Why Disney canceled Season 2 of 'Wonder Man'
What's the story
Walt Disney Studios has reportedly canceled the second season of Wonder Man, a show that was renewed in March. The decision comes as a surprise since the series had received critical acclaim with a 91% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Despite its initial success, Variety suggests that no writers' room was set up for the upcoming season, and writers have been released to pursue other projects.
Cast reaction
Cast and creators of 'Wonder Man'
The show starred Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Ben Kingsley as Simon Williams and Trevor Slattery, respectively. It also featured X Mayo, Demetrius Grosse, Zlatko Buric, Arian Moayed, and Olivia Thirlby.
The series was created by Destin Daniel Cretton and Andrew Guest.
Abdul-Mateen II took to Instagram to express his disappointment over the cancellation but thanked fans for their support.
"That's life, right? Everything will shake out. I wanted to say thank you to everybody who WATCHED the show," he wrote.
Future appearances
Logline of the show
Despite Wonder Man's cancellation, the characters from the show may still make appearances in other Marvel projects.
The official logline of the series read: "Aspiring Hollywood actor Simon Williams (Abdul-Mateen) is struggling to get his career off the ground."
"During a chance meeting with Trevor Slattery (Kingsley), an actor whose biggest roles may be well behind him, Simon learns legendary director Von Kovak (Buric) is remaking the superhero film 'Wonder Man.'"
Abdul-Mateen even earned an Emmy nod for his act.
Trend shift
Other Marvel shows that were one-off series
The renewal of Wonder Man marked a departure from the trend of Marvel's live-action series on Disney+, which have mostly been one-season shows.
Other such shows include WandaVision, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, Hawkeye, and Moon Knight.
Loki is an exception with two seasons, while WandaVision spinoff Vision Quest is in development.
Marvel is yet to announce any reason behind the development.