Posted in: Disney+, Marvel, Preview, streaming, TV | Tagged: ben kingsley, disney, marvel, preview, Wonder Man
Wonder Man Sees Ben Kingsley Reprising Trevor Slattery Role: Report
Earlier this summer, the news broke that filmmaker Destin Daniel Cretton (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) and writer-producer Andrew Guest (Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Community) were teaming for a live-action take on the longtime Marvel character Wonder Man. With Guest as head writer and Cretton executive producing & possibly directing an episode or more, the project was reported as being still in its early stages, THR reported at the time that "if things crackle, cameras could be rolling in 2023." Well, Variety is reporting exclusively via sources that Ben Kingsley is expected to return to the role of Trevor Slattery for the project. Though how Slattery will factor into the series is still a mystery, the report adds credence to the rumor that Wonder Man will be a Hollywood satire. Kingsley has done an excellent job of telling us Slattery's story, beginning with Iron Man 3, moving onto the short film All Hail the King, and then most recently in the Simu Liu-starring Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
Created by writer Stan Lee and artists Don Heck & Jack Kirby, Wonder Man aka Simon Williams first appeared in The Avengers #9, in October 1964. Originally a supervillain who targeted The Avengers, Wonder Man would end up not just becoming a hero but joining the team he had previously fought. Over the decades, Wonder Man would become a fan-favorite Avengers, in large part for two reasons (though there are many). First, he served as a founding member of the West Coast Avengers, appearing in the four-issue miniseries in 1984 and then as a continuing character over the course of the comic's 102-issue run. But the other reason might also turn into something fans will want to see in the live-action series. To say that readers took to the dynamic between Wonder Man and his fellow Avenger, the Beast aka Dr. Henry "Hank" McCoy, would be a serious understatement. Whether tag-teaming the local nightlife or being each other's best bros, it was a combination that worked (and a combination we're sure viewers will want to see on the screen).