Wonder Man is one of the best things Marvel has released in a while, and those who haven't watched it with a Disney+ subscription are missing out. Part of that is thanks to Yahya Abdul Mateen II, who recently revealed he wouldn't take the role as Simon Williams without speaking to Marvel's Kevin Feige first.
The actor spoke about the conversation during an appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, and how he insisted on speaking to Kevin Feige before accepting the role as the MCU hero. It may sound silly to think about, given the mass acclaim for the series and excitement for Season 2, but the Watchmen vet wanted assurance from Feige that this was THE MCU role he should be invested in, as opposed to other potential options. As he put it:
This sounds like a great opportunity, but I only get one Marvel dollar to spend. And I want to make sure that I spend it well. So, if this isn't the time for me to say yes, let me know because I will sit to the side and wait until it makes sense.
Yahya Abdul Mateen II wanted to make sure he was getting a quality role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and I don't blame him. Even for as long as the comic book giant'smovie universe has been around, there are still plenty of Marvel heroes that need to make big-screen debuts. I, too, would be skeptical about taking on a character like Wonder Man, especially if the chance was available to possibly play one of the X-Men in the future.
Article continues belowKevin Feige indeed took time from his busy schedule to meet with the actor and assure him that working on Wonder Man was the right call. Abdul Mateen II just gave an overview of the conversation:
He let me know that it'll be a dollar well spent. It was just really, really, fantastic, but I did [ask to talk to him]. It was very important for me to make it count.
In the end, I'm sure the actor has no regrets, considering how Wonder Man pulled in an audience who may have been suffering from Marvel fatigue. It also created one of the best bromances of the MCU we've seen yet, in Simon teaming up with disgraced actor Trevor Slattery. I'm excited to see how or if these two feature into the greater story being told in the universe.
It does have me wondering if Simon Williams factors into Avengers Doomsday at all, with conflicting information out there about whether he's involved. Simon has some devastating power that he has trouble controlling, and I have to think heroes or villains would love to exploit that to turn the tables in a big super showdown.
We'll just have to wait for more updates, keeping our fingers crossed that we'll see more of Trevor and Simon in upcoming Marvel movies and shows before Wonder Man Season 2 comes out. All this talk about the series has me eager to watch it again, so it's a good thing it's so bingeable.
