Wonder-Man dropped quietly to little fanfare after the MCU’s run on Disney+ had seemingly run its course. The projects were dipping in quality, and people were beginning to tune out. But that show, which starred Yahya Abdul-Mateen and Ben Kingsley, was really well-received. It quickly got the green light for a second season from showrunner and Shang-Chi and Spider-Man: Brand New Day director Destin Daniel Cretton.
Just six months later, though, that’s all gone up in smoke. Marvel just announced today that the show would not be getting a second season. It is officially cancelled, surprisingly so. In the wake of that, several theories as to what’s going on have surfaced, with one in particular making the most sense.
Wonder-Man‘s Cancellation Might Be Related to Another Movie
Wonder-Man is not getting that second season it was initially promised. Despite positive reactions from most, the show is not going to continue, multiple outlets are reporting. This is a surprise, and it’s lit the internet ablaze with theories and ideas.
One such idea that is popping up is that Marvel gave Destin Daniel Cretton, who helped create the show, an ultimatum. He could either make this or make Shang-Chi 2. While it’s a little far-fetched to think Marvel didn’t want someone working on multiple projects and forced his hand, it is plausible that they didn’t want him doing another season so he could do more movies.
People really liked Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. People are, so far, loving Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Those, as well as the television show, are from Cretton, who is proving to be a wonderful addition to the MCU’s lexicon of directors.
People are clamoring for Marvel to hand him (and Ryan Coogler) the keys to the kingdom, and it’s for good reason. So far, he really hasn’t missed when it comes to MCU projects. That could be Marvel’s eventual plan, and with the early success of Brand New Day, they may prefer Cretton keep pumping out the more profitable movies, specifically Shang-Chi and Spider-Man.
Movies are always bigger and usually bring in a whole lot more money than TV shows, so it wouldn’t be a surprise. Spider-Man is a guaranteed money-maker, and fans have been clamoring for a sequel to Shang-Chi for years. If Marvel really does want to focus on those things, it wouldn’t be remotely surprising.
That said, Wonder-Man was seen as a major breath of fresh air. After a long time of mediocre and poorly received projects on Disney+, Wonder-Man was beloved. It got Emmy nominations. Currently, Yahya Abdul-Mateen is nominated for his role in the show. It was, by most metrics, a huge success, and it seemed like Marvel might’ve been turning the corner.
It is similar to the critical success of The Fantastic Four and Thunderbolts. While both had down box office returns, they were welcome returns to high Rotten Tomatoes scores and positive reactions from almost everyone. They were both well-received after a largely tough slate of movies.
So imagine if those projects had their futures cancelled out of nowhere. Both movies lead into Avengers: Doomsday, so this is almost as if the writers had to retcon that and remove Reed Richards, Bucky, Yelena, Sentry, Johnny Storm, and others from Doomsday. It would be a surprising reversal, which the cancellation of Wonder-Man Season 2 certainly is.
Whatever the case may be, the show is not getting a second season. If news eventually breaks that Destin Daniel Cretton is going to do more Shang-Chi, perhaps fans will accept that Season 2 was just the tradeoff for getting another really good movie in the MCU.
