Many more comic book characters will be appearing on both the big screen and TV screens around the world as Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe comes to a close. One of the most recent casting reports reveals that the star for the title role in Marvel's upcoming Wonder Man series has been cast. According to rumours, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II was chosen to play Simon Williams, also known as Wonder Man, in the series. The actor has experience playing characters from comic books, having been in both DC's Aquaman and Watchmen. As a result of the actor's casting, fans have taken to social media in a frenzy.
With the position now filled, rumours about which of the numerous Wonder Man stories would include him have started. Will he make a cameo in any of the other future projects, or will the Wonder Man series be his first appearance? Wonder Man is a figure with a rich history, and with the upcoming Vision Quest series in late 2023 or early 2024 being officially confirmed, this would be the ideal time to introduce him. After all, he appears in a comic book arc with the same name.
Wonder Man was initially depicted in the comics as a villainous force and an unsuccessful rival to Tony Stark's Stark Industries. He would subsequently be atoned for, though, and go on to work as an actor, stuntman, and even an Avenger. The West Coast Avengers, a new division of the Avengers proposed by The Vision, had Wonder Man as one of its initial members. The membership has undergone significant organisational changes since the group's inception in 1984, and Wonder Man has teamed up with heroes including Tigra, James Rhodes' Iron Man, The Vision, and others. Many of the original cast members have already been mentioned, teased, or at the very least inserted as Easter eggs for die-hard comic book fans. Vision Quest is reportedly the name of the next Disney+ series, raising rumours about the band's prospective live-action debut.
The John Byrne story arc "Vision Quest," which first showed Vision's white body, may be remembered by readers of the West Coast Avengers comics run. The Vision is taken hostage, his memory is erased, and he is given a new body. The new Vision and his other Avengers attacked the Scarlet Witch after learning about the awful fate of his children and the Scarlet Witch's part in it. The Wonder Man's soul/brain patterns that gave the original Vision his "human" characteristics were removed from this version of him. Immortus, a time-traveling, earlier version of Kang, was in charge of everything, directing events to bring the Scarlet Witch closer.
The Building Blocks for Wonder Man's Introduction are in Position
The "human-less" Vision makes his MCU debut by attacking the Scarlet Witch on WandaVision. He was reconstructed by a government organisation, just like his comic book counterpart, but without his "soul." Furthermore, Kang the Conqueror's inclusion in the MCU and his planned appearance in the third and final part of the Ant-Man trilogy lend further support to the theory that Immortus is behind S.W.O.R.D.'s decision to resurrect The Vision and utilise his corpse as a weapon. Immortus being at the centre of the resurrection of White Vision appears to be more than just a theory at this point, especially given that Kang is a major point of the upcoming phase and Avengers: The Kang Dynasty is scheduled for release in 2025.
The consequences of Vision Quest's actions may be much more significant than initially anticipated, leading to the creation of the West Coast Avengers and the introduction of the adored Wonder Man. The planned streaming series with the same name that will adapt the comic book's plot could weave together numerous plotlines and strengthen the connections across the larger MCU. And it stands to reason that Wonder Man himself and the West Coast Avengers will play major roles in the narrative building up to Secret Wars.
