{"id":159649,"date":"2026-02-18T11:23:06","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T11:23:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/159649\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T11:23:06","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T11:23:06","slug":"wonder-man-marvels-haitian-american-hero-brings-heritage-miami-ties-to-the-screen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/159649\/","title":{"rendered":"Wonder Man: Marvel’s Haitian-American hero brings heritage, Miami ties to the screen"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Marvel’s new production Wonder Man, an aspiring actor with hidden superpowers chases a breakout role, even as his immigrant family questions his path.<\/p>\n

That’s the plot for the new Disney+ series<\/a> starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, as Simon Williams, alongside Sir Ben Kingsley as his eccentric mentor, Trevor Slattery. <\/p>\n

It’s drawing praise for its character-driven storytelling and South Florida ties, including the hero\u2019s Haitian background and a Miami native portraying his father.<\/p>\n

Despite ongoing superhero fatigue \u2014 which the show playfully teases \u2014 Wonder Man has drawn strong reviews, holding a 90% rating<\/a> on influential aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.<\/p>\n

Bechir Sylvain, who was in a big screen blockbuster last year as a Haitian-French crewman <\/a>in Jurassic World Rebirth, portrays Williams’ Haitian deceased father. In flashbacks, the Haitian-American actor plays a supportive father, a role that reminds him of his own loving, “fun, and positive dad.”<\/p>\n

\u201cOoh, that’s my pops all day,\u201d Sylvain told WLRN.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: From Miami to ‘Jurassic World Rebirth’: B\u00e9chir Sylvain brings Haiti to Hollywood\u2019s biggest stage<\/a><\/p>\n

The plot of this slow-paced show plays like a \u201cstory within a story,\u201d giving people access to what\u2019s like trying to land a role in Hollywood.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s like pulling down the curtains behind the scenes of the life of a regular superhero who wants to have a regular life,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd also behind the scenes of how all of this magic works \u2014 the struggles and the trials and tribulations that you go through trying to get a role, so it\u2019s educational at the same time, but extremely entertaining and relatable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marvel\u2019s Wonder Man<\/a> has no connection to DC Comics\u2019 Wonder Woman. Created in 1964 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, Simon Williams and his superhero alter ego evolved from supervillain to super-strong hero, balancing crime-fighting with an inconsistent acting career. <\/p>\n

Using dead-pan humor and character-driven storytelling, the Disney+ series puts a new spin on that setup, emphasizing Williams’ personal journey and Haitian family drama, instead of his powers and traditional superhero showdowns. <\/p>\n

Wonder Man is the latest chapter in Sylvain\u2019s growing career, showcasing his range from blockbuster moments to intimate family dynamics. <\/p>\n

The show\u2019s storylines explore Haitian culture, including family pressure to pursue traditional careers such as medicine, law or engineering over the creative arts. It illustrates those nuances effectively, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of times we don’t really talk about how our background affects how we work in this world.\u201d he added. \u200a”In the Haitian family, in Haitian culture, being an artist \u2014 a prominent thing \u2014 is not something they\u2019re cheering you on for.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In Marvel’s new production Wonder Man, an aspiring actor with hidden superpowers chases a breakout role, even as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":159650,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[225,227,226],"class_list":{"0":"post-159649","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-hialeah","8":"tag-hialeah","9":"tag-hialeah-headlines","10":"tag-hialeah-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159649"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159649\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}