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'Shang-Chi' director Destin Daniel Cretton to tackle 'Wonder Man' MCU series at Disney+
Brooklyn Nine-Nine vet Andrew Guest will step into the role of head writer.
DC and Diana Prince better watch their backs! Marvel has entered development on its own Wonder-ful property. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings director and co-writer Destin Daniel Cretton is hard at work on an MCU series centered around the character of Simon Williams, aka Wonder Man.
Cretton — who inked an overall production deal with Marvel Studios last year — will serve as an executive producer and possibly direct several installments, while Andrew Guest (a veteran of fan favorite half-hour comedies like Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Community) steps into the role of head writer. No other details are currently known about the Disney+ project, which represents yet another notch in the MCU's ever-expanding belt of small screen adventures that will eventually tie into the studio's blockbuster films.
Created by the inimitable duo of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in the early 1960s, Simon Williams/Wonder Man made his print debut in the pages of Avengers #9.
The brilliant son of a weapons magnate, Simon was sent to prison as the result of an embezzlement scheme he hoped would save the family business from falling behind competitors like Stark Industries. Wanting to get even with Iron Man and the Avengers — whom he perceived as the root of his troubles — Williams agreed to undergo an experiment conducted by none other than Baron Zemo. The procedure granted Simon energy-based abilities (and the Wonder Man moniker), which he then used in an attempt to defeat Earth's Mightiest Heroes. He ended up having a change of heart and sacrificed himself, though his consciousness was scanned for the purpose of future study. This bran scan later served as the basis for Ultron's construction of Vision. When he was ultimately resurrected, Wonder Man joined the Avengers as a full-fledged hero.
Upon its theatrical bow last September, Shang-Chi garnered near-universal critical acclaim (it holds a fresh 91 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes) and over $430 million wolrdwide. While not in the same financial league of previous Marvel titles released before 2020, the global ticket sales were enough to reinvigorate a box office subdued by the COVID-19 pandemic. A sequel was green-lit several months later, with Cretton signing on to both write and direct. It was also reported that the filmmaker was working on a top-secret Disney+ series, which some fans theorized might be a spinoff dedicated to Shang-Chi's sister, Xialing (Meng'er Zhang), who assumed control of the Ten Rings.
Marvel Studios' most recent foray into the world of television is Ms. Marvel, currently in the midst of releasing new episodes. She-Hulk: Attorney at Law premieres in August.
Looking for more sci-fi? The entire run of SYFY’s Battlestar Galactica is streaming now on Peacock, along with the second season of Resident Alien, which returns to SYFY this fall with new episodes.
