WONDER MAN Finale Explained: The Ending That Was, The Ending That Almost Happened, and What Comes Next

Marvel’s Wonder Man wrapped up its first season by going big on emotion, Hollywood, and friendship. What starts as Simon Williams finally achieving his lifelong dream ends with him throwing it all on the line for the one person who truly matters to him.

Now, the stars and creators of the series are opening up about why that finale hit the way it did and how close the show came to ending in a completely different place.

The season closes with Simon landing the lead role in a reboot of Wonder Man, a moment that should feel like total victory. Instead, things get messy fast when Trevor Slattery is forced to reprise his most infamous performance as The Mandarin to save Simon from the Department of Damage Control. The result puts Trevor right back where he started, locked up and paying the price for helping a friend.

Simon doesn’t let that stand. In the final moments of the finale, he storms the DODC Supermax, breaks Trevor out, and the two fly off together as a stunned Agent Cleary looks on.

Director Destin Daniel Cretton told Entertainment Weekly that Simon’s decision was always the emotional destination of the story. The specifics might have shifted, but the heart stayed the same. Showrunner Andrew Guest revealed that there was, at one point, a much stranger and more theatrical idea on the table.

"There was an alternate version where they performed in a black box theater together and levitated off the floor. That's true.

“But essentially we knew it was always about these two narcissists who, for the first time in their lives, put somebody else in front of their own needs. I believe it was Hamlet or something."

Guest went on to explain another discarded version that leaned even harder into Trevor’s theatrical instincts.

"Or no, there was a version of a play that Sir Ben's character Trevor had written that was not very good that he was going to be doing," Guest continued. "And then Simon kind of bails him out and makes it good."

In the end, the team landed on an ending that let both characters grow without losing who they are. Sir Ben Kingsley spoke about why the finale felt so right for Trevor.

"I thought it was delightful in that I've always felt Trevor had within him a kindness and also a regret for missed opportunity. And although he might have thought that his most accomplished gesture was on stage or on camera, in fact, his most consequential gesture was saving a friend, not on camera, not on stage, in real life."

For Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Simon’s arc comes full circle by embracing the very thing he’s been hiding.

"Likewise with Simon. At the beginning, Simon was being selfish. And we end in a way where, in order to save a friend, to do something selfless, he embraces the thing that he was trying to hide that does potentially jeopardize his career.

“He flies and blasts through a roof and says, 'I'm going to do this for friendship. I'm not hiding anything, and actually I'm putting myself on the line to save this friendship.'"

Guest pointed out that even though Simon technically gets everything he’s been chasing, it still doesn’t feel complete.

"Still feels a little empty because he's not sharing it with this person who, throughout the course of the season, we realize means so much to him. He knows he needs to do something, that he won't be fulfilled and feeling okay with himself until he makes the sacrifice."

That emotional groundwork leaves plenty of room for what could come next. Abdul-Mateen II is especially interested in exploring how success changes Simon after the dust settles.

"The other question that I think about when I think about the future of Simon is what happens when he gets a taste of what he wants? Simon's been wanting some of the stardom. I think he's been wanting this type of success for a long time, and then he gets it, and I want to see what that does to him."

He also pointed out a subtle visual beat that says a lot about who Simon really is.

"I want to see what getting a taste of what you've always wanted, what it does to a guy like Simon. I'm curious about that... But what I do love about Simon, which I realized today, is in the beginning we see him in the tiny [trailer] going over his script. And then toward the end, we see him in the big star wagon [trailer] and he's still going over his script. So that tells me that he's going to be all right."

Whether or not a second season happens, Wonder Man ends on a note that feels earned, hopeful, and a little reckless in a fun an great way. All eight episodes of Wonder Man are now streaming on Disney+.