Disney and its various brands (namely Marvel and Star Wars) are no strangers to award recognition on the small screen, but few Disney+ shows have felt more deserving of that attention than Wonder Man. The stealthy superhero series joined the ranks of WandaVision, Loki, and The Mandalorian by clinching a nomination for Best Actor for Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, who plays the struggling actor Simon Williams. Seeing as Wonder Man is a show business satire — like HBO’s Hacks or Apple TV’s The Studio — disguised as a comic book adaptation, this nomination couldn’t be more fitting.
Though it’s one of the funniest, sharpest shows of the year, Wonder Man is not solely a skewering of the superhero industrial complex. It opts instead to tell a grounded character study with an inkling towards meta commentary, centering Simon’s neuroticism and paranoia as he works to reconcile two halves of his being. It’s no wonder that the Television Academy took notice, but that’s not the only good update for fans of the series. Simon’s adventures within Marvel’s Cinematic Universe have also just begun: here’s everything we know so far about Wonder Man Season 2.
