The MCU has truly come a long way over the past 17 years since its inception. Phase 1 offered interconnectedness that wasn’t previously seen in cinema, Phase 2 explored some of the best storylines, and Phase 3 was peak cinema for many fans, ending in the same way it began, with Tony Stark’s iconic “I am Iron Man” line. And then came Phase 4, which was the MCU’s adolescent stage in which it rebelliously experimented with different formats, trying to break the established mold. It was quantity over quality, and it wasn’t good.
Then came Phase Five, or the “hit-or-miss Phase”, which culminated with the fantastic Thunderbolts*, which breathed some new life into the seemingly withering franchise. The arrival of Fantastic Four: The First Steps signals the beginning of Phase Six, and with it, the arrival of the Wonder Man series for Disney+, scheduled to release in December 2025. So, let’s discuss everything there is to know about this classic Marvel hero before his arrival on Disney’s streaming service.
The comic book-loving audiences were first introduced to Wonder Man in the ‘60s, during the Silver Age of comic books, the golden era in terms of quality and creativity, but not the actual Golden Age. Simon Williams, who would later become known as Wonder Man, was first introduced in The Avengers #9 by Stan Lee and Don Heck as a wealthy munitions manufacturer and Tony Stark’s rival. Sadly, he was caught trying to embezzle money from his own company and was incarcerated.
Soon after, Simon was approached by Baron Zemo and the Masters of Evil, who offered Williams a chance to exact vengeance on Tony Stark and Stark Industries. Williams accepted, and Zemo soon began experimenting on Williams, exposing him to ionic energy, which granted Simon superhuman abilities. He gained the standard superhero ability set, including super strength, flight, and invulnerability, which makes him similar to Superman, at least at a surface level.
Zemo, being one of the top scientists in the Nazi party, ensured that his new weapon had a fail-safe, and the very same ionic radiation that empowered Williams and turned him into Wonder Man was also killing him slowly. This ensured Wonder Man’s loyalty to Zemo, as the evil scientist was the only one capable of treating Williams and keeping him alive. Under Zemo’s orders, Wonder Man infiltrated the Avengers, with the mission of luring them into a trap, so that the Masters of Evil could rid themselves of Earth’s mightiest heroes.
However, during his time as a double agent, Williams was moved by the kindness the Avengers showed him, and soon had a change of heart. This led to him betraying the Masters of Evil and even laying down his life to save the Avengers. Sadly, he remained seemingly dead for quite some time, but his legacy lived on in the form of Vision. Yes, Vision from Avengers: Age of Ultron. In the movie, Vision is basically a combination of J.A.R.V.I.S.’s AI, the Mind Store, and Ultron’s programming, uploaded to a synthetic vibranium shell that Ultron originally intended for himself.
In the comics, Ultron creates Vision as his offspring using the body of the original Human Torch (the android appearing in Marvel Comics #1, not Johnny Storm), and Wonder Man’s brain patterns, which is why Williams’ personality and emotions play a big role in shaping Vision’s identity and emotional complexity. This is what leads to a unique psychic bond between Vision and Wonder Man in the comics, and why the fans were ecstatic about Wonder Man’s appearance following Vision’s debut in the MCU.
In a true comic book fashion, Wonder Man wasn’t left for dead for long, and he eventually came back to life in the ‘70s, after which he finally joined the Avengers. He wasn’t a part of that team for long either, as he left the Avengers to pursue his acting career, leading to him becoming a Hollywood stuntman, thanks to his near invulnerability. All of this raises the following question: how will he fit the current MCU, and what will the upcoming show really be about? Sadly, not much is known; Marvel is great at keeping details under tight wraps, and since Tom Holland isn’t attached to the project, the leaks are not likely to happen.
Based on the information derived from online clips, we know that Simon is trying to play a superhero on TV, which aligns with the comic book version of the character. However, since we haven’t seen him with the Avengers in previous releases, this could be a good way to introduce him to the broader MCU audience and lay the foundation for his appearance in future Avengers movies. Whatever the case may be, we’re pretty excited to see Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, a seasoned superhero movie performer, portraying Simon Williams in the upcoming Wonder Man series on Disney+ in December of 2025.
