Marvel’s Television track record has been messy to say the least.

• Wandavision – Strong
• The Falcon and The Winter Solider – Really Good
• Loki S1 – Really Good
• What If…? S1 – Mixed bag/mostly good
• Hawkeye – Good
• Moon Knight – Really Good
• Ms Marvel – Fine
• She Hulk – Eh
• Secret Invasion – Poo
• Loki S2 – Fantastic
• What If..? S2 & S3 – Eh
• Echo – Fine
• Agatha All Along – Surprisingly Good
• Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man – Amazing
• Daredevil Born Again – Good
• Ironheart – Fine
• Eyes of Wakanda – Fine
• Marvel Zombies – Fine

It’s safe to say they over did themselves generally, but have had some big hits along with the some series that have felt like they’ve been making it just for the sake of it, especially at a time when the films started to feel the same. With a little regeneration of the films, particularly with last years’ Thunderbolts* it looks like Marvel might have finally learnt their lesson, but for a project like Wonder Man that’s been in the works for a little while, did they learn the lesson soon enough?

Wonder Man follows small time actor, Simon Williams (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) on his quest to become a major actor in a reboot of his favourite film from his childhood, Wonder Man. He bumps into fellow in universe actor Trevor Slattery (Sir Ben Kingsley) who is desperate for another role after his stint in prison having pretended to be the terrorist, The Mandarin. However, Slattery has been recruited by the Department of Damage Control to spy on Williams, as they believe he has super powers.

As I said at the end of my opening paragraph, Marvel have had a rough time recently, struggling at the box office compared to their previous large successes, and struggled to engage audiences on the smaller screen as well. Thunderbolts* was a critical hit and felt like they were willing to do something different and stray away from a formula that had served them well but was no longer delivering results, and delivered a fantastic film. Wonder Man feels like the first piece of content since then that feels in the same vain. There certainly will be (and is) and audience that will watch this show and not get the point, and wonder why there isn’t some overarching huge villain threat that wants to takeover the world, or why there isn’t a huge city wide battle or chase, and they won’t enjoy it for that reason. It’s easy for me to love when I’m particularly so interested in the film industry

The cast are consistently fantastic. Whether that’s someone that’s in the show for 5 minutes, 1 episode or the whole season. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is an incredibly underrated actor, who clearly loves to be in superhero projects, this being his third having appeared as Black Manta in Aquaman and it’s sequel, and in the incredible Watchmen HBO series. He really carries the entire show, there’s lots of small parts to his performance, but he truly nails everything in the show.

Trevor Slattery is one of the most bizarre characters in the MCU, coming from one of the most hated twists in any of their films, he’s now appeared in multiple projects, and seems to only get better with each entry. Kingsley nails exactly what this show is about, nailing not just the tone, but again the subtley of conflict that this character has, along with silly moments. It’s truly perfect and feels rewarding for those of us that have stuck with the universe.

The plot, in particular in relation to Damage Control, is likely to have a larger meaning to the universe and seems to be sewing the seeds for introducing the X-Men to this specific universe, and I think we could see a little more of that head in Spider-Man: Brand New Day (this could be why we are yet to see any footage yet), especially as this series was created by Destin Daniel Cretin, who is also directing Brand New Day.

Overall, this show just adds to the puzzle that is course correcting Marvel back to something bigger than what they were. This show isn’t a series with constant action pieces or stupid easy jokes, or poor CGI. It’s a true mixture of a love letter to the art of making these films in the first place, and a tale of a character most won’t have heard of before this series.

I truly think Marvel are in a hugely important time where they no the formula isn’t working anymore and that a focus on not just characters, but a focus on allowing creative people who have a strong idea to deliver it rather than forcing out the same old film 3 times a year. Whether they will have learnt that in time for Avengers: Doomsday is yet to be seen. But there is hope!

What did you think of Wonder Man?

I had a busy day watching a couple of films at the cinema, but I wanted to get this review out before them, they will follow in the next couple of days, so to be sure not to miss those, follow on social media @floodersfilms or via the buttons below!

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