The adventures of actors trying to make it big in the Marvel Cinematic Universe will continue.
Marvel Television’s Wonder Man, perhaps the least comic book movie-coded of the superhero factory’s shows, has been renewed for a second season. And the key creative and talent team in front and behind the camera are also set to return.
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Ben Kingsley will return as Simon Williams and Trevor Slattery, the respective super-powered actor and ex-terrorist-thespian around which the show revolved.
Also returning are co-creators Destin Daniel Cretton, the filmmaker who previously worked on Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Ring and is directing July’s Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and Andrew Guest (Community, Brooklyn Nine-Nine). Cretton is coming back as director and executive producer while Guest is reprising his role as showrunner and executive producer.
Eschewing superheroics and building-destroying battles, Wonder Man focused on struggling actor Williams, who is trying to hide his powers, as he navigates Hollywood and tries to land the lead in a remake of a superhero movie titled Wonder Man. Along the way, he enlists the help of Slattery, a veteran actor with hidden motives.
(It is unclear what direction the show will take, as it feature an open-ended finish, even as it closed the loop on a relationship arc.)
The show, essentially a buddy Hollywood romp, premiered on Disney+ in January to exceptional reviews. It currently sits at a 91 percent critic score ands an 87 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
In her review for The Hollywood Reporter, Angie Han noted that the show was a return to form for Marvel: “By stripping away the epic scope and fantastical battles these superhero blockbusters have been known for, it brings to the forefront the very human drives — for approval, for connection, for meaning — that have always given Marvel movies their real magic.”
In its first week, Wonder Man racked up 618 million minutes of watch time, according to Nielsen, and landed in the metric tracking service’s top 10 original streaming series.
Marvel is now looking capitalize on the response and is planning to conduct an awards campaign for the show. It will be submitted in the comedy series category, according to sources.
Snagging a second season is a rare occurrence in the Marvel arena. Only two other live-action shows have seen follow-ups, including Loki, which remains Marvel’s top show, and Daredevil: Born Again, whose second season kicks off tomorrow. (WandaVision, Marvel’s first show that also won Emmys, is part of an informal trilogy that includes Agatha All Along and the upcoming VisionQuest.)
In the last several of years, Marvel has reoriented its approach to show-making, turning from a movie model to a traditional television model. Wonder Man fell under that track.
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