Photo Credit: Marvel Studios
Wonder Man may have garnered stellar reviews upon its release, but a subpar test screening and the infamous writers’ strike of 2023 nearly led to the show being canceled. Andrew Guest, the showrunner of Marvel’s latest TV series, revealed in a recent interview that early viewers did not resonate with the project’s concept. However, instead of scrapping Wonder Man, Marvel Studios backed the miniseries and saved it from getting canceled.
Andrew Guest says Marvel saved Wonder Man after poor test screenings
During a recent podcast appearance, the veteran TV writer and producer noted that he expected Wonder Man to undergo a complete creative overhaul, or even cancellation, after abysmal test screenings.
“Even when we tested the first two episodes, which we did in front of an audience, and it didn’t test all that great because a lot of people were confused by the show,” Andrew Guest remarked on The Watch. “I was like, okay, now they’re going to say, ‘Let’s change it.’”
Nevertheless, Guest revealed that Marvel decided to switch strategies and said, “No, we have to market this differently.” He added, “So what’s amazing to me about this is the enthusiasm is one thing, but the realities of the period in which you were making the show were another.”
Guest then explained that even though Marvel sanctioned Wonder Man during a phase when “they were saying yes to many things,” the show came close to getting canceled on several occasions. “We, by the grace of somebody, story gods, we survived by the skin of our teeth several moments where we almost didn’t survive, I can tell you.”
Another aspect that threatened the show’s existence was the 2023 SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes. At the time, the team had only shot half of the series, which gave way to discussions like, “Is this a thing we want to stick with?”
The Community writer had previously revealed that the strikes even led the Disney-owned studio to consider canceling Wonder Man as a tax write-off, similar to what DC did with the Batgirl movie. Nevertheless, Marvel persisted and decided to stick with the Yahya Abdul-Mateen II-led show, which is currently streaming on Disney+.
