The Only Recap You Need Before Wonder Man

In the "Wonder Man" trailer, fictional filmmaker Von Kovak (Zlatko Burić) preaches about changing the landscape of superhero storytelling, and that's exactly what this story within a story aims to do. One thing's for sure — "Wonder Man" looks set to become one of the most original MCU series to date. Check out the video above for everything you need to know leading into "Wonder Man."

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, who played Black Manta in the "Aquaman" films, stars as actor Simon Williams in this eight-episode miniseries. Simon is vying for the lead role in Kovak's "Wonder Man" film remake, and Ben Kingsley's beloved actor character Trevor Slattery (Ben Kingsley) is also auditioning. Here's the capper: Simon becomes something of an actual Wonder Man, since he possesses superpowers. The question is, does he want to be recognized more as a superhero or a thespian?

There are many reasons to get hyped for "Wonder Man," but one of the biggest is the attachment of Destin Daniel Cretton as the co-creator of the show. Cretton convinced the world of his talents after he co-wrote and directed 2021's "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings." His reward for knocking it out of the park was receiving the coveted gig of directing "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" — a movie that's set to blow you away in 2026. So one can only imagine what he and his collaborators cooked up for "Wonder Man."

2026 is shaping up to be one of the most important years in the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The franchise has been on a downward trajectory since "Avengers: Endgame," largely due to a mixture of superhero fatigue and the COVID-19 pandemic, which changed the film industry forever. Kevin Feige recognized that mistakes had been made and promised that 2025 would be a year of course correction, but all three MCU films released that calendar year – "Captain America: Brave New World," "Thunderbolts*," and "The Fantastic Four: First Steps" — failed to pull in the kind of money that Marvel movies of years gone by made.

It's starting to feel like 2026 will be a make or break year for a franchise that once dominated Hollywood and had studios tripping over themselves to launch their own cinematic universes. That's perhaps why Marvel is breaking out the big guns — "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" and "Avengers: Doomsday" will both hit cineplexes, and, on the TV side of things, there's a second season of "Daredevil: Born Again" and "VisionQuest" to look forward to alongside "Wonder Man." The latter series is under pressure to do well — it's the first MCU project of 2026, and, for better or worse, it will set the tone.

According to Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, "Wonder Man" will chart a new course for the MCU. "We're doing something that, tonally, feels much different than really any other Marvel show, or any other films," he told Empire. Sounds encouraging, doesn't it? Everybody's saying the right things about "Wonder Man," and it's exciting to see how it fits into the MCU timeline, but we'll have to wait until the series debuts on Disney+ on January 27, 2026 to see if it lives up to the hype. Until then, make sure to check out the video above for the only "Wonder Man" recap you need.