Just a heads up, because you’ll be hearing a lot of bemoaning about this in the coming hours: Marvel series “Wonder Man” has been canceled by Disney+ after just one season, despite recently receiving a greenlight for Season 2.
The move is surprising because the series received strong critical reviews, holds a 91% Rotten Tomatoes score, and star Yahya Abdul-Mateen II earned an Emmy nomination for his lead performance.
Even more confusing is why Disney canceled it after previously renewing it for a second season. It boggles the mind.
While Marvel has not blamed viewership, the show’s streaming performance appears to have been underwhelming. Disney never released official audience numbers, but “Wonder Man” only briefly appeared on Nielsen’s streaming rankings before quickly dropping out.
“Wonder Man” follows struggling actor Simon Williams (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), who—of course—secretly possesses superpowers but is prohibited from using them professionally. As he pursues acting success, Simon forms an unlikely friendship with Trevor Slattery (Ben Kingsley), and the two navigate Hollywood while chasing roles in a remake of the classic “Wonder Man” film.
What does this cancellation say about Marvel Studios’ broader television strategy? From what I’m seeing, the studio is significantly scaling back its live-action Marvel streaming output in favor of fewer productions. That’s basically it in a nutshell.
Paul Greengrass’ "The Uprising," starring Andrew Garfield, opened to $3.2M from 2,068 theaters this weekend. Yikes. The budget hasn’t been disclosed, but is said to be in the $20-$30M range.