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The Marvel Cinematic Universe is full of actors - it's built on them! - but an under-the-radar Marvel Studios project is bringing that to the fore with a superhero who's also an actor.

Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige recently took part in a wide-ranging interview for the June 26 edition of the Official Marvel Studios Podcast, and gave the first-on-the-record comment about the MCU TV series Wonder Man that pulled back the curtain a bit on this meta MCU project.

"We have a show coming up that we've talked very little about, called Wonder Man," Feige teased. "I won't talk much about it today either, except to say its extremely different than anything we've done before."

Feige went on talk about his thrill in "taking characters and storylines to new places," and how he believes Marvel Studios will thrive only if they "continue to try and try new storylines, and take the characters to new places."

"Sometimes they'll hit, sometimes they won't but if you stop trying its when you atrophy, and the whole thing will fall in on itself," Feige said. "I think its continuing to tell new and unique stories in new and unique ways."

Who is in Marvel Studios' Wonder Man cast?

First reported on back in June 2022, Disney+'s Wonder Man stars two-time Aquaman villainous actor Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Marvel's premiere actor/superhero Simon Williams, AKA Wonder Man. Filming of the series recently concluded, and has gone relatively under the radar outside of the addition of supporting cast members. Here's a complete list of the Wonder Man cast that we know about:

• Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Simon Williams / Wonder Man
• Demetrius Gross as Simon's brother Eric - aka the Grim Reaper)
• Ed Harris as Simon's agent Neal
• Ben Kingsley as Trevor Slattery (AKA, the character who appeared in Iron Man 3, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings)
• Lauren Glazier in an unnannounced role
• Josh Gad in an unannounced role

The series was co-created by Shang-Chi director Destin Daniel Cretton and Hawkeye producer Andrew Guest, with the two serving as producers as well as creators; Cretton will direct the first episodes of the series, with Guest serving as the show's head writer.

So who is Wonder Man?

Wonder Man is actually one of the Avengers' earliest enemies (and soon after, most ersatz members). Created in 1964's Avengers #9 as a one-off villain by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Don Heck, he was resurrected a decade later - literally; he died in his first appearance - and began a path of redemption that culminated in Avengers membership. In the period between his death and rebirth, his brain waves were actually the used for the basis of synthezoid hero the Vision's own mind in Marvel's comic book canon - something that has gone on to be a unique situation brought up in subsequent storylines.

What Marvel Studios appears to be capitalizing on in Wonder Man's transition to the MCU is his day job as a Hollywood movie star in Marvel Comics. It wouldn't be the first time the studio has considered going down this route, as Nathan Fillion was cast as Wonder Man for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, going so far as to film scenes as the character - but they were cut from the finished film.

What is the Wonder Man release date?

No official release date for Disney's Wonder Man has been announced, but given the announced MCU slate, this would be a 2025 release at the earliest. (If you want to keep track of all the upcoming Marvel on-screen projects, we have a guide to help you do just that.

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Keep up to date on Popverse's Marvel coverage, with these highlights:

• Marvel Studios has accidentally created a new Phase that predates Phases 1 - 6: the MCU Phase Zero
• Which Secret Wars comic the Russos are basing Avengers 6 off of
• Overgrown children of the atom: Marvel's X-Men can't evolve past their '90s commercial peak
• The biggest outstanding questions of the Marvel Studios' movies & TV shows
• Marvel's accidental closure on the Kang storyline
• Robert Downey Jr. is entering his villain era
• Donald Trump is the landlord for Marvel's House of Ideas
• For Marvel actors, the MCU also stands for the Marvel Commercials Universe
• The Fantastic 4: First Steps offers Marvel a visual makeover, courtesy of a classic movie designer
• Marvel Studios swapping out Doctor Doom for Kang offers the chance to jettison the Multiverse Saga
• What Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige is saying (and not saying) about the MCU X-Men franchise says a lot about the future of the Mutant Saga