Wonder Man Is Bringing Back A Hated MCU Twist

A brand-new face is joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and while his debut is still a way off, Wonder Man is finally on the horizon. Despite 16 years of the MCU, there are still plenty of heroes and villains from the pages of Marvel Comics who are yet to make their mark. As an important member of the Avengers, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II could have a bright future as Wonder Man.

The first sizzle reel for the MCU’s Disney+ slate in 2025 has given fans a look at Simon Williams, aka Wonder Man. The cast is rounded off by Demetrius Grosse, Lauren Glazier, Ed Harris, Byron Bowers, and Josh Gad. There’s one more major player familiar to the MCU, but with the return of Ben Kingsley, Wonder Man is resurrecting one of the franchise’s most hated twists.

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Trevor Slattery is Back for Wonder Man

Introduced in Shane Black’s Iron Man 3, there was plenty of hype when Ben Kingsley was announced as the Mandarin for the 2013 movie. After the shadowy Ten Rings organization was mentioned in Iron Man and Iron Man 2, they eventually stepped out of the shadows for Iron Man 3, where Kingsley put on his best American accent to portray the terrifying Mandarin. In the end, it was revealed that he was actually playing a washed-up actor called Trevor Slattery.

Kingsley’s ‘Mandarin’ was a cover-up by Guy Pearce’s Aldrich Killian, using the Mandarin as a distraction from Advanced Idea Mechanics’ explosive Extremis experiments. After being briefly incarcerated, Slattery returned for 2021’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and now, is coming back for Wonder Man. Despite only being short, the trailer suggests that Slattery will have a pretty big part to play – seemingly appearing as a comedic sidekick to Abdul-Mateen II’s Williams.

Considering Trevor is a character unique to the MCU like Phil Coulson and Sylvie Laufeydottir, there are no ties between him and Simon Williams in the comics. Still, with Williams leaving behind the life of being an Avenger to become an actor in the comics, many expect Slattery to take on a mentor role for this budding thespian. Rhere’s a sense that Trevor’s redemption arc had been told, or he’d potentially have a cameo in Destin Daniel Cretton Shang-Chi 2, making his appearance in Wonder Man an unusual one. As Cretton is officially locked in for the Shang-Chi sequel, it’s possible that Wonder Man could be used to set up the next chapter.

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Why do Fans Hate Iron Man 3’s Mandarin Twist?

Iron Man 3 faced problems of its own, and long before the underwhelming reveal that forgettable Aldrich Killian was the de facto big bad, there were complaints about Kingsley being cast as the Mandarin. Despite being a renowned Iron Man enemy from the comics, the character has aged poorly due to negative racial stereotypes. Audiences had just about come around to the idea of Black revamping the character as a terrorist leader, only to have the rug pulled from beneath them.

Iron Man 3 frequently appears in listicles as one of the MCU’s ‘worst’ movies, while the Mandarin reveal tops lists as one of its ‘worst’ twists. Although Iron Man 3 performed well at the box office and is held by some as an improvement over 2010’s Iron Man 2, the All Hail the King one-shot tried to retcon the Mandarin reveal by having Slattery intercepted in prison by the ‘real’ Mandarin’s forces. It was definitely a better twist, but by the time it was revisited in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, most had forgotten its importance.

At least Shang-Chi did some good work in turning this around by bringing back Slattery as the comedic captive of Tony Leung’s Xu Wenwu, who was revealed as the actual Mandarin. Opinions were still split on whether there was too much comedy when the cast already had Awkwafina’s Katy as comic relief. The same went for the inclusion of Morris the flying Dijiang, while it’s also unclear how Wonder Man will bring back Slattery. After Shang-Chi helped defeat the Dweller-in-Darkness and Wenwu was killed, Slattery decided to stay behind and care for Morris in Ta Lo. Will Wonder Man go to the expense of returning to Ta Lo to set up Slattery’s time with Williams, will it be a simple case of, “Hey, guess who’s back”, or could we get a Shang-Chi cameo from Simu Liu?

It always felt like Iron Man 3 wasted the acting talents of Kingsley, and while Slattery is a perfectly fine character for the odd bit of comic relief, he’s never going to be a huge part of the MCU. After the disappointment of Mickey Rourke’s Whiplash in Iron Man 2, the franchise fell a long way from the highs of Jeff Bridges’ imposing Obediah Stane. As the Mandarin is arguably Iron Man’s most iconic enemy, the twist has left a bitter taste in many fans’ mouths over a decade later. Audiences only have to look at calls for EA Motive’s Iron Man game to ‘fix’ the MCU’s Mandarin twist to see there’s still a lot of disdain for Black’s choice of villain in Iron Man 3.

With Wonder Man in the comics having ties to Tony Stark, there could be some connective tissue to warrant Slattery’s return, but it feels tenuous at best. Thankfully, Slattery is expected to be little more than a comedic side character in Wonder Man, meaning the series can avoid being tarred with Iron Man 3‘s brush. It’s unclear who the show’s main villain will be, but with Demetrius Grosse being cast as Eric Williams/Grim Reaper, it looks like Simon’s brother will be causing trouble. As for Trevor Slattery, the MCU continues trying to redeem one of Phase Two’s most infamous blunders.

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