There has been a paradigm shift within the Marvel Cinematic Universe in recent years, especially when it comes to the streaming world. Initially, the live-action Marvel Disney+ series would feel like overstretched movies limited to a one-season run (with Loki being one of the few exceptions). The superhero giant noticed that it wasn't making the most out of this new form of media, and so slowly but surely it started to crack the code for how to make a proper show that could run for multiple seasons.
Daredevil: Born Again is the perfect representation of this new era of television. Just within a year of the release of the first season, Matt Murdock is back with a new batch of episodes for audiences to enjoy. Furthermore, animated series like Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man and X-Men '97 are adopting this new release model as well. It was only a matter of time before another live-action show was renewed for a second season, joining the likes of the Man Without Fear or the God of Mischief. Fortunately, that day is finally here.
Marvel renews Wonder Man for a second season
Let the cameras roll. As reported by Deadline, Marvel has renewed Wonder Man for a second season. Abdul-Mateen II will reprise the role of Simon Williams, while Ben Kingsley will bring Trevor Slattery to life once more. Furthermore, the series co-creators Destin Daniel Cretton and Andrew Guest will return as executive producers, with the former also assuming director duties while the latter will act as showrunner.
The creative team behind Wonder Man has been hopeful for a second season, even before the first one was released. Andrew Guest stated that one of the objectives was to ensure the show could keep going, but it would depend on whether "there's an audience and a fan base that clamors for more Simon and Trevor". Head of Streaming, Television, and Animation at Marvel Studios, Brad Winderbaum shared the same sentiment by stating that a second season could be on the cards if the show pulled "big, big [viewership] numbers".
Interestingly enough, Wonder Man didn't see massive streaming numbers initially, despite earning a strong critical reception. The first season was watched for 549.6 million minutes during its first 10 days, across all eight episodes. For comparison, just the opening episode of Loki gathered 731 million minutes watched during the same timeframe. Due to that, fans weren't sure if we'd get to see more of Simon Williams on the small screen. However, it's important to put these numbers into context.
Wonder Man is an obscure comic book character who wasn't as well-known as the God of Mischief when his Disney+ series dropped, so expectations were likely tempered in the first place. After all, Brad Winderbaum stated that the show had "one of the lowest, if not the lowest" budget of a live-action Marvel series. Despite that, it debuted at No. 8 on the Nielsen Streaming Originals chart and was released to astonishing reviews.
There is now a dedicated fan base that wants to see more of Simon Williams and Trevor Slattery on the small screen and will likely tune in for season 2, meaning Marvel has the chance of finding even more success with the character moving forward. Andrew Guest had previously teased that a potential future storyline could see Simon Williams making a deal with the Department of Damage Control, especially now that he broke Trevor out of prison.
Only time will tell what the second season of Wonder Man will be about, but it's nice to have the confirmation that it is coming our way. With a bit of luck, it won't be long before we see more of our favorite Marvel movie stars.
All episodes of Wonder Man Season 1 are available for streaming on Disney+.