New Marvel Series Nearly Faced a Batgirl-Style Cancellation, Showrunner Reveals

File this under near-miss: Marvel's Wonder Man almost got shelved mid-production during the 2023 strikes and turned into a tax write-off. Showrunner Andrew Guest says the team seriously considered pulling the plug even after shooting about half the season. They didn't. And now the show is out on Disney+ and doing surprisingly well.

The quick version

• Who: Andrew Guest, veteran TV writer and showrunner of Marvel's Wonder Man, starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II
• Where he said it: THR's Heat Vision Live event at the DGA Theatre Complex, in remarks covered by Laughing Place
• What almost happened: During the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, the team nearly killed the show as a tax write-off while they were halfway through filming
• How close: Close enough that it was a real option on the table
• Who fought it: Producers on the series (Guest name-checked Brian and the rest of the team) pushed hard to finish the show
• Context: This would have mirrored what happened to the old DCEU-era Batgirl movie, which was scrapped as a tax write-off after it had already entered post
• Outcome: Wonder Man survived, premiered its first season on Disney+
• Reception: Strong start with a 90% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes and a 90% audience Popcorn score
• What's next: No official Season 2 renewal yet

How close was Wonder Man to getting axed?

Close enough that Guest and company were staring down the very real possibility of a corporate write-off. At THR's Heat Vision Live event at the DGA Theatre Complex, Guest said the strikes hit when they were mid-shoot, and the conversation turned to whether Disney should just cut losses.

"We were halfway through ours... You know, it could have been a tax write-off for Disney, but I know for a fact that the people who were producing this show, like Brian and all of our amazing team there, were fighting their asses off to make sure that we came back and finished this weird, melancholy show. That, you know, was a big, big swing for them."

That "weird, melancholy" description is doing a lot of work. It also tells you why this project was vulnerable in the first place: it's not a cookie-cutter Marvel play. Big swings are easier to second-guess when the industry is shut down and budgets are under a microscope.

The Batgirl comparison you were thinking of

Yes, this is the same kind of behind-the-scenes math that led Warner Bros. Discovery to bury Batgirl despite it being in post. Guest essentially confirms Wonder Man flirted with the same fate during the strikes. The difference: Wonder Man came back after the shutdowns and actually got finished.

Where things stand now

Wonder Man is out, with Yahya Abdul-Mateen II leading the charge, and the early response is legit: 90% on the Tomatometer and 90% on the Popcornmeter over at Rotten Tomatoes. That doesn't automatically unlock a pickup, though. Marvel Studios hasn't announced a Season 2 yet. For now, the "almost canceled" headline is the alternate timeline we didn't get.