Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, a familiar face to DC fans, will make his Marvel debut soon. Deadline reports that the Aquaman star is reportedly in talks to play Simon Williams / Wonder Man in the upcoming Disney+ series that was first announced in June this year.
The actor is set to join Ben Kingsley, who will reprise his role as the supervillain-turned-good guy otherwise known as The Mandarin. The character appeared in Iron Man 3 and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, which makes it apt that the movie’s director, Destin Daniel Cretton, is returning to spearhead and executive produce the project. Andrew Guest, a writer-producer on comedies such as Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Community, is serving as head writer.
Wonder Man was created in the 1980s and is a key member of the West Coast Avengers. Initially introduced as a villain with ion-based superpowers, he was later reconceived as a hero in the late 1970s, and developed strong ties to Vision Wanda-slash-Scarlet Witch. The character’s association with the latter pair should prove interesting, considering how a Vision spin-off is currently being developed.
Abdul-Mateen II, meanwhile, is best known for playing Black Manta in the Aquaman movies and Cal Abar in HBO’s Watchmen. Outside of the superhero realm, he has also appeared in The Trial of the Chicago 7 and as Morpheus in The Matrix Resurrections.
It’s unclear when Wonder Man will be coming to Disney+. For now, though, MCU fans are looking forward to Black Panther: Wakanda Forever on 10 November, and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which just received its first trailer.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
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