I must confess, I never invested much into Marvel's Wonder Man (regardless of it being created by the terrific trio of Don Heck, Jack Kirby and Stan Lee), perhaps because as a kid, the concept confused me. Wonder Man wasn't connected to DC's Wonder Woman, obviously, and so why the label overlap, when he could have (should have) been called something else? On the other hand, I was just as confused with there being two Captain Marvels riding off the same perch, even though I considered the Shazam! version the definitive one. Even so, why the clashing double-whammy? Get my drift?
On this basis, I took Disney+'s Wonder Man (brought to the screen by Andrew Guest and Destin Daniel Cretton) at casual face value. Considering that Ben Kingsley's Trevor Slattery was on board, I figured how bad could it be?
Well, I found the eight-part miniseries to be quite good, and throughout the ride, it was easy to accept Yayha-Abdul (Candyman/Aquaman) Mateen's Simon Williams as its identifiable lead, an everyman who's not such an everyman once the mutant-ous truth is revealed.
The structure of Wonder Man's world is Midnight Cowboy-based. Williams is Jon Voight's Joe Buck and Slattery is Dustin Hoffman's Ratso Rizzo, maybe not on every level, but enough to jive with the borrowed intent. This melodramatic parallel is established early in the series when Williams and Slattery meet at a showing of John Schlesinger/Waldo Salt's 1969 classic.
The update depicts Williams hoping to fill the lead in a remake of a superhero movie he loved as a kid, that being Wonder Man. Slattery is there to show Williams the ropes, giving him acting advice, while seeking a sidekick part. Slattery isn't always on the up-and-up, in that he's coerced to spy on Williams by a bureaucratic organization, led by Arian Moayed's Agent P. Cleary. The agent hopes to get the scoop on Williams, who's insinuated extraordinary mental and physical powers over the years, even though he's never enacted them to the fullest extent.
The quest to corral Williams is what turns him into the real-deal Wonder Man, but it's always the chase for movie roles that remains the series' overriding motivator. For example, one episode presents a tense yet comical, competing-actor audition, conducted by a big-time director, Zlatko Buric's Van Kovak, which prompts Williams and Slattery to do their damndest to win his favor (and the roles), even though their efforts appear more doomed than not.
Another episode centers on Joe Pantoliano (who should hold significance with Marvel fans for his Ben Urich part in Mark Steven Johnson's Daredevil), playing himself in this instance and bouncing off Slattery to give the downtrodden performer more heartbreaking depth, as his infamous "Mandarin" gig holds unavoidable court. In a related instance, poor Slattery faces a condescending, New York Times critic, Lauren Weedman's Kathy Friedman, who probes his imprisoned past, thus obstructing his redemption.
Perhaps Wonder Man could have bypassed or downplayed its Marvel association altogether and rolled as an autonomous, inspired-by stand-alone, ala Julius Avery/Sylvester Stallone's The Samaritan. No matter. The Marvel label does secure attention, but for those jaded by its ubiquitous, Disney connection, don't worry. Wonder Man isn't designed for the contented, Gary Stu/Mary Sue crowd. Its characters come with glaring impairments and plenty of heart: a step in the right direction for a live-action impetus that has slipped in recent years due to its misguided, play-it-safe blandness.
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