Welp, if you were expecting to see the story of Simon Williams (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) and Trevor Slattery (Sir Ben Kingsley) continue on Disney+, we are sorry to report that won’t be the case–but Wonderman himself is keeping his head up. “That’s life, right?” said Yahya.
Variety exclusively reports that Wonder Man, the exceptional Disney+ series from co-creator and Spider-Man: Brand New Day director Destin Daniel Cretton and Andrew Guest, will not be getting a second season on the streaming service.
The tragic news comes after Disney announced in March that the show had received a season 2 renewal, roughly two months after its premiere.
Variety reports that the writers’ room for Wonder Man season 2 didn’t even open, and that the attached writers were let go and given the green light to work on other projects.
It’s unclear what led to the decision, as the show was well received by critics and fans alike and currently holds a 91% critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes, making it one of the highest-rated Marvel Studios series streaming on Disney+.
Disney is also very stingy with its streaming numbers, but the show did manage to crack the top 10.
The website reports that characters featured in the series could still appear in other Marvel Studios properties, so we are sure we have not seen the last of Simon Williams or Trevor Slattery.
Did Marvel Studios Really Care About Wonder Man?
When Wonder Man was first released, there was narrative on social media that Marvel Studios didn’t care about the series, which Marvel Studios addressed by releasing all the episodes at once.
We spoke with Cretton about that, and he told our very own Bernard “Beanz” Smalls, “If Marvel didn’t care about this show, it wouldn’t be out in the world at all.”
He continued, “And it definitely would not be out in the world in the form that it is. I think it’s … I am very happy to see that people are loving the show for the same reasons we do, because it’s different. It’s a bit of a big swing for Marvel to take. And I can’t say it was a struggle to make,” he continued.
“Everybody from Kevin on down really loved the tone of the show and loved that it was different, and loved pushing limits. And everybody here loves movies, and that’s what the show is really about. So yeah, the internet likes to make up stories and narratives. But I love the passion behind it because people just love the show and want more people to see it. So I’m all for that.”
Well, we fully expect that conversation to start up again, especially since this was a show with a Black lead.
But with its cancellation, it continues to follow Marvel Studios’ blueprint regarding its streaming series. All of them, except for Loki, which had two seasons, and WandaVision, which spawned spinoffs VisionQuest and Agatha All Along, all had one season.
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II Responds
The actor took to Instagram with a photo of him wearing a Wonder Man cap and a caption responding to the cancellation, where he took the high road by shouting out the appreciative viewers.
“Word just dropped that Wonder Man won’t be coming back for Season 2. (And if you don’t knowww, now ya knoww! 😬) That’s life, right? Everything will shake out. I wanted to say thank you to everybody who WATCHED the show, ENJOYED the show, and SHARED that they enjoyed the show in some way or other. The show worked. And that’s my favorite thing about it. I could see it on the faces of the Youtube Reactors (because I watched along with y’all this time. Shoutout to y’all) and I can see in the messages I get saying how the show reminded some of you not to give up, and I feel it in the genuine love shared when I bump into some of you all during the day. So, thinking of you all today. I’m glad we got to be a part of something cool. Thank you for watching… And uhh… See you at the EMMYS.”
