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Trust Me, Wonder Man is Nothing Like You Expect (It’s So Much Better) [Review]
Whatever you expect of Marvel’s new TV show, Wonder Man, put it aside – this is not your usual MCU release. And not in the way that Disney’s marketing arm leans heavily into when a new MCU project deviates slightly from expectations while mostly maintaining the status quo. This is, instead, a pretty provocative exercise in not ticking boxes: without getting too far into spoilers, despite hints that it could all break out into a conventional superhero slug-fest with a big battle climax, Wonder Man thumbs its nose at the very idea.
Instead, Destin Daniel Cretton and showrunner Andrew Guest have created something that’s part Atlanta, part The Studio, and part superhero show, with the latter part not quite as prominent as anyone would expect for a fairly significant slice of it. Guest’s background working on Community and Brooklyn Nine-Nine offers reassuring genius to the comedy, instead of the rather try-hard comedy of some other major superhero projects. More on that soon, but overall, Wonder Man is a surprising oddity that really deserves to be watched. Top tier greatness may be just beyond its grasp, but there are absolutely times when it’s a 5-star show.
Rating: 4 out of 5
| PROS | CONS |
|---|---|
| Yahya Abdul-Mateen & Ben Kingsley are both excellent | It slows down in the middle too much |
| Bold avoidance of typical MCU tropes | I do wish I’d known a little more about Simon’s past |
| Exceptional but not distracting humor | The “villains” are a little under-developed |
| One of the best episodes of MCU TV ever | |
| Truly great cameos |
If you’re wondering what it’s about, given the marketing has focused heavily on Yahya Abdul-Mateen’s hero auditioning for a remake of 1970s superhero movie Wonder Man, that’s basically it. There is no misdirection in the marketing: it’s literally just about his attempt to get cast as his on-screen hero. There’s more, of course, like the reason why Sir Ben Kingsley’s Trevor Slattery – who also auditions for Wonder Man’s sidekick Barnaby – is back for the fourth time, and the nature of Simon’s powers, but it’s all too spoilerific. Just know that it matters, and there’s a bit of a chase element, but the main focus is on Simon’s career, and it forms the platform for some really good meta-humor.
Wonder Man Is Way More of a Comedy Than You’d Think
If you hadn’t already got the message, unexpected is sort of the name of the game here. The eclectic soundtrack is odd and excellent – even giving James Gunn’s Awesome Mixes a run for their money; and the humor is genuinely very good. There are a couple of real belly laughs – or LOLs as insufferable people (me) might say – including two exceptional appearances by Josh Gad and Joe Pantoliano (both playing themselves). Gad’s musical number is a delirious joy, and the subtlety of the specific movie posters Pantoliano has (twice) on the walls in his home is just genius. I also genuinely believe that the finale’s pay-off of an earlier Pantoliano joke is the best pay-off in the MCU.
Unlike some other Marvel projects, there can be no criticisms that the humor here is shoe-horned in: Wonder Man is built from the ground up as a meta comedy that strays occasionally into goofball waters. It also has very serious sequences, a smattering of violence (including one very shocking moment), and some of the more recognizable MCU beats. But the MCU bites amount to a small meal all-told, and this is way more of a character study about Simon and Trevor that deals fleetingly with things as heavy as familial trauma, and identity crises. And yet, it’s as far removed from a “message” show as possible, so the YouTube ragebaiters can hopefully keep their noses out of this one. And if you’re somehow reading this: please, grow up.
Wonder Man’s Middle Sags A Little Too Much
The opening episodes are very strong, rising to the crescendo of episode 4, “Doorman”, which is a wonderful, hilarious bottle episode that could exist as its own thing entirely. If every episode kept up with that level, we’d definitely be talking another star at least. But the writing was somewhat on the wall with episode 5’s runtime dropping to just 23 minutes (or a real runtime of about 16 minutes without the recap and the credits). That’s always a bit of a red flag with Marvel shows, which do have something of an issue with softer middles. And sure enough, episodes 6 and 7, followed closely by 5, are the weakest by some distance. There’s still interesting ideas, but the pace rather clamps up.
I don’t want to massively nitpick here, but I was also a little bemused by the Marvel Spotlight banner, which promises no connection to the rest of the MCU. But like Echo before it, Wonder Man fails that test very quickly, because you can’t understand two of its most prominent storylines properly – the DODC and Trevor’s past as the “Mandarin” without watching other MCU releases. So what Marvel Spotlight really means is “ignore MOST of the MCU, but don’t forget these key directly-related releases.” It doesn’t really impact much, but if you haven’t seen Iron Man 3, this is not the show for you.
Final Thoughts On Wonder Man
I can’t tell you how long I agonized over the final half-star in this review score: I am absolutely certain that Wonder Man is at least a 3.5 star show, but that final stretch comes a little harder. But then I think back to the unexpected (that word again) joy of Ben Kingsley’s Trevor (who I long ago wrote off as an annoyance before his last two appearances have disproved it), and particularly his chemistry with Yahya Abdul-Mateen’s strangely stoical Simon and the debate settles. There are, as I’ve already said, moments where it’s 5 star: the entirety of the “Doorman” episode is flawless, for instance, and there’s so much well-observed industry humor that I couldn’t not get a kick out of it.
It’s also pretty crucial at this stage to confirm that Wonder Man is absolutely about both Simon Williams and Trevor Slattery. Yes, Williams’ character is the name on the door, but I don’t think it would have worked as a solo project, and you can see why the creators wanted a project for Trevor. Do I want more from them? Absolutely: I’d quite like to see some of the missing elements (there’s not really any single mystery about Simon solved here, bravely), and the idea of the follow-up set up by the final minutes of the finale is genuinely appealing. Fundamentally, a hero as powerful as Simon can’t be ignored: it’s just a matter of how you tackle the challenge of integration when Wonder Man so consciously ignores the very concept. But that’s a challenge for another time.
All 8 episodes of Wonder Man debut on Disney+ on January 27. Are you excited? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
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