Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is swimming after his Aquaman co-star Randall Park. Park appeared as Doctor Steven Shin in DC’s Aquaman, before taking on a larger role in Marvel’s Ant-Man and the Wasp and then WandaVision. He is set to return in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Now Mateen, who portrays the villain Black Manta and returns in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, is now taking center stage as the headliner of Disney+’s upcoming series Wonder Man, which focuses on a struggling actor that gains super powers and embarks on a crimefighting career.
Black Manta is just one of two of Mateen’s DC roles. He won an Emmy Award for his portrayal of Cal Abar/Doctor Manhattan in the HBO Max miniseries Watchmen. That miniseries won 11 Emmys including Outstanding Limited Series, Outstanding Casting, and Outstanding Lead Actress for Regina King who played his wife, Angela Abar/Sister Night.
Among Mateen’s credits are the Netflix series The Get Down, and the films Baywatch, The Greatest Showman, Us, The Trial of the Chicago 7, Candyman, The Matrix: Resurrections, and Ambulance.
What Will Wonder Man Be About?
Wonder Man will be co-created by Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings‘ director Destin Daniel Cretton and Hawkeye co-producer Andrew Guest. Guest serves as head writer and Cretton will executive produce. (Cretton is signed on to return to direct the Shang-Chi sequel and the even higher stakes Avengers: The Kang Dynasty.)
With the show focusing on struggling actors, it has been RUMORED that the series will include Ben Kingsley’s Trevor Slattery and Evan Peters’ Ralph Bohner. Kingsley appeared in Iron Man 3, the short “All Hail the King,” and Shang-Chi. Ralph Bohner popped up in WandaVision as the fake Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver.
In the comics, the character Simon Williams was given super strength and invulnerability to infiltrate the Avengers and dismantle them from within. He died after his first storyline. Williams was resurrected roughly a decade later as a hero and became a steady member of the Avengers.
It’s not clear when Wonder Man will arrive or what it will be about. But based on rumors, it sounds as though this might be another more comedic take on the MCU, like She-Hulk.
Black Manta swims back onto the big screen in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom on December 25, 2023.
