What changed with Wonder Man
Earlier in August, Disney and Marvel cancelled Wonder Man on Disney+, reversing a March announcement that had renewed the Marvel series for a second season. The reversal was first reported last week, with Variety indicating that the show's writers had been released to pursue other projects.
The director's response
Wonder Man co-creator Destin Daniel Cretton, speaking to The Wrap, said he does not "fully understand the why" behind the cancellation and described himself as "heartbroken." He co-created the series with Andrew Guest and directed the upcoming Marvel film Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which crossed $1 billion at the box office in six days.
Where the decision sits
Cretton suggested that Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige was not behind the cancellation. "I love that show to death," Cretton said. "If it were up to me, we would be making that show. And I do believe that if — and I know this sounds weird — but if it were up to Kevin, we would be doing that show." Co-creator and showrunner Andrew Guest separately insisted that "there is no movie in the works" and that the cancellation "is not a marketing stunt," attributing the decision to an internal Disney and Marvel call that the show "didn't make sense for them."
The viewership question
Cretton questioned whether viewership was a factor, noting that Disney+ does not share streaming data publicly. "Then we can clearly know if it's a success or not," he said of transparent metrics. Wonder Man debuted in January and earned star Yahya Abdul-Mateen II an Emmy nomination.
What had already been set in motion
According to Guest, contracts had been signed, schedules had been cleared, the writers room was scheduled to start that month, and production was set to begin early the following year before the cancellation. Guest added that no schedule issues involving Cretton, Abdul-Mateen II, or Sir Ben Kingsley were a factor. It has been reported that the characters could return in other Marvel projects.
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