In an article posted to TVLine.com today, it was reported that Demetrius Grosse will join the Disney+ series Wonder Man. Grosse will be playing Eric Williams. Eric, the brother of Simon Williams (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), aka Wonder Man. Meanwhile, Eric is also known as the supervillain the Grim Reaper.

So far, very little is known about the live-action Wonder Man series. It is being developed by Destin Daniel Cretton (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) and writer-producer Andrew Guest (Community).

Wonder Man

Reportedly, Ben Kingsley will be reprising the role of Trevor Slattery for the Wonder Man series. This character first appeared in 2013’s Iron Man 3. In the marketing for that movie, Kingsley was presented as playing the Mandarin. However, IM3 revealed that the Mandarin was simply a role the actor Slattery had agreed to play. Subsequently, in the 2014 short “All Hail the King,” Slattery was pulled out of prison by agents of the real Mandarin.

Ben Kingsley as Trevor Slatterly in Shang-Chi.

All the world’s a stage, right?

In 2021’s Shang-Chi, we met the real Mandarin, A.K.A. Xu Wenwu (Tony Leung Chiu-wai). Furthermore, we learned that Slattery had been imprisoned in Wenwu’s basement. According to Slattery, he was spared by Wenwu thanks to his legendary acting talent. It is this acting talent that is most likely to explain Slattery’s presence in Wonder Man. In the panels of Marvel Comics, Simon Williams isn’t just a superhero. He’s also a big-time movie star.

RELATED: Destin Daniel Cretton to write and direct Shang-Chi sequel.

Wonder Man has another important role to play in the comics. His brainwaves were the basis for the synthezoid The Vision. This helps explain why the Grim Reaper had a critical appearance in 2018’s Vision by Tom King, Gabriel Hernandez Walta, Michael Walsh, Jordie Bellaire, and Clayton Cowles. This title heavily inspired the Disney+ series WandaVision. However, the origins of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Vision in 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron took place well before Simon Williams was introduced.

What do you think of the newest addition to Wonder Man? Let us know what you think!

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Avery Kaplan
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