Actor Yahya Abdul-Mateen II has been roped in to play the titular hero in Marvel Studios' upcoming Disney+ series Wonder Man.
According to entertainment website Variety, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings filmmaker Destin Daniel Cretton is developing the Wonder Man series. Andrew Guest is the head writer.
Cretton, who is already set to direct Marvel's Avengers: The Kang Dynasty movie, may also helm Wonder Man. In the Marvel comics, Williams is the son of a wealthy industrialist whose company, Williams Innovations, is run out of business due to competition from Stark Industries. In desperation, Simon turns to Baron Zemo, who gives Simon superpowers and directs him to infiltrate and then betray the Avengers. However, Simon joins the Avengers in earnest, and is even a founding member of the spin-off team, the West Coast Avengers.
Wonder Man will be Abdul-Mateen’s third comic book character, after villain Black Manta in 2018's Aquaman and Dr. Manhattan in HBO’s 2019 series Watchmen, for which he won an Emmy. He will be reprising Black Manta in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.
Marvel Studios has not yet announced a premiere date for the series.
