{"id":396370,"date":"2026-01-29T06:15:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T06:15:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/396370\/"},"modified":"2026-01-29T06:15:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T06:15:12","slug":"wonder-man-marvels-new-show-hailed-as-most-fresh-and-inventive-franchise-series-to-date","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/396370\/","title":{"rendered":"Wonder Man: Marvel\u2019s new show hailed as \u2018most fresh and inventive\u2019 franchise series to date"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Marvel may have one of the franchise\u2019s biggest TV hits on its hands with its new series, Wonder Man.<\/p>\n

The eight-episode limited series<\/a>, now streaming on Disney+, stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Hollywood actor Simon Williams, who\u2019s thrust into the world of superheroes, where he gains powers of his own to become Wonder Man. Based on the comic book character first introduced in 1964\u2019s The Avengers #9, the series welcomes back Ben Kingsley to the MCU as Trevor Slattery<\/a>, alongside Arian Moayed, X Mayo and Zlatko Buri\u0107. <\/p>\n

Following its release, viewers and critics have sung its praises, with many going so far as to declare it one of the MCU\u2019s best shows yet \u2014 and in no small part thanks to \u201cdynamic\u201d performances from Abdul-Mateen and Kingsley.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most FRESH, INVENTIVE, and overall WELL-CRAFTED projects to grace the MCU yet! LOVED IT!\u201d one fan posted on X, applauding the two leads as \u201can absolutely ICONIC duo and I hope to see more of them in the future!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Yahya<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II leads ‘Wonder Man’ as the titular superhero (Marvel\/Disney+)\"Ben<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Ben Kingsley (left) returns as Trevor Slattery, a character he’s reprised numerous times in the MCU over a span of 15 years (Marvel\/Disney+)<\/p>\n

USA Today\u2019s Kelly Lawler agreed<\/a>, writing in her review: \u201cPaired together, Abdul-Mateen and Kingsley are a dynamic duo, if far sadder and more understated than say, Iron Man and Captain America.\u201d Singling out Abdul-Mateen, she argued that the actor \u201chas been destined for stardom ever since he turned blue on Watchmen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, in spite of the two \u201cgreat\u201d main performances, Lawler found that Wonder Man \u201cstruggles with tone and pacing. Some of the awkward scenes, going for the cringe-comedy laughs, aren\u2019t well balanced and run too long.\u201d<\/p>\n

That didn\u2019t seem to be an issue for other viewers, including a second fan who commented on X: \u201cWonder Man not only makes the MCU feel more realistic, but it also adds a surprising amount of depth to it!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so good. I\u2019m actually surprised by how much I enjoyed this,\u201d a third added. \u201cOne of my favorite MCU projects no doubt.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWonder Man is some of Marvel\u2019s best storytelling,\u201d another applauded. \u201cThe story doesn\u2019t revolve around a guy with powers who happens to rise to fame rather it\u2019s about a guy rising to fame who just happens to have superpowers. Wonder Man gets it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Abdul-Mateen<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Abdul-Mateen makes his Marvel debut as Wonder Man. He previously starred in the DC Extended Universe as supervillain Black Manta (Marvel\/Disney+)<\/p>\n

The Guardian\u2019s <\/a>Lucy Mangan felt similarly. \u201cThe real meat of the thing, however, is not the superheroics, repressed or otherwise. It lies in two things,\u201d she wrote in a four-star review: \u201cThe meticulous and moving examination of the growing friendship between the men\u201d and \u201ca masterclass \u2014 several, really \u2014 on the art of acting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wonder Man has appeared only once before on-screen, in the two-season animated series Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, in which he was voiced by Phil LaMarr. This new series, Wonder Man, marks both the first standalone story centered on Williams and Abdul-Mateen\u2019s Marvel debut. The 39-year-old actor is best known for starring as supervillain Black Manta in DC\u2019s Extended Universe. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf this ends up the only Wonder Man story ever told onscreen, it\u2019s still worth watching,\u201d Stephen Robinson of the AV Club <\/a>argued. \u201cBut that would also make this feel like a wasted opportunity, as both Simon Williams and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II have a lot of potential.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wonder Man is available to stream on Disney+.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":396371,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[96,2839,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-396370","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-movies","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=396370"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396370\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/396371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=396370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=396370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=396370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}