Marvel Gets Meta with Surreal Tease of Upcoming Disney+ Series ‘Wonder Man’

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Marvel is cleverly promoting its upcoming series, Wonder Man, with a unique marketing approach that plays into the show’s Hollywood setting. They’ve recently featured Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz in a new ad. As Wonder Man is about the world of filmmaking and superheroes, Marvel is creating promotional material as if it exists within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. For example, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, who plays Simon Williams / Wonder Man, appeared in character at the premiere of The Fantastic Four: First Steps. And, Discussing Film shared what seemed like a real interview with the show’s fictional director, Von Korvak, played by Zlatko Burić.

‘Wonder Man’s Marketing is One of Marvel’s Best

Trevor Slattery’s story is one of the most unique in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He began as a way to explain the over-the-top portrayal of the Mandarin in Iron Man 3. However, the short film All Hail The King later revealed that a genuine Mandarin, the leader of the Ten Rings organization, was furious about Slattery using his name. This storyline wasn’t revisited for seven years, until Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021) showed that Wenwu (Tony Leung), the inspiration for the Mandarin’s image, had actually kidnapped and imprisoned Slattery. Slattery eventually escaped with Shang-Chi’s help and has now returned to Hollywood to pursue his acting career, where he’s become friends with Simon Williams.

Marvel Studios has hired Ben Mankiewicz for a commercial promoting their upcoming series, Wonder Man, and this is noteworthy because of his family’s Hollywood legacy. He comes from a famous filmmaking family – his grandfather was the renowned screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz (of Citizen Kane fame), and his cousin, Tom Mankiewicz, wrote the screenplay for Superman: The Movie. Ben Mankiewicz has been a familiar face at Turner Classic Movies since 2003, becoming their main host after Robert Osborn passed away in 2017. He’s also a popular podcaster, hosting The Plot Thickens and Talking Pictures (both produced by TCM), and he co-founded the progressive news channel, The Young Turks.

The new Marvel series, Wonder Man, is scheduled to premiere on Disney+ on January 27, 2026, and will launch a big year of new films and shows from Marvel Studios. Some early viewers are already calling it one of Marvel’s greatest shows, though it’s hard to be sure until it’s released. However, the marketing for the series is already considered to be among the best in the franchise.

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2025-12-11 20:47