Wonder Man Series In The Works At Marvel With Shang-Chi Director On Board

Look out! The Marvel Cinematic Universe is about to get a little more ... wonderful? I don't know how many people had this on their bingo cards for characters that Kevin Feige and his team were intent on adapting next for their superhero universe, but this wouldn't be the first time the studio head managed to catch everyone by surprise.

The Hollywood Reporter has the scoop on the next live-action series currently in development at Marvel Studios, revealing that the relatively obscure character Wonder Man is apparently coming to a Disney+ account near you. Even better, the hero will be in the capable hands of a Marvel veteran. "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" director Destin Daniel Cretton will be returning to the MCU as an executive producer and possibly even a director for "an episode or more" of the planned series. He'll be joined behind the scenes by Andrew Guest, the head writer on the show who's worked on several successful comedies in the past such as "Community" and "Brooklyn Nine-Nine."

The report notes that this "Wonder Man" series will take place as part of the exclusive multi-year deal that Cretton signed with Marvel in the wake of the breakthrough performance of "Shang-Chi" at the box office. While the series is still a long way off, fans can expect filming to commence sometime in 2023.

With Destin Daniel Cretton and Andrew Guest spearheading the new series, everyone's attention now turns to the pressing question of: "Who the heck is Wonder Man?"

As much as he might sound like the most generic possible name for a superhero to fellow know-nothings such as myself, it may be surprising to hear that he's actually one of Marvel's most established characters after originally making his debut in 1964. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby as a minor villain, later artists in the 1970s and '80s eventually reimagined the character as a founding member of the West Coast Avengers. THR amusingly describes the character as "...with a look that included a turtleneck, a red jacket and sunglasses, [he] became a celebrity thanks to his day job as an actor and stuntman."

Comic fans know that Wonder Man also has close ties with both Vision and the Scarlet Witch, playing a pivotal role in the origin of Vision in the comics. In another fun tidbit of could-have-been's, Wonder Man (who also goes by the name Simon Williams) almost appeared in the MCU itself in "Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 2" played by Nathan Fillion, if director James Gunn had gotten his wish, as he revealed in some tweets back in 2017. It's theoretically possible that Fillion could "reprise" his role, for real this time, in the "Wonder Man" series. We'll have to see what exactly Feige has in mind, however. Keep an eye on /Film for any and all updates on this project as they come in!