Wonder Man EP Explains How A Method Actor Helped Him Figure Out The MCU Character

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The upcoming Disney+ series Wonder Man will introduce Simon Williams, a new character to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Actor Yahya Abdul-Mateen II plays Williams, who is striving for success in his acting career while also possessing superpowers. Creating a compelling new character for the MCU is challenging, and the show’s creative team worked hard to define Williams’ personality for this version of the story. Surprisingly, one of the show’s executive producers found the key to nailing the characterization by drawing inspiration from a dedicated method actor.

Andrew Guest, the co-creator of Wonder Man and a collaborator on Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, was careful when developing the main character for his new Marvel series. In a recent interview with SFX Magazine, Guest explained that the breakthrough in understanding this version of the character came while watching an old interview with a method actor. This sparked a crucial insight into how the character relates to his abilities.

I realized if you gave that person superpowers, it wouldn’t matter to him – he’s focused on being an actor like Daniel Day-Lewis. That’s when it clicked – I understood who Wonder Man was. He has powers, but he doesn’t want them. He’s not interested in being a superhero; he’s passionate about art and wants to be an artist. So, being incredibly strong doesn’t actually help him achieve his goals.

It’s not new for characters in this universe to get powers they don’t want – Peter Parker and Bruce Banner have both dealt with that. However, it’s a clever idea to explore that same feeling with an actor just trying to make it in Hollywood, and I think Bill Guest came to a great realization. Guest didn’t say if the interview he read was with Daniel Day-Lewis, but the comments he found clearly sparked the idea for this upcoming 2026 TV show.

After understanding their individual identities, I started to wonder why those two people were together. That question became my next focus.

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The Trevor Andrew Guest refers to is actually Trevor Slattery, the character played by Ben Kingsley. Slattery first appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Iron Man 3 (2013) as a fake version of the Mandarin. He was later kidnapped by the real Mandarin in the short film All Hail the King and then reappeared as the villain’s jester in Shang-Chi (2021). According to Kingsley, Trevor is now trying to get his acting career back on track in Hollywood when he meets Simon.

Look, while Slattery is important, this story really centers on Simon, and I’m completely hooked to see where his path leads. He doesn’t seem all that interested in his abilities, but he’s stuck trying to snag a role in the new Wonder Man movie, which is tough when Hollywood’s basically freezing out anyone with powers. And on top of that, he’s dodging the Department of Damage Control, who really aren’t fans of people like him. Honestly, it makes you wonder how a guy with superpowers is supposed to navigate all this!

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It’s still unknown what the future holds for Simon, but comments from Andrew Guest have definitely increased my excitement for his Marvel show. The trailer for Wonder Man hints that it’s a clever, self-aware series that comments on the current abundance of superhero movies, and it’ll be interesting to see how Simon deals with that world. All eight episodes will be available for Disney+ subscribers starting January 27th at 9 p.m. Eastern Time / 6 p.m. Pacific Time.

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2026-01-11 01:38