By Janine Tan, First Year, Law
Growing up, my dad loved Marvel and raised us the same. We had the great pleasure of living through its ‘golden age’, when the Iron Man, Captain America, and Avengers franchises were all in full swing. Since then, it’s been a really awful time to be a Marvel fan.
It’s hard to defend the undeniable plummet in quality. What was once an innovative TV arm of Disney+ has now soured into another platform to churn out quantity over quality. Of course, there have been some beautiful stories — think Loki (2021-2023), WandaVision (2021), and X-Men ‘97 (2024-). But these emerged amidst the rubble of some wildly review-bombed ones — like She-Hulk (2022) and Secret Invasion (2023). Unfortunately, this conveyor belt of disposable characters has beaten us senseless (and cent-less) into superhero fatigue.
But where there’s life, there’s hope — and it comes in the form of Wonder Man. Although it was buried under some tragic under-promotion, the series debuted with a triumphant 90% critics and audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. It follows Simon Williams (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), an actor trying to get his big break in Hollywood while hiding his forbidden superpowers.
That plot synopsis isn’t trying to pull a wool over anyone’s eyes. It truly is just a simple story. That, alone, is out of character for Marvel. For the last five years, their formula has been very high-stakes — [a hero] must rise to the occasion to protect humanity from [a villain]. So why, in stepping away from spectacle, does the MCU find redemption in something so simple?
My favourite thing about Wonder Man is how focused it is. By keeping the storyline pared back, the series has space to fully flesh out Simon as a character. We mostly stay in the world of his ordinary struggles. Very refreshingly, this steers clear of Marvel’s usual Achilles’ heel of complex, interconnected lore.
What’s particularly interesting is how the show tackles superpowers. And it’s nothing to scoff at — films like The Fantastic 4: First Steps (2025) struggle with this, because how do you humanise an elevated non-human?
But Wonder Man uses superpowers solely as a metaphor for Simon’s intense anxiety. Stress mounts and mounts on him across episodes, just to crescendo in the most epic, supernatural portrayals of losing control. What we end up with is an empathy for Simon as a human first, above all else.
This feeling of common humanity from watching Wonder Man was such a hit of nostalgia. It mirrors the pioneering Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), which told the origin story of how Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) was chosen to become a superhero. It was because, and it’s an unforgettable quote, he was ‘not a perfect soldier, but a good man’. That is the sentiment that Wonder Man revives in superhero cinema — what makes someone super is their heart and not their powers.
It’s no surprise, then, that it’s been hailed ‘one of the MCU’s best shows yet’. Though I love it, I don’t quite agree that Wonder Man is Marvel’s silver bullet. It still leaves you hungry for some more thoughtful directorial choices — whether in the dialogue which reads superficial at times, or the lackluster visual elements like camerawork. But it’s different and it’s honest and it’s sweet. That’s kind of all we want back in our shows again.
It’s really exciting, then, that this is a promising trend. Wonder Man arrives alongside two other projects that move Marvel away from its empty spectacle-first attitude. Last year, Daredevil: Born Again (2025-) gave us a ‘visionary’ revival of Daredevil (2015-2018), bringing back the original show’s pensive manifesto on morality. And in a few months, the much anticipated Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026) will also show us a more humble ‘street-level story’, shifting away from big, multiverse-sized ones.
Felix Glanville
So, it looks like we’re in for an era of superheroes that feels simple and human again. And I don’t want to jinx it — but for the first time in years, it just feels like a good time to be a Marvel fan. Go see for yourself. The genuine tale of Wonder Man might just be the thing to make you feel like Marvel is, *we say with cautious optimism*, soooo back.
Featured Image: Instagram @kennyjamez
Did you think Wonder Man signifies a departure from the Marvel fatigue?
