Copyright Polygon
Marvel Television's first trailer for Disney Plus series Wonder Man offered a tantalizing, meta take on its brand of superhero fare. The show is clearly going to poke fun at Marvel itself, the concept of superhero movie fatigue, and what superhero movies look like in a world that's filled with actual superheroes. Marvel calls the show "a story about filmmaking and ambition" and "a peek behind the curtain of the entertainment industry." But a new look at Wonder Man, released Wednesday, offers a new revelation about what the show is really about. And it's not just a struggling actor trying to land a dream role in the remake of his lifelong superhero obsession. Marvel's new Wonder Man clip starts a lot like the TV show's previous trailer, revealing that in-universe legendary director Von Kovak (Zlatko Burić, who, yes, recently appeared in Superman) is bringing back cheesy sci-fi action hero Wonder Man for the modern age. Actor Simon Williams (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) really wants the role and befriends another actor who's also trying to land the gig: Ben Kingsley's Trevor Slattery. "I need to be in this movie," Williams tells his agent. "I was born to play this character." As the new trailer for Wonder Man slyly reveals, Williams has an apparent leg up on his peers: He secretly already has superpowers. At least, that's what the new trailer intimates, as Williams' powers start to reveal themselves. During some heightened moments, we see Williams' eyes turn slightly red and observe an invisible energy emanating from his hand. To make his hidden abilities all the more obvious, the trailer concludes with a casting assistant telling Williams, "I’m gonna need you to sign this, to confirm you don’t have superpowers." Williams dryly responds, "Yeah," as he fills out the form. In the comics, Simon Williams is unquestionably super-powered. His abilities were given to him by none other than Baron Zemo, who wanted to use Williams as a tool to defeat the Avengers. Zemo's ionic ray treatments granted Williams superhuman strength and durability. According to Marvel, Wonder Man can lift in excess of 100 tons, flies at speeds beyond 700 miles per hour, and is virtually indestructible. Those powers would certainly come in handy if you were filming a movie about a superhero...
