As Marvel reverses its decision to renew Wonder Man for Season 2 on Disney+, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is bidding farewell to the role of reluctantly super-powered actor Simon Williams.
Following news of the show’s cancellation on Thursday, the Emmy-winning actor wrote that he’s “glad we got to be a part of something cool” as he thanked fans for their “genuine love” they’ve shared over the show, which has earned him an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series.
“Word just dropped that Wonder Man won’t be coming back for Season 2,” he wrote on Instagram. “(And if you don’t knowww, now ya knoww!) That’s life, right? Everything will shake out. I wanted to say thank you to everybody who WATCHED the show, ENJOYED the show, and SHARED that they enjoyed the show in some way or other.”
Abdul-Mateen continued, “The show worked. And that’s my favorite thing about it. I could see it on the faces of the Youtube reactors (because I watched along with y’all this time. Shoutout to y’all) and I can see in the messages I get saying how the show reminded some of you not to give up, and I feel it in the genuine love shared when I bump into some of you all during the day. So, thinking of you all today. I’m glad we got to be a part of something cool. Thank you for watching… And uhh… See you at the EMMYS.”
After Marvel initially renewed the Destin Daniel Cretton-Andrew Guest series for Season 2 in March, the studio walked back that decision and canceled the series this week.
Wonder Man follows aspiring actor Simon Williams (Abdul-Mateen), who 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 that legendary director Von Kovak (Zlatko Buric) 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, per the official description.
Season 1 launched with all eight episodes on January 27, bringing in 618M minutes viewed in its opening week, per Nielsen. That put it at No. 8 among streaming originals for the week of Jan. 26-Feb. 1, though the title appeared to skew older with 41% of viewing concentrated in the 35-49 age range — more than any other Top 10 title that week.
