Marvel’s Most Meta Hollywood Hero Is Coming Back for Season 2
Wonder Man is getting a Season 2, and Marvel fans are rejoicing. This is a big step for Marvel Television. Certain fans were wondering if we were ever going to see Yaya Abdul Mateen II in this role again. Or, at least before Avengers: Secret Wars reshuffles the deck for the larger MCU.
We don’t know when the new season of Wonder Man will drop. THR reported the renewal first. But after so many characters left in limbo headed into Avengers: Doomsday later this year, it does feel nice to see a fan favorite get a nod so quickly. A quick green light shows that the recent news about Marvel Television getting into yearly release schedules makes a lot of sense.
Destin Daniel Cretton and Daniel Guest deserve a ton of credit here. Without a really well defined show with delightful characters, we never get here. From the earliest days of the project, it was clear that Wonder Man was going to be something different from Marvel Studios. Despite some of the social media commentary surrounding the brand bashing it for being the same all the time. A lot of viewers and reviewers thought Simon Williams’s journey was a breath of fresh air for the franchise at large. There is novel commentary acting in Hollywood in general. Pair all of that with a very personal story about Haitian experience in America, and you’ve got a stew going.
Don’t look now, but the MCU is steady stacking tiny little W’s before Avengers: Doomsday enters the fray this winter. Now, the question of when we’ll see this Wonder Man season rears its head. Before or after Avengers: Secret Wars? Who can say right now.
Wonder Man and the MCU’s new TV approach
It seems like that edict about shows that can run multiple seasons really took hold over at Marvel Television. Brandon Davis talked to Marvel TV head Brad Winderbaum about that change in approach last year when Daredevil: Born Again premiered. Those details were reported beforehand. But, it’s better to get an answer straight from the horse’s mouth. You’re seeing that he was absolutely serious giving that answer.
“Moving forward our priorities have shifted. We’re making shows as shows that can exist as annual releases, more like television. Certainly we are writing much more than we produce,” he said at the Daredevil: Born Again red carpet. “We’ve gone back to a more traditional television model. It feels a little different because we’re Marvel and there’s a little more of a spotlight on us.”
“So the rumor mill starts to fly and certain things we have in development get more attention than a normal TV studio making other content,” Winderbaum added. “But we’re not going to make something until it’s ready and we’re not going to make something that can’t sustain many seasons, so that’s going to be the biggest driver.”
Waiting for all the other Disney+ stars to get their shot
Obviously, it rocks to get more Wonder Man. But, it makes one wonder about the status of all those shows that appeared from 2021 until 2023. Last time we saw Iman Villani as Kamala Khan, she was still a teenager. Ditto for almost every other Young Avenger of note. Oscar Isaac is doing whatever the heck he wants to at this point instead of being Moon Knight. Maybe Ryan Coogler winning an Oscar, and a renewed sense of identity, might help bring Riri Williams back to us some time before Black Panther 3 comes out.
This is all mildly nitpicky. I must admit. A certain subsection of the viewership will yell about how “no one liked” any of those characters. But, then fall over and say that they needed another season of Wonder Man or that Agatha Harkness would have deserved her own series from the get go. One of the things about making television is that you really don’t know what will resonate with audiences. You have an idea, but nothing is a sure thing. Getting more Wonder Man is awesome, We’re all just waiting for the day that the other Disney+ show characters get another moment in the sun too.
(featured image: Disney+)
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