A ChucksConnection TV Series Feature
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II wears optical white high top Converse “Chuck Taylor” All Stars in the series.
Wonder Man
Simon Williams wears optical white high top chucks through most of the series.
Simon Williams wears optical white high top chucks through most of the series.
The only thing more prevalent than superhero media over the past six years has been the talk of “superhero fatigue”. Ever since the release of Avengers: Endgame in 2019, the MCU has been plagued with thinkpieces that continually forecast the end being near. There’s a constant up-and-down nature to this talk with every new project that gets released, and the “down” projects always signal superhero fatigue. It’s gotten so tired, it’s now a metajoke within the MCU that no one likes superheroes anymore. That brings us to the latest Disney+ Marvel miniseries, Wonder Man, an action-comedy that looks at the superhero movie genre from the perspective of Hollywood. The show stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Ben Kingsley, X Mayo, Zlatko Burić, Arian Moayed, Joe Pantoliano, Byron Bowers, and Josh Gad, and was released on January 27th, 2026.
Simon struggles putting together a self-tape.
Simon Williams (Abdul-Mateen) is a struggling actor whose career has been plagued by a major weakness: overthinking everything. When we first meet Simon, he is fired from a small role in the series American Horror Story after delaying production by overthinking his character and making repeated requests for changes. This Achilles Heel has been what has kept his acting career from truly taking off. Well, that and the fact that he has superpowers. You see, in this universe, superpowered individuals are not permitted to work in Hollywood due to the “Doorman Clause”. Having to hide his powers like this has left Simon extremely guarded, so much so that his girlfriend, Vivian, dumps him on the same day. Other than that, though, Simon is leading man material. He’s a cool guy who wears chucks and grew up with an immigrant family in Pacoima. When he is not in his own head, we see those glimpses that make you believe he could be a megastar.
Maybe it is fate, Simon.
Simon meets actor Trevor Slattery (Kingsley), who is most well-known for playing the “Mandarin” as part of a terrorist plot. Trevor informs Simon that he is making a comeback and has an audition for acclaimed director Von Kovak's (Burić) remake of the 1980s superhero film Wonder Man. Wonder Man was THE film that made Simon want to be an actor, so he begs his agent, Janelle Jackson (Mayo), for a chance to audition. She shuts him down due to his firing from AHS and behavior, but Simon gets the audition information from her computer and goes anyway. Simon suffers a panic attack in the bathroom and almost loses control of his powers, but Slattery is able to calm him down. He advises him to give a more natural performance, which greatly helps Simon in the audition. After the pair have drinks and go over their shared love of storytelling, they agree to keep in touch. Slattery is then called by Department of Damage Control (DODC) agent P. Cleary (Moayed) to confirm that he has made contact with Simon, whom the DODC considers unstable and dangerous.
Never go to Joey Pants for help with an audition.
This show is a revelation, but it has nothing to do with the idea of superhero fatigue or its light lampooning of the genre. Superheroes, when at their best, are meant to be human stories. Stories about good vs. evil, the struggle of people to do right, and the conflict that comes with being gifted power are all stories that follow in the same footsteps as classic fables and myths that have always existed in human history. This show shines because it focuses on Simon Williams, the human being. Simon Williams is a man who was inspired to tell stories, who suffers from getting into his own head, and from the loneliness he has always felt. We relate to him because he is a regular guy who wears chucks, and just wants to tell good stories. The show focuses on Trevor Slattery, a man who has incredible talent but has lived a life marred by making the wrong decision, and now stands hoping to rewrite his story to have a happy ending. The focus on these amazing characters and their unlikely friendship highlights the best of these kinds of stories, and it does so with barely any usage of Simon’s incredible powers. Here’s hoping that the MCU leans more into the human stories of the incredible world they have in the future.
Simon is alone in a cattle call of Simon Williams types.
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