The MCU's creative minds made efforts in the past to try and incorporate Wonder Man into its universe, and after a few failed attempts, it seems Marvel Studios might be ready to pull the trigger. A director and writer are reportedly in place for a potential Wonder Man series, and it's quite the talented pair. But as awesome as that is, what does that mean for Nathan Fillion, the actor at one point pegged for the role in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2?
Word is Marvel has enlisted Destin Daniel Cretton (director of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) and Andrew Guest (writer on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Community) to create a live-action series for Wonder Man, one of the comic monolith's oldest heroes. THR also reported that Cretton, who is developing a sequel to Shang-Chi, will serve as an executive producer and possible director. As for Guest, who worked as a consulting producer for Hawkeye, he will serve as head writer. The potential series is said to be still in the early stages of development, but if Marvel moves forward on the project, it could begin filming sometime in 2023.
There's no word on who might star as Wonder Man, a.k.a. Simon Williams, but as previously mentioned, that was a role the MCU originally gave to Nathan Fillion. James Gunn attempted to incorporate Fillion in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 as Wonder Man, and Kevin Feige and others even signed off on him doing so.
Unfortunately, James Gunn found it a challenge to incorporate Nathan Fillion's Wonder Man into the movie in a way that fit the tone and timing. Gunn ultimately found a tentative compromise with a scene that took place on Earth that featured easter eggs of movie posters featuring Fillion's Simon Williams in various movies. The scene was ultimately thought to slow the movie down, and it was scrapped, therefore completely erasing any canonical evidence of Fillion portraying Wonder Man. Gunn did ultimately get Fillion into a superhero movie later with the DC-originated The Suicide Squad, so if it's not in the cards for him to be in the MCU, at least that happened.
The internet speculated that Wonder Man might be headed to the MCU back during WandaVision when a picture of the character appeared in a behind-the-scenes featurette for the Disney+ original. Head writer for WandaVision Jac Schaeffer went on the record to Entertainment Tonight denying it meant anything beyond it being one of "many things" that went up on the wall of the writers’ room. Wonder Man obviously didn’t make it into WandaVision, but thanks to this upcoming project, there’s a chance Marvel fans may see him on television soon.
A Wonder Man series is in the works and may ultimately add to the increasing list of Disney+ shows on the streamer if it gets the green light. Hopefully, we'll get more updates about what's going on in the coming months and maybe even a casting announcement if the project officially gets ordered.
