Although I dabbled in comic books a little when I was younger, there are only a few times I caught a comic series from the beginning. One was Moonknight in the late 80s. The Other was Wonder Man in 1991. I remember Wonder Man fondly because it is one of the things I read when I was working at a women's shoe store in a completely dead mall during college. Wonder Man helped me get through some incredibly boring shifts. Well he finally gets his live action debut on Disney+ tonight. Since he is kind of an obscure hero, I thought I'd give a little primer on his character.
Wonder man is the incredibly original super hero name of Simon Williams. Williams was a businessman competing, and losing to, Stark Industries. He made a deal with Baron Zemo to save his company in exchange for Williams helping Zemo to take down the Avengers. As part of the deal, Williams went through an experimental process with ionic energy radiation. he was basically turned into living solid energy. This allowed him superhuman strength, agility, flight, stamina and durability (basically unstoppable). He also does not have to eat, drink or breath in the comic books. So he can survive anywhere.
At first Williams was a villain who spied on and tried to take out the Avengers. But he grew to see them as heroes and sacrificed himself for them. Somehow the energy he was made of reformed and he came back as... the hero Wonder Man. He has been a hero ever since.
When his story was restarted in 1991, Wonder Man is an actor by day and super hero by night... or sometimes vice versa. The comic book is full of situations where Simon Williams finds himself in funny situations because of his job as an actor. He is also a stuntman... which makes sense for an indestructible being. It also includes a little bit of soul searching for a guy who is literally famous 24/7. He's either famous for being a super hero or for being an action hero. While most heroes have a secret identity to hide behind when they need some time, his alter ego is just as popular. he never gets any respite from the paparazzi.
One of the most clever aspects of the story is that Simon Williams plays a super hero... while actually being a super hero. It really sets up a lot of fun story lines. And as you'd expect, it gives him a huge ego that can be another source of humor. When he is part of a team, he's usually the one cracking jokes.
But there is also a ton of action. Considering how powerful he is, they had to bring in some really big baddies for him to face. This includes Goliath, Enchantress, Baron Zemo, Psyk-Out, Graviton, The Kree, and Magus.
I honestly hope this show ends up being a combination of Thor and the Studio. We could use some humor and action right about now.
Did I miss anything? Are you excited for the show?