Wonder Man Season 1 Review

Wonder Man Season 1 Review

The latest Marvel show has dropped on Disney+, Wonder Man. A look at Hollywood through the prism of the MCU. This is a show that I wasn’t really sure about going into, the trailers didn’t really sell me on it and I just didn’t know what to expect from this show. How is it? Is it any good? Let’s talk about it!

The Review

I’ll just cut right to the chase, I thought Wonder Man was good and very enjoyable. It’s a show that’s very interesting and different from anything else in the MCU and from what I expected it to be. This is not an action show what so ever, there’s not a single action scene in the entire show. That’s weird because it’s in the MCU, a universe that’s known for having lots of large scale action scenes with good guys in capes punching bad guys in capes, and that’s not at all what this show is. Our lead character, Wonder Man does have superpower. He does use them in the show but it’s only a few times and it’s never in an action setting. It’s more of a character piece about Wonder Man and Trevor Slattery trying to make it in Hollywood and find their purpose. I’ve heard some people compare it to a rom com except the central relationship is a bromance between our two leads. That’s not a bad way to describe it. I’ve seen a lot of different reactions on social media about this show. There’s some people loving it and appreciating that it’s something so fresh and different for the MCU. I’ve seen a lot of other people that didn’t like it because it didn’t offer the experience that they like from the MCU. I think both sides are completely valid and I get both sides of them. I think your enjoyment of the film is going to depend on what you thought about the trailer. If you saw the trailer and saw that it looks fun and interesting, you’re probably really going to like this show. If you saw the trailer and went that just looks weird this show isn’t going to win you over.

Part of the reason why the show works is because our two leads, Wonder Man and Trevor Slattery are so charming. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Ben Kingsley have fantastic chemistry with each other, they’re bromance is so good. You’re constantly rooting for both of them in different ways. Both of them are wanting to find their purpose in Hollywood at very different points in time. Wonder Man is the up and coming actor who wants to pursue greatness and thinks he has a lot of talent as an actor. You contrast that with Trevor Slattery who is trying to make up for the mistakes of being a terrorist. So both of them are rooting for themselves while also wanting to help the other person pursue their dreams. Both of them have secrets that they’re keeping and what Trevor is about to is really affecting his relationship with Wonder Man that provides some tension there while always caring about these characters and their journeys. It is a Disney+ show so I don’t know if we’ll ever see Wonder Man again. I don’t know if Marvel has plans for him down the line, I would want to see more of him. I really like the character and I think he could be fun teamed up with some other Marvel heroes. Yahya has been playing coy during the press junket about whether or not he’s in Avengers: Doomsday. 

Another positive about the show is that it feels like a tv show. I know that’s a weird thing to say about tv shows, but part of the problem with so many of the Disney+ Marvel shows is that they feel like a three to four hour long movie broken up into six episodes. The strategy of doing six episode long seasons is stupid because it’s too long for a movie but also too short for a tv show. Wonder Man doesn’t have that problem at all. Each episode is like 30 to 35 minutes long with five minutes of credits, so the episode lengths feel more like tv shows. There’s of course the overarching story with Wonder Man and Trevor Slattery landing the role in a movie, but each episode has our characters going on a side quest that feels very episodic. Some of the episodes have guest stars. The one I think most people are going to be talking about is in episode four and that’s a great episode. The actor they got to be in that episode is a lot of fun and there’s some great jokes in relation to that. I just appreciate that it actually feels like a season of television and not a movie that’s too long or a season that’s too short. 

One of the big frustrations sort of goes against a positive I said about the show. I like and appreciate that the show tried to do something different and that it doesn’t follow the basic MCU formula. But there’s a few ideas presented in the show that felt like they could’ve made for some interesting action scenes in the back half but because the show is doing something different, they didn’t do that. The episode of the show that I think most people are going to be talking about is episode four and that episode is pretty great. There’s some ideas introduced in there in relation to superheroes being in Hollywood that reminded me a little bit of The Incredibles. That felt like they were teasing some bigger threats with that in the back half but that the show never delivered one. It’s a frustrating feeling because I like that it didn’t lean into doing a big CGI battle in the finale but with what’s introduced, it felt like doing a showdown with Wonder Man would’ve been pretty cool and exciting to see. 

Another issue with the show is that I don’t feel like the finale is fully delivered. It’s a bit of an odd structure because the finale both feels like the logical end to the season while also feeling like an epilogue. It’s hard to explain what my issue is without spoiling anything or the twists and turns of the film. There’s still fun moments in the third act that completes Wonder Man’s journey in the film. But at the same time, the way it’s structured and how anti-climatic it is, it leaves on a bit of a disappointing note. It didn’t ruin the season for me at all, but I felt like it was the weakest episode and that’s not a good thing when talking about a season of television. 

Overall Thoughts: Wonder Man is one of the biggest surprises of the entire MCU. I didn’t really care for the trailers and my overall excitement for the show wasn’t super high. Almost instantly the show won me over with its charming leads and this interesting fresh new take on the MCU. This show isn’t going to be for everybody, I can totally see why a lot of people wouldn’t like this show. For me, I dug it and I want to see more from these characters.