The new Disney+ show Wonder Man has subtly, and accidentally, made Robert Downey Jr. himself a part of MCU lore. The show is packed with Hollywood satire and film references. One specific Easter egg has created a fascinating, if unintentional, ripple in Marvel’s established reality.
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Wonder Man, starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as aspiring actor Simon Williams, is less a traditional superhero saga and more a send-up of Tinseltown. This focus on movie industry satire led the creative team to fill the series with cinematic homages. However, as showrunner and co-creator Andrew Guest revealed to Dexerto, one reference slipped through that clashes with Marvel logic.
Guest explained the unique casting challenge they faced: “The main thing that makes doing this show very complicated is that it’s very hard to find people who have not already been in a Marvel project, or are about to be in a Marvel project.” This difficulty led to a surprising canon contradiction.
“We reference Igby Goes Down, which has Robert Downey Jr. in it, and somebody caught me on that, and I was like ‘Oh s–t, I forgot that, good catch,’” Guest admitted. By having a character reference a real-world film starring Downey Jr., the show inadvertently acknowledges the actor’s existence separate from his iconic role as Tony Stark. In the MCU, this creates a paradoxical scenario where Robert Downey Jr. is both the fictional Iron Man and a real-life actor.
This specific Downey Jr. nod was an accident, but the series is deliberately woven with movie love. Guest shared that the show favors film Easter eggs over typical Marvel connections. “There’s more movie Easter eggs than Marvel Easter egg. There’s little homages and tips of hats to famous movies,” he quipped.
While this playful Igby Goes Down reference might bend established MCU rules, it fits Wonder Man’s meta, Hollywood-obsessed heart. All eight episodes are now streaming on Disney+.
