Many were surprised by the cancellation of the Disney+ Marvel series “Wonder Man” after just one season, despite the second season having received a green light in March.
The move was further puzzling because the series received strong reviews, holding a 91% Rotten Tomatoes score, while star Yahya Abdul-Mateen II earned an Emmy nomination for his lead performance.
No surprise, Abdul-Mateen is pissed. He’s now giving his first concrete thoughts on the series’ axing and not mincing words either. The story goes that he was told by Disney that low viewership caused the show’s demise, but he’s now questioning that reasoning, and demanding to see the data.
“I was told that it had something to do with the viewership numbers,” Abdul-Mateen told Vanity Fair. “I wasn’t told what those numbers were, but ultimately, for whatever reason it was, I think they decided that it didn’t make sense for business, and that’s the decision that we live with and we keep on marching forward.”
Disney never officially released the viewership numbers, but “Wonder Man” only briefly appeared on Nielsen’s streaming rankings before quickly dropping out. Disney is now saying the numbers were low. Abdul-Mateen’s response is that he did not see any hard data to substantiate that claim and wants the details scrutinized.
Our show does deserve some study and some real, hard information about why a show like this did not continue forward, because it had all of the ingredients that one would want in a show.”
This lack of clarity is now getting Abdul-Mateen to theorize about a pattern he sees surrounding Marvel’s Black-led projects, including the online discourse surrounding the shelving of two Black-led superhero projects, the other being Mahershala Ali’s “Blade.” Take the following quote from the actor whichever way you will:
I think the optics are obvious. If I’m a big business, if I’m Disney, if I’m Marvel, I don’t want to be attached to these optics. So it should be a priority to change that narrative and to do what it takes to responsibly change that narrative with quality stories, with quality resources.
“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.
We might never really know why the show got canned, but Abdul-Mateen is now pouring fuel on the fire, and demanding some kind of accountability.
Cretton, who is directing “Naruto,” also has a “Shang-Chi” sequel in development. After dropping out of “Avengers: Kang Dynasty,” he was hired to direct “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.”