It’s faint praise indeed to proclaim that Wonder Man is the best MCU property in years. Better than the execrable, slipshod Thor: Love & Thunder, you ask? How could that be? Better than marvel-ryan-reynolds-b2587734.html">Deadpool & Wolverine, the obnoxious team-up hit that sought to break the record for most – and most gratuitous – surprise cameos ever stuffed into one two-hour blockbuster? Better than the succession of forgettable, little-seen straight-to-Disney+ TV shows that seem to arrive unbidden and unheeded, like water dripping from an unminded tap?
I’m being glib, of course, but at this point, it’s widely acknowledged that the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), the biggest film and TV franchise on the planet, has gone thoroughly to seed. The bar has been lowered so drastically that even middling efforts like Thunderbolts* (2025) seem to take on the glow of triumph, if only through sheer competent inoffensiveness. Wonder Man, though – the studio’s new six-part series, focusing on a struggling actor (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) with some hazardous and inconvenient superpowers – stands out as a rare morsel of actual substance.
