Who Is Simon Williams? The MCU"s Wonder Man Powers & Marvel Comics History Explained

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The Marvel Cinematic Universe received a new jolt of energy with the reveal of their upcoming TV slate, which included the first look at Wonder Man, a character many audiences are less familiar with. While the Marvel series of movies has done a great job making marquee names out of less well known characters, the television side of things has begun to explore even lesser-known figures. The upcoming Wonder Man is perhaps the least well-known character they"ve adapted yet in years, leading to speculation about his series.
Everything known about Wonder Man suggests that the series will be a departure for Marvel, and will tell a story that is not too closely linked to the rest of the MCU. While Wonder Man has been connected to the Avengers team in many ways throughout the years, the series appears to be planned for Marvel"s Spotlight banner, and will not be directly linked to the larger plot of the universe. Though Wonder Man will still feel somewhat connected, due to Ben Kingsley"s return as Trevor Slattery, this distance can allow the hero"s debut to showcase him as a different kind of Marvel character.
Simon Williams' Marvel Comics History Explained Wonder Man Debuted In 1964 In Avengers #9 Close Simon Williams began as an antagonist in Marvel Comics; after the weapons manufacturing company he inherited from his father failed to compete with Stark Industries, Williams turned to embezzlement and became caught up in the underworld of crime. He was transformed by Baron Zemo into Wonder Man, a powerful force, to fight against the Avengers. Created by Stan Lee, Don Heck, and Jack Kirby, the character appeared sparingly in the comics, first in 1964 as an Avengers antagonist, where he seemed to die. This was later retconned, and complex choices were made concerning the character"s significant fear of death.
In the years that followed, Simon was used by other villains, including Kang the Conqueror, before eventually being brought onto the Avengers team. Following this allegiance to the Avengers, Simon decided to leave and pursue a career in Hollywood as an actor. This worked to an extent, although he found more success as a stuntman. The character then became a founder of the West Coast Avengers, and moved in and out of relationships with different characters, including a complex romantic one with the Scarlet Witch.

Related Wonder Man Show Cast & Marvel Character Guide Shang-Chi director Dustin Daniel Cretton is returning for Marvel Studios" Wonder Man Disney+ series, bringing several new faces into the MCU with him.
Simon Williams had a strange start in comics, with Stan Lee mentioning that DC threatened legal action for the character being too close in name to their own Wonder Woman. While this kept Wonder Man out of the pages for some time, this tension eventually dissolved, and Simon was able to be used in various stories from the 1970s on. Most recently, the character began a charitable organization called Second Chances Foundation funded by his money from Hollywood, and divides his time between there and the Avengers team.
Wonder Man's Powers Explained Simon Williams Has Some Standard And Some Unusual Powers Close Wonder Man is an enormous and powerful force in the comics. His radiation treatments provided by Baron Zemo - imbued with ionic energy - have given the character a range of powers. He has super strength, speed, durability, stamina and reflexes, among other heightened natural skills. His abilities are on par with many of the strongest Avengers, with the comics often comparing his power levels to someone like Thor. With even this base set, the character could fare well against any Avengers threat, although he has other powers, too.
Wonder Man has also had some stranger, harder-to-define ionic powers in the comics through the years, and many of these have tended to be used inconsistently. He is often able to change states between energy and a solid human mass, and can use his powers of energy to propel himself in flight. These energy powers appear to be fairly far-reaching, although the full extent of how they can be used seems to change with time.
Simon Williams Comics Changes Explained Some Comics Canon Will Have To Be Changed Close Details on how the MCU"s Wonder Man is changed from the comics are few, as there is not yet much known about the character"s story in his titular series. However, it seems likely that Simon’s becoming powered by Baron Zemo and going on to fight Iron Man and the Avengers will not play a major part in this story and will likely be altered. Instead, if this Simon Williams is given a dark past, it will likely be with much smaller stakes, and a much smaller criminal career behind him.
The most significant details and relationships from the comics that are unlikely to exist in the series will be by necessity. While Stark"s business may be an issue for Simon and his family, there is no Tony Stark in the universe for Simon to have personal tension with. The same for Scarlet Witch, a romantic partner of his in the comics, who is dead in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Even his friendship with Beast is unlikely to play a prominent role, as the main universe of the franchise doesn"t appear to have a version of the character yet.
Why Wonder Man Is Getting An MCU TV Show Destin Daniel Cretton Was Instrumental In Getting The Series Made Close Full details of Wonder Man in the MCU have been scarce, and justification for his existence in the universe appears to follow the same trend. Speaking with The Official Marvel Podcast, Kevin Feige remarked: "We have a show coming up that we’ve talked very little about called Wonder Man, that I won’t talk about much today either except to say it’s extremely different than what we’ve done before.” Following this, it appears that Marvel is looking to do something unusual and unexpected with the character.
Little else has been said about the show, but it appears to have been made possible in no small part by the efforts of Destin Daniel Cretton, the director of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and the upcoming currently untitled Spider-Man 4. Cretton clearly has a love of many Marvel properties and created the series alongside Andrew Guest. It appears that there is much excitement for and ambition behind the show that will hopefully be seen in the final product.
How The Wonder Man TV Show Fits Into The MCU Wonder Man Will Be Released Under Marvel's Spotlight Banner Close Where Wonder Man fits into the MCU is currently a complex matter. The show features Ben Kingsley"s Marvel return as Trevor Slattery, which immediately creates a link to both Iron Man 3 and Shang-Chi, and appears to be set in Los Angeles, creating a link to She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. However, the show is also under the Marvel Spotlight banner, suggesting that it will not be essential viewing for the larger MCU story. With this in mind, there may be little connection between the series and the larger universe.
More likely, the show will probably follow in the path of She-Hulk in exploring how an industry operates in a world where superpowers are real. This will likely see minor Marvel characters appearing who also have links to Hollywood and cinema. The series may also work toward setting up a West Coast Avengers spinoff, where characters like Hawkeye could reasonably appear. While not a significant story in the Marvel Universe, Wonder Man could feature many connections and characters in its run, although it is unlikely to link significantly to the Multiverse Saga.
Wonder Man, played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, will certainly embody the charisma and depth of the comic book character when his series is released in December 2025. However, there remains much to be seen about what the series will be, and where the character may go in the universe. An unusual project with clearly a great deal of heart behind it, Wonder Man promises to be an original and compelling Marvel series that may be like nothing audiences have yet seen from the studio.

Wonder Man Released on Disney+ as a limited series, Marvel Studios' Wonder Man introduces the titular Avengers hero in the MCU. Starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as the actor-turned-superhero Simon Williams, Wonder Man also features Ben Kingsley, who reprises his Iron Man 3 and Shang-Chi role as the eccentric thespian Trevor Slattery.
Cast Yahya Abdul-Mateen II , Ben Kingsley , Demetrius Grosse , Ed Harris Seasons 1 Upcoming MCU Movies