"Simon Williams is a struggling actor marooned in that familiar Los Angeles purgatory. Like every other dreamer in town, he's up against industry indifference and too few opportunities, not to mention the risk of overthinking himself into paralysis when he does finally book something. But the protagonist of Wonder Man, played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, has one disadvantage uniquely his own: This being a Marvel joint, the poor guy has superpowers."
"What those powers are matters less than what they cost him, because in this corner of the MCU, thanks to a prior on-set disaster involving another superpowered individual, Hollywood has decided that casting people like Simon simply isn't worth the insurance risk. So Simon must keep his abilities secret, especially when he lands an audition for a remake of Wonder Man, a classic superhero film he's loved since childhood."
"That insurance plays such a material role in shaping Simon's dilemma is a lovely bit of mundanity. It signals a Marvel tale organized not around some cosmic battle between good and evil but around a worldlier intelligence attuned to the banal logistics of living. In Wonder Man, superheroes are shaped by policies as much as origin stories, a small but notable suggestion that a Marvel script might dare to reflect a true political reality."
Simon Williams is a struggling actor marooned in Los Angeles, battling industry indifference, scarce opportunities, and overthinking. Simon also possesses superpowers that make him a liability after a prior on-set disaster prompted Hollywood to treat superpowered performers as insurance risks. Simon must hide his abilities while auditioning for a remake of Wonder Man, a film he reveres. Insurance constraints alone threaten his career and livelihood. Wonder Man foregrounds banal logistics—rent, careers, exes, family tensions—alongside superhero tropes, suggesting that policies and economic realities shape modern heroism as much as origin stories. The MCU’s human texture includes blue-collar consequences and practical obstacles.
Read at Vulture
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