Popverse's top stories of the day

• Dan Da Dan's most emotionally devastating sequence proves that sometimes words aren't necessary
• WATCH: Inside the fiendish creations & comic book secret origin of David Dastmalchian in Popversations
• Every upcoming A24 movie, from 2024's Queer to 2025's The Legend of Ochi and beyond

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II has an impressive acting résumé. He has played Doctor Manhattan (which he won an Emmy for) and the greatest hater in the DC Universe, Black Manta, in two Aquaman films. Now he’s set to play actor Simon Williams in the MCU’s upcoming live-action series, Wonder Man. Just because “Wonder” is in his name doesn’t mean he has anything to do with Wonder Woman, who is a hero in the DC Universe. 

The Wonder Man series is set to release in December 2025. An exact release date has not been set yet, so watch this space for any updates. Details about the show, along with footage, were released in a “Look Ahead” trailer posted by Marvel Studios, promoting their release slate for the next year. From the footage, it is clear that the show is leaning into Simon Williams’s time as an actor. In the video, Abdul-Mateen’s character announces that he’s auditioning for the role of Wonder Man, suggesting that the show will have a meta take on superheroes reminiscent of the first part of the critically-acclaimed WandaVision show. 

While Wonder Man is a brand new character in the MCU, he is joined by Ben Kingsley’s beloved character, Trevor Slattery. In case you don’t remember, Slattery was introduced in Iron Man 3 as an English actor hired by Aldrich Killian to play the role of The Mandarin. Slattery later appeared in Shang-Chi: The Legend of the Ten Rings. In the Wonder Man footage, he helps Simon Williams with self-tapes at home, showing that there’s a giving side to Slattery after all. Slattery tells Williams, “We both have a lot riding on this. You better not mess this up!” It’s not clear what Slattery is referring to with this statement (likely Williams’s role as Wonder Man), but it will only be a matter of time before we find out the exact nature of their relationship. 

Wonder Man will release on Disney+ in December 2025. 

Consider this a meta post-credits scene for Marvel fans - the four key articles you need to read next to continue the thrills:

• How to watch the Marvel Cinematic Universe in release or chronological order
• The best Marvel Comics stories of all time
• All the MCU movies ranked from best to worst
• Our weekly Marvel insider's column, Marvel Matters