As we move ahead into Phase Six of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and approach the end of the Multiverse Saga, a new hero is making his way into the superhero universe.
Of course, until now, we knew little about him – at least through the first teaser, and a whole lot more through the comics – but now the mystery is out in the open. What, you ask? That Yahya Abdul Mateen-II’s Simon Williams indeed has superhuman abilities, something that wasn’t clear until now. Marvel had led us to believe this somehow with all their materials and shenanigans, but we are talking about a studio that churns out superhero tales, so we might have had some idea.
What’s still unclear – or rather still a mystery – is how an ordinary, struggling actor gets these superpowers and when exactly this happens. Well, the comics have an answer, but what Marvel will make of it and how they’ll handle it is something we will find out on January 27, 2026.
In comics, Baron Zemo transforms Simon into an ion-powered superhuman when Williams agrees to exact revenge against Tony Stark and play a pawn in Zemo’s agenda of infiltrating the Avengers. Eventually, Simon betrays Zemo and sacrifices himself to the Avengers. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg of this story because Marvel comics are obviously more convoluted than this.
Either way, it will be something fresh. So far, we have seen the superheroes swing into action; now, as Marvel puts it, we will “peek behind the curtain of the entertainment industry.”
The eight-parter series also stars Ben Kingsley as Trevor Slattery, Demetrius Grosse as Eric Williams/Grim Reaper, Ed Harris as Neal Saroyan, Zlatko Burić as Von Kovac, and more.
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