Abhiroop Das
Created by Destin Daniel Cretton and Andrew Guest, Disney+’s ‘Wonder Man’ tells the story of an aspiring but struggling actor, Simon Williams, whose lifelong dream has been to don the garb of Wonder Man, his favorite superhero. Watching the movie as a child is what thrust him into the world of acting in the first place, and yet he finds all the doors closing when it comes to actually landing the role. The biggest problem? Simon secretly possesses powers, and under a mysterious set of film regulations, superhumans are not allowed to become actors. As he tries his best to keep his uncontrollable strength under wraps, he comes across Trevor Slattery, better known for pretending to be the supervillain known as Mandarin, under pressure from a terror group.
As the two nearly doomed characters meet during the auditions for a ‘Wonder Man’ remake, they strike an unlikely friendship, one centered around their mutual secrets and constant games of pretend. Throughout all of this, the movie they are here for almost parallels their narrative trajectory, showing just how important it is to the larger story of this superhero drama show.
Wonder Man is a Fictional Movie Within the TV Show and Different From the Comics
‘Wonder Man’ is a fictional superhero movie that exists within the show ‘Wonder Man,’ making it a self-referential creation of the Destin Daniel Cretton and Andrew Guest-led writing team. While Wonder Man is a Marvel superhero from the comic books, his on-screen rendition comes with a number of creative changes, and one of them is the in-universe movie. Introduced at the very start of the show, ‘Wonder Man’ is presented as an ’80s classic action-adventure movie, which broke records and became a cult favorite despite its dated visual effects. What really brings the movie back into mainstream discussion, however, is the development of a remake by famed director Von Kovak. This entire thread appears to have been constructed from scratch, serving as Simon’s journey through the film world.
In the comics version of ‘Wonder Man,’ written by Stan Lee and illustrated by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby, Simon Williams is an actor turned superhero. Unlike the television series, however, the comics feature no in-universe movie titled ‘Wonder Man.’ In stark contrast, the show version of ‘Wonder Man’ frames the eponymous retro flick as a formative piece in Simon’s childhood, contextualizing his desire to embody the character as an actor later in his life. While this version of Wonder Man does don the iconic costume of the Marvel comic book character, their stories are different, comprising fictional characters such as Barnaby, as well as show-specific plot beats with no links to the comic series.
Wonder Man Experiments With the Very Craft of Comic-to-Screen Adaptations
In essence, the comic version of ‘Wonder Man,’ both in narrative and its titular character, is split into two when adapted to the screen for the MCU series. While its legacy is partially turned into a diegetic superhero story, many of the lead character’s attributes are preserved in how the show develops Simon. As his entire arc is about essaying the role of Wonder Man in the revamp movie, there is a consistent self-referential and metatextual edge to the story, which never breaks the immersion. It is possible that the comic book stories surrounding Wonder Man take place in a different timeline, whereas the show’s world is likely set in the same timeline as ‘Iron Man 3,’ which is stated to be Earth-616, as per the Marvel Studios timeline guidebook.
When asked about the big creative leap of narrativizing ‘Wonder Man’ as an in-universe film, Andrew Guest told TechRadar that it was an intentional risk the creators took to experiment with and reimagine the existing stories. He further added that the change is also intended for people new to the MCU, who are unfamiliar with the overarching lore. “There are people (…) who maybe feel alienated by all the convoluted storytelling that can feel like homework,” he reasoned, adding that such fans “can watch (‘Wonder Man,’) that really has an easy entry point.” The creation of a fictional Wonder Man movie helps bridge the gap in an organic way, simultaneously introducing the character as a part of the MCU’s legacy, while also opening room for the creators’ own take on Simon to shine through.
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