2026 is going to be a big year for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The beloved MCU franchise has wasted little time in ensuring that we will spend the whole year looking forward to the release of December's Avengers: Doomsday due to those early trailers released across the holiday season.
But there are plenty of Marvel titles to come from the year, including Spider-Man: Brand New Day, VisionQuest and Daredevil: Born Again season 2. The first of those, however, is Wonder Man - and to say that it gets 2026 off to a high, strong start would be an understatement.
The show just recently premiered on Disney Plus and it's safe to say that its unique approach has thrilled audiences. However, it included what appears to be an extremely shocking death (and we promise you, you won't see it coming!).
*** This article contains MSJOR SPOILERS from Wonder Man episode 4. Don't read on if you would prefer it wasn't spoiled for you. ***
Wonder Man 'kills off' fictional Josh Gad in surprising twist
When it was revealed that Josh Gad would be guest-starring in Marvel's Wonder Man, audiences expected a good time. And believe us, we got it; the fictionalized version of Gad - or "J Gad" as he wanted to be known - was a thrill to watch, and the veteran actor nailed the performance to perfection. However, what fans didn't expect to see was this fictionalized version of the beloved actor seemingly perish in a very unusual fashion.
The MCU's version of Gad befriended DeMarr Davis, who served as the doorman of one of Hollywood's elite clubs. However, when DeMarr developed superpowers, he was able to save the people in the nightclub from a fire by having them exit through him - successfully having them remerge on the other side of a trapped door. And thus, Doorman was born.
DeMarr ended up becoming an assistant / bodyguard to Gad, who eventually convinced his friend to star in the fictional movie Cash Grab with him. That film turned DeMarr into a superstar and skyrocketed his already-rising career. But when the chips eventually came down, DeMarr agreed to work on a sequel, only for a stunt to go horribly wrong.
The Doorman - who had been drinking - prepped for Gad to exit through him in a scene but, clearly, something was wrong. Although the bags that Gad threw through him re-emerged on the other side, the actor did not - as DeMarr was sick at that very moment. And with that, the MCU's iteration of Josh Gad either disappeared or was very quickly, for lack of a better term, digested.
The incident resulted in Hollywood turning against any actor that had superpowers, deeming them to risky to work with out of fear that something like Gad's apparent demise could ever happen again. It's a precendet for why Wonder Man himself, Simon Williams, feels the need to hide his superpowers when auditioning for the titular role. And it's also one of the many reasons as to why the Department of Damage Control is after Simon - using the fear of people with superpowers as an excuse to target any and every superhero they come across.
Regardless, seeing what happened to the fictional version of Josh Gad in Wonder Man made for a haunting sight. And it's certainly one of the MCU's most gruesome deaths thus far.