Wonder Man
In recent days there has been a lot of talk about the new Marvel series dedicated to Wonder Man: although there are no official confirmations yet, the new production should enter the category of the serial expansion of the Marvel Cinematic Universe on Disney +. The unofficial news is taking on even more substance as it seems that the protagonist has been identified: it would in fact be Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, known for the role of Black Manta in the two Aquaman films or even for his enigmatic part in the Hbo Watchmen series, to step into the role of the hero, thus passing from the DC Comics world to the Marvel one. But especially those who follow these superhero stories only on screen and not in comics, will hardly have heard of Wonder Man, which obviously has nothing to do with Wonder Woman.Created by Stan Lee with Don Heck and Jack Kirby, first appeared in the Avengers comics, published in October 1964. Simon Williams - this is his real name - has a rather complicated story: he appears for the first time as a villain but dies in the same number, but the Avengers themselves, it turns out later, have saved his conscience in a computer (this fact will be fundamental among other things for the creation, at least in comics, of Vision); later he is resurrected several times (once also by Kang, the super-villain who will be central to these new phases of the MCU) and then returns definitively in 1977 as a superhero who enters in all respects in the Avengers. Initially skinny and very studious, Williams is the son of an ammunition magnate sent into bankruptcy by the Stark Industries of Iron-Man: jailed for tax fraud, he accepts the proposal of Baron Zemo to infiltrate the Avengers after receiving superhuman strength thanks to a shower of ions. As if that weren't enough, he is also a very talented actor and stuntman.
The initial troubled story is due precisely to a copyright conflict, as told by Stan Lee himself in 1978: “Years ago we created Wonder Man and DC Comics sued us because they had Wonder Woman. So I said ok, let's put it aside. And then suddenly they did Power Girl [after Marvel introduced Power Man]. What an injustice! ". Once the difficulties related to the naming have been dissolved, Wonder Man has therefore returned several times in Marvel publications, still remaining one of the minor characters of the saga. His introduction now in the serial universe would, however, be functional for his relations with Zemo (given the 'last time in Falcon and the Winter Soldier), Vision and Scarlet Witch and Kang, which could be fundamental for the construction of the next chapters of the saga.