Wonder Man

After watching about five episodes of Wonder Man's eight episodes, my rather enthusiastic girlfriend Klara looked at me and asked, "What is this series actually about?" I replied, "I actually have no idea," and in a rather silly moment, we looked at each other, both of us clearly meaning it in the best possible way.

For Wonder Man, a project brought to us by Shang-Chi director Daniel Destin Cretton, is in many ways the biggest Marvel departure we've ever seen, and also completely its own, even though there are some aspects of the overall flavour profile that taste a little familiar.

Wonder Man was a character introduced in 1964, whose powers are often placed on par with Thor, Sentry, and Hulk as one of the heaviest heavyweights Marvel's pantheon of heroes can muster. But that really doesn't come across at all in this drama-comedy combo, which in a way introduces Wonder Man to the wider MCU, and in a way really, really doesn't.

The character Simon Williams is masterfully played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II in a rather meta role alongside Ben Kingsley's Trevor Slattery. Both characters are, to put it mildly, down on their luck and in need of a big Hollywood role, and they stumble upon a mysterious remake of an 80s superhero film... Wonder Man, but this time directed by the enigmatic auteur Oscar winner Von Kovak, played by Zlatko Burić. This means that in many scenes, Mateen II plays an actor who plays a character from a remake of a fictional film based on the character he... himself is.

But before we go into meta mode, it's worth reiterating that Wonder Man is unlike any other MCU project you've ever seen. There's hardly a single action scene in all eight episodes, and there's not even much of a plot here, apart from the rock-solid, highly entertaining relationship that develops more or less organically between Trevor and Simon. For the most part, and this sounds less entertaining than it actually is, these two characters drive around Hollywood, solving relatively minor problems and working to get the Wonder Man project off the ground.

Going into further detail would be a shame, as the surprise of discovering this very curious, almost bizarre genre cocktail is part of the fun. Make no mistake, there are small breadcrumbs of a more traditional MCU setup here, as Simon (without going into too much detail) really does have a secret he is trying to keep hidden, but in a more practical sense, this is a strange tale of two people from very different backgrounds who bond over their love of film and acting, and who together give each other exactly what they need.

One episode is, for some inexplicable reason, in black and white, and tells the story of a completely unrelated character. Another episode is almost a kind of isolated stoner comedy about a stolen motorcycle and a start-up company that produces Mexican sweets. Yes, Wonder Man takes a lot of detours over the course of eight relatively short episodes, and although it sometimes borders on the reckless, there is a wonderful, awkward auteur vibe throughout. Mateen II and Kingsley are awkward and thoroughly relatable, and there are also some powerful, emotional moments that are all the more impactful because the series consistently gives itself plenty of time to explore and linger.

Wonder Man is the strangest MCU project, and for that reason alone, it proves that Marvel is willing to do things differently. And if Wonder Man is any indication, then perhaps we need not fear genre fatigue quite so much, at least on the series front.