And just like that, Wonder Man is one-and-done at Marvel Television. The acclaimed Disney+ show is no longer returning for a second season, and it’s a decision that only makes sense if Marvel Studios has bigger plans for the character, which it should.
Wonder Man always felt like a low priority for Marvel. Its release was repeatedly delayed until the studio just released all eight episodes at once at the end of January without much fanfare. Despite this, the show was well-received, becoming one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe‘s best-reviewed projects. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II even earned an Emmy nomination for his MCU role, the first to do so since WandaVision.
So, yeah, the renewal reversal for Wonder Man is a bit of a headscratcher. However, the only way I see the cancellation not being a mistake is if Marvel Studios plans to make Wonder Man the face of a West Coast Avengers movie.
Why the MCU needs the West Coast Avengers
The MCU’s expansion into television with the launch of Disney+ was both a blessing and a curse. While it allowed Marvel to introduce a lot of requested superheroes more quickly, it also meant that these characters didn’t end up appearing again in the MCU for a long time, if ever. We’re still waiting for the second (sacred timeline) appearances of Moon Knight, She-Hulk, and now Wonder Man.
With so many underused characters, many of whom are conveniently based on the West Coast, it makes perfect sense for Marvel to greenlight a West Coast Avengers movie. Not only would it give the MCU something it sorely needs — an Avengers movie where the stakes aren’t world-ending — but it would bring together characters that are unlikely to receive their own solo project or second season.
Wonder Man, War Machine, She-Hulk, Ant-Man, and Shang-Chi are all based on the West Coast. While Ant-Man and Shang-Chi will appear in Avengers: Doomsday as part of Sam Wilson’s main Avengers team, it makes sense to split them off to lead the new team. Both are fan favorites and would get more eyeballs on the project.
With second seasons of Wonder Man and She-Hulk seemingly no longer in the cards, and War Machine being MIA since that controversial Secret Invasion twist, the West Coast Avengers is the perfect project to reintroduce them to a larger audience.
Further, a superhero team-up feels like the natural next step for Wonder Man, after he was shown openly embracing his superpowers in his series finale. If we can get Destin Daniel Cretton to direct and have Ben Kingsley’s Trevor Slattery be the man in the chair, I think this would be a slam dunk for the post-Secret Wars MCU.
Marvel, the world needs to see more of Abdul-Mateen’s Emmy-nominated Wonder Man in the MCU. If it’s not going to be in a second season of his Disney+ show, then it needs to happen in a West Coast Avengers movie.
