(L-R) Simon Williams/Wonder Man (Yahya Adbul-Mateen II) and Trevor Slattery (Sir Ben Kingsley) in Marvel Television's 'Wonder Man.' Suzanne Tenner/Marvel Television Logo text Marvel‘s Wonder Man star Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is speaking out after the Disney+ series was un-renewed.
The streamer picked up the series for a second season in March before reversing course and canceling the renewal on Thursday. The decision came as a surprise after Wonder Man had a solid debut on Disney+ in late January, drawing 618 million minutes of viewing time during its premiere week, according to Nielsen’s streaming ratings. While the show fell out of the top 10 original streaming titles after that, it continued to earn positive reviews from critics and audiences. Abdul-Mateen also received an Emmy nomination for his performance of the title character.
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Following the cancellation, Abdul-Mateen took to Instagram to share his reaction.
“Word just dropped that Wonder Man won’t be coming back,” he wrote in the caption. “That’s life, right? Everything will shake out.”
The Candyman actor continued, “I wanted to say thank you to everybody who WATCHED the show, ENJOYED the show, and SHARED that they enjoyed the show in some way or other. The show worked. And that’s my favorite thing about it. I could see it on the faces of the Youtube Reactors (because I watched along with y’all this time. Shoutout to y’all) and I can see in the messages I get saying how the show reminded some of you not to give up, and I feel it in the genuine love shared when I bump into some of you all during the day. So, thinking of you all today. I’m glad we got to be a part of something cool.”
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He concluded his post: “Thank you for watching… And uhh… See you at the EMMYS.”
Abdul-Mateen is nominated for best actor in a comedy series alongside Steve Carell (Rooster), Matthew Rhys (Widow’s Bay), Jason Segel (Shrinking) and Martin Short (Only Murders in the Building).
Wonder Man co-creators Destin Daniel Cretton (Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) and Andrew Guest had also been set to return for a second season. They executive produce alongside Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Jonathan Schwartz and Brad Winderbaum, head of Marvel Television and Marvel Animation. Guest also served as showrunner, while Cretton directed several episodes.
Ben Kingsley, X Mayo, Demetrius Grosse, Zlatko Burić, Arian Moayed, Olivia Thirlby, Dan Donohue and Kameron J. Meadows rounded out the cast.
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