Marvel’s Most Anticipated New Series Just Got Shut Down
WGA strikers reportedly shut down shooting on filming of Wonder Man at a location in New York City.
The Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike has been effective in organizing picket line disruptions for studios including Warner Bros and Fox. Now, the strike is impacting the production of an upcoming Marvel series. According to a Deadline report, as part of The WGA strike, a group of writers and producers was able to stall production on what is believed to be the production site of Marvel’s Wonder Man series.
Picketers were able to disrupt the shooting at a location on N. Last Palmas Avenue on the third day of the WGA strike. Other organized picket lines and actions occurred at 10 separate locations in LA and a number of others in New York City including Silvercup Studios and Seret Studios.
Marvel’s Wonder Man is a Disney+ series within the Marvel Cinematic Universe that features the titular hero. First appearing in The Avengers comic book, he was introduced as a supervillain who fought against the Avengers before changing sides and joining the team.
Wonder Man, also known as Simon Williams — the son of businessman and Stark Industries competitor Sanford Williams — gains ion-based superpowers due to chemical and radiation treatments. Before joining the Avengers, he worked with Baron Zemo, who we’ve seen portrayed by Daniel Brühl multiple times in the MCU.
Although he hasn’t yet made any MCU appearances, Wonder Man is an integral part of the Avengers team in the comic book series. Not only does he have a strong friendship with fellow Avenger and X-Man Beast, but he also develops a romantic relationship with Scarlet Witch.
Showrunners have cast Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Wonder Man, and many fans are happy because of the actor’s pedigree and experience in superhero projects like his role as Black Manta in Aquaman, and his Emmy Award-winning performance as Doctor Manhattan in the HBO series Watchmen. He is known for a variety of roles including in The Trial of the Chicago 7, The Matrix Resurrections, The Get Down, The Handmaid’s Tale, and Black Mirror. He’s also had multiple collaborations with director Jordan Peele, including the horror films Us and Candyman.
Despite the fact that the remainder of the cast of Wonder Man has not been announced, fans have been informed that Destin Daniel Cretton and Andrew Guest will be involved. The series is rumored to be a satire of Hollywood, which would fall in line with the Los Angeles filming location.
Although filming of Marvel’s Wonder Man may have been interrupted briefly, there are no signs that Marvel has decided to pull the plug on the series. The X-Men’s impending arrival in the MCU and Scarlet Witch’s major fallout after the events of Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness will undoubtedly have huge ramifications within the MCU. Given his close ties to one of the X-Men’s prominent characters and one of the universe’s most powerful magic wielders, Wonder Man could have a large role to play in the MCU moving forward.
