Marvel is moving beyond formulaic, high-stakes superhero action plots. The studio is now experimenting by blending different genres, with Wonder Man serving as a strong example of this shift. In a recent interview, Shang-Chi director Destin Daniel Cretton revealed how he got involved in the Marvel project.
“Joke pitch” turned into full-fledged project, says Destin Daniel Cretton
During a Deadline Contenders TV panel, the executive producer of Wonder Man revealed that the germination of the eight-part series, currently streaming on Disney+, came from a “joke pitch.” While directing Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Cretton was fascinated by Sir Ben Kingsley’s character, Trevor Slattery, who became the court jester of the Ten Rings organization that was holding him captive following the events of Iron Man 3 and All Hail the King, bringing much-needed entertainment with his Shakespearean monologues.
To further embed this character into the MCU, Cretton jokingly pitched “Trevor Goes to Hollywood,” a potential spinoff exploring Trevor navigating the film industry.
“The genesis of the idea actually sprouted when we were on the set of Shang-Chi, and I just loved working with Sir Ben [Kingsley], and I really loved his character… So I did a joke pitch to my producer, Jonathan Schwartz, and said, ‘We should do Trevor Goes To Hollywood,’” Cretton said.
Around the same time, Marvel Studios was also working on a Wonder Man series—a show about a superhero who is also an actor/stuntman in Hollywood—and it presented a natural opportunity to overlap superhero storytelling with entertainment industry satire, eventually evolving into a serious project.
Keeping the superhero angle intact with Yahya Abdul-Mateen II playing the lead, Marvel Studios also created space to explore Trevor’s comedy while defining the MCU-Hollywood concept.
“Then when we were really pitching the show, we found out that Wonder Man was also being developed around what would a show be like in the MC Hollywood. Those two ideas collided, and that’s when Andrew [Guest] came in and helped us create the real vibe of the show,” he further added.
Andrew Guest, the head writer, helped shape the show’s satirical and comedic tone and was brought in by Cretton to turn the initial idea into a fully realized series.
Did you watch the first season of Wonder Man on Disney+? Did you like it? Let us know in the comment section below
