Marvel Crowns Its Next Heavyweight: Yahya Abdul-Mateen II Debuts as Wonder Man in the First Trailer
The first full Wonder Man trailer has landed, teasing Yahya Abdul-Mateen II’s electrifying MCU debut from Destin Daniel Cretton and Andrew Guest before the series premieres on Disney+ this December.
Marvel just put out the first full trailer for Wonder Man, and it leans hard into the 'Hollywood about Hollywood' thing. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II plays Simon Williams, a struggling actor who walks into an audition and walks out realizing he might actually be a superhero. Subtle? Not even a little. Fun? Looks like it.
What the trailer shows
We meet Simon trying to land the lead in a new superhero TV show. Then reality gets blurry: the guy has real powers, and the industry vanity project becomes an origin story. It is very knowingly meta, with Marvel framing this as a story about making stories.
"Billed as a love letter to filmmaking, acting, and Hollywood itself, Wonder Man follows Hollywood actor Simon Williams (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) as he is thrust into the world of superheroes, gets powers of his own, and becomes the superhero known as Wonder Man."
Who shows up
- Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Simon Williams/Wonder Man, the actor who accidentally becomes the thing he was pretending to be.
- Ben Kingsley returns as Trevor Slattery, the self-described humbled thespian first introduced in 2013's Iron Man 3, then seen in the 2014 All Hail the King one-shot and 2021's Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Putting Kingsley back in a story about performance is a no-brainer.
- Arian Moayed (Succession) is back as Agent Cleary of the Department of Damage Control, after popping up in 2021's Spider-Man: No Way Home and the 2022 Ms. Marvel series.
The plan behind the curtain
The series is created by Destin Daniel Cretton and Andrew Guest, with Cretton directing multiple episodes. It is part of Marvel's current Marvel Television banner, lands squarely in the MCU, and is set for eight episodes total.
Release-wise, here is the important bit: Wonder Man is slated to premiere on Disney+ in December 2025 as part of Phase 6. If you saw early chatter saying 'this December,' that was premature — the schedule has it parked for next year.
Bottom line: a wry, showbiz-forward Marvel series with Yahya Abdul-Mateen II front and center, Trevor Slattery stirring the pot, and a premise that lets the MCU wink at itself while still doing the superhero thing. I am curious to see how far they push the industry satire before the capes and energy blasts take over.