Photo Credit: Marvel Television
Wonder Man, the upcoming Marvel Television show starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, partially serves as a prequel to another MCU movie.
Marvel’s Wonder Man will premiere on Disney+ this coming January. Created by Destin Daniel Cretton and Andrew Guest, the series will see Abdul-Mateen II play the titular character, while Ben Kingsley also reprises his MCU role as Trevor Slattery.
What MCU movie is Wonder Man partially a prequel to?
Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Kingsley revealed that there will be some scenes in Wonder Man that are set before the events of Iron Man 3; meaning, the show will partially serve as a prequel to the 2013 film directed by Shane Black.
“[This] series does see Trevor before he got the role of Mandarin, and then of course after, so it’s a real biography — it’s a biopic of Trevor in four episodes,” Kingsley said.
In Marvel Studios‘ Iron Man 3, Kingsley’s character is initially believed to be a villain named the Mandarin; however, it’s eventually revealed that he is actually a washed-up actor who was hired to portray the Mandarin. Following a direct-to-video short film titled All Hail the King that was released in 2014, Kingsley then reprised his role in 2021’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, which was directed by Cretton.
“During Shang-Chi, Kevin Feige and [director] Destin [Daniel Cretton] suggested to me the possibility of Trevor reappearing for the fourth time in a TV series,” Kingsley also said. “We didn’t even know the title, and I said, ‘I’d be thrilled.’ I love revisiting Trevor — there are so many layers to him.”
Wonder Man will debut on Disney+ on January 27, 2026. The synopsis for the show reads, “Aspiring Hollywood actor Simon Williams is struggling to get his career off the ground. During a chance meeting with Trevor Slattery, an actor whose biggest roles may be well behind him, Simon learns legendary director Von Kovak is remaking the superhero film Wonder Man. These two actors at opposite ends of their careers doggedly pursue life-changing roles in this film as audiences get a peek behind the curtain of the entertainment industry.”
