell you are talking about, you dolt."
"Drop the act."
"Slattery was the act. Get it through your thick skull. I have always been The Mandarin, and you never saw me coming."
-- Agent Cleary and Trevor Slattery (as The Mandarin), Wonder Man -- "Yucca Valley"
Hello again, everyone! DJ Nik and I are back for another new episode of The Fandom Zone Podcast! This time, we discuss "Yucca Valley", the Season 1 finale of Wonder Man, featuring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Simon Williams, Ben Kingsley as Trevor Slattery, Zlatko Burić as Von Kovak, and Arian Moayed as Agent Cleary!
In this episode, DJ Nik and I talk about things like celebrating 11 years of The Fandom Zone Podcast, whether Wonder Man Season 1 stuck the landing, the series being about the friendship between Simon and Trevor, Wonder Man being more of a drama series than a superhero series, some comics background on The Mandarin, the two homages to Wonder Man super-suits from the comics, Simon's father Sanford encouraging Simon to use his talent to become an actor, Simon panicking over the explosion on the studio lot, Trevor assuming the role of The Mandarin once again to protect Simon's future, Trevor telling Agent Cleary that Slattery was the performance, another example of Simon's self-loathing, our being surprised that Trevor assumed the Mandarin role once again, Von Kovak telling Simon to channel everything he's feeling about Trevor into his Wonder Man performance, wanting to see a Wonder Man (2026) movie trailer, not knowing if Wonder Man (2026) was a box office success, whether Simon invited his ex-girlfriend to the Wonder Man (2026) premiere, Simon admitting that having dinner with Chuck Eastman's family is weird, initially wondering where the episode was going with the Chuck Eastman thing, Simon anonymously paying a generous amount of money to the Eastmans to get them out of their financial debt, wishing we would've had a post-credits scene, Trevor immediately asking Simon who replaced him in the movie, the finale bringing the season full circle by using Harry Nilsson's "Everybody's Talkin'" from Midnight Cowboy, hoping this series encourages Marvel Studios to step outside their formula more often, our favorite quotes of the episode, new Fandom Zone Fanmail by Jesse Jackson and Dave Proctor, next week's discussion of the Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 premiere, and more!
You can check out episodes of The Fandom Zone using...
Apple Podcasts -- RIGHT HERE
Direct Download MP3s/Libsyn -- RIGHT HERE
Spotify -- RIGHT HERE
The Fandom Zone on Facebook -- RIGHT HERE
The Fandom Zone on X/Twitter -- @FandomZoneCast
The Fandom Zone on Instagram -- HERE