And just like that, as soon as Marvel’s Wonder Man has hit Disney+, the first season is over, thanks to a binge release of all eight episodes on the streamer. And while most of the show is a pleasant, sweet buddy comedy between striving actor Simon Williams (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) and former terrorist actor Trevor Slattery (Ben Kingsley), there’s still a ton that goes down in the finale, titled “Yucca Valley.” Looking for an ending explained? Brother, you’ve come to the right place.
To give a little bit a precap before the recap, and spoilers past this point, the show found Simon discovering — thanks to Trevor — that reclusive director Von Kovak (Zlatko Burić) was rebooting his favorite cheesy ’80s movie, Wonder Man. Through a bunch of finagling and mishaps, Simon and Trevor both ended up auditioning for the movie… And nabbing roles: Simon as the title character; and Trevor as his trusty manservant, Barnaby.
But in a art-imitates life twist, while Barnaby betrays Wonder Man in the movie, Trevor has also been betraying Simon the whole time. Specifically, thanks to his actions as the man who pretended to be the terrorist known as The Mandarin in Iron Man 3, the Department of Damage Control has been blackmailing Trevor to get him to feed info to them on Simon, who secretly has superpowers. Also, it’s illegal to have superpowers and work on a Hollywood production, thanks to a mishap where a guy named Doorman (Byron Bowers) accidentally killed Josh Gad.
Leading into the finale, Simon has discovered that Trevor has been conning him, and frustrated he lets loose his powers on the set of the movie… Blowing everything on the soundstage to smithereens.
Got all that? Good. Let’s now recap what actually happens in the Wonder Man finale, followed by the ending explained, and a few more odds and ends. Specifically: does Wonder Man have an end credits scene? What are Simon’s powers? And will there be a Wonder Man Season 2?
Wonder Man Finale Recap:
Things pick up right at the beginning of the finale with… A flashback to the time Simon’s father Sanford (Béchir Sylvain) took him out of the school for the day to see Wonder Man — the one starring Brent Willard (Dane Larsen), not the one Simon is starring in. Sanford also mentions how great the sunglasses Wonder Man wears are, and that Simon has a gift for acting… And you can see why it’s so important for Simon in the present to be an actor, be in Wonder Man, and have the right sunglasses.
Then back in the present, while “California” by Phantom Planet plays, which I didn’t know you were legally allowed to do outside The O.C., Simon heads home, Trevor sees the destroyed soundstage, and Damage Control — specifically agent P. Cleary (Arian Moayed), who has been tasked with capturing someone, anyone to fill the half-empty supervillain prison they’ve built — find out, too.
We’re told via TV news that there’s a manhunt for the perpetrator of the explosion, and Simon knows it’s only a matter of time before they catch him. So he calls his mother, Martha (Shola Adewusi), they have a relatively banal conversation, and Simon clearly believes it’s his last time talking to his mom before she finds out he screwed up yet another job.
Damage Control is beginning to close in, when Trevor calls Simon. “I’ve figured it out,” Trevor tells Simon, who doesn’t really understand. “Look, I’ll never forgive myself for what I did to you, but I’m making it right.”
How is he going to make it right? Trevor has released a new video as The Mandarin, claiming that he’s been the international terrorist the whole time and Trevor was the act. He takes responsibility for the explosion on the set of Wonder Man, and we get to see all the characters we’ve met over the course of the show reaction to the video. Naturally, Trevor is arrested, despite P. Cleary being very aware Trevor didn’t do anything, and Simon is saved.
…At which point it’s time to go back to shooting Wonder Man, because Von Kovac never misses a shoot day. Trevor, stunned, stands there in his little costume-protecting cape, talks to Von Kovac, and then gets a surprise: the original sunglasses from the original Wonder Man. Simon puts them on, and we get a full costume reveal. Shooting the scene, Simon is now working opposite a tennis ball.
That cuts right to the Wonder Man premiere, with the hilarious reveal that Joe Pantoliano, who earlier in the season had a contentious relationship with Trevor, has taken over the role of Barnaby.
Great news: the movie is a huge hit. Or at least, everyone at the premiere loves it, and it should be the night of Simon’s life. Afterwards, in the lobby, Von Kovac tells Simon, “I don’t believe in doing sequels to anything… It’s a losing game. There is no way we would ever top that picture… But, uh, maybe it’s, uh, worth thinking about how we could do it, if we were to do it.”
More on this in a moment, but this is a cheeky nod to the done-in-one nature of Wonder Man Season 1 — as well as the cyclical nature of the Hollywood machine, which just can’t help itself.
The rest of the evening follows Simon as he drifts around the premiere, checking in with his friends and family, though something is clearly missing. That would be Trevor.
“Simon, I’m sorry, it’s a black box,” Simon’s agent Janelle Jackson (X Mayo) says when Simon asks after Trevor. “Wherever they sent him is not the sort of place you can get out of.”
But now, Simon has his picks of scripts. So, what’s his next project?
Wonder Man Ending Explained:
After cutting to black, we come up on the Yucca Valley of the title. Simon is in a bar, talking to Chuck Eastman (Blake Robbins), a local man who Simon is planning on shadowing for an upcoming movie, living with his family and observing him to find out more for an upcoming role. Simon wants to keep things low profile though, so the news doesn’t get out.
…You’re probably way ahead of where this is going, right? That Simon is shadowing Chuck because he’s a guard at the prison that’s holding Trevor, and in fact there’s no movie or role at all? And that’s correct, but this whole, extended sequence serves another purpose. One thing that’s been driven home again and again over the eight episodes is how Simon is focused on himself, and too in his head to think about other people. Here, he talks to Chuck and his family. He listens. He observes. He opens himself up to other people and experiences, even if he does have an end goal in mind. See, what he was working towards wasn’t being a movie star, it was achieving his father’s dream for him; and now he has the chance to find his own dreams.
Anyway, after hanging with Chuck for a while, the guard does relent and takes Simon to his job under the assumed named of Alfonso. If you’re an MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) fan, you’re probably looking forward to all sorts of Easter eggs and villain reveals in the Damage Control prison. Well, keeping looking forward because there are none. As usual with this series, it’s about Simon and Trevor.
Simon excuses himself to go to the bathroom, and while he’s sneaking off to find Trevor’s cell, P. Cleary excitedly explains that he’s figured out what Simon’s powers are. Specifically, he reran tests from the soundstage explosion, “this time, on an ionic level… And what we discovered is that the ions were disrupted in every single thing we tested. If he’s capable of harnessing ionic energy, then Simon Williams is an extraordinary threat… Or asset.”
Meanwhile, Chuck’s wife calls him to explain they got an anonymous deposit with enough money that he doesn’t need to work at the prison anymore… Basically, Simon likely gave Chuck his Wonder Man money, knowing that he’ll likely lose his job for what’s about to happen anyway.
Simon arrives at Trevor’s cell, rips the bars off the cell, and calls on his powers. “Everybody’s Talkin'” by Harry Nilsson begins playing, which we should note is the theme song of Midnight Cowboy, aka the movie Trevor and Simon were watching when they met back in the series premiere. As the Damage Control folks scramble after the duo, Simon blasts through the roof of the prison with Trevor and they escape. The end!
If you’re looking for some closure there, sure there could be more to the story of Simon and Trevor. But the two completed their character arcs for the season/series… Simon learned how to both let go and focus on people other than himself, finding his confidence in the process. And Trevor, the same, by owning the mistakes of his past (read: The Mandarin) and giving himself up for Trevor, he finally did something selfless as well. Only one who got the bum end of the deal is P. Cleary. Sorry man, see you in the next MCU thing!
Does Wonder Man Have An End Credits Scene?
There is no end credits scene, post-credits scene, mid-credits scene or whatever you call it on Wonder Man. No setup for the next MCU project, or even a “Wonder Man will return in Avengers: Doomsday” or whatever. The end of the show is merely the credits. That’s it!
What Are Simon Williams’ Powers On Wonder Man?
The whole season we’ve watched Simon’s powers slowly be revealed. He seems to be super-strong, possibly durable if not invulnerable, makes things crack and explode, and has his skin shake like he’s a glass of water in Jurassic Park. So what are Simon Williams’ actual powers?
As P. Cleary explains, “he’s capable of harnessing ionic energy.” But what does that mean? What does that meeeean?
For clarity, there are real ionic bonds and whatnot, but ionic energy is a fictional thing created for Marvel Comics. In the books, Simon is actually a being made out of “ionic energy,” which he was blasted with by the villain Baron Zemo. What that means is he’s got the regular array of superpowers (see above), and can also fly, and shoot pew-pew rays out of his hands. He has other abilities, but that’s the long and the short of it.
As for what it means for Wonder Man the TV series, you could give it a pseudo-science explanation like he’s able to manipulate the ionic bonds between atoms or something. Or you could look at what Simon does… He’s using his energy to control the energy in the air around, which sometimes causes uncontrollable explosions, or as in the closing minutes of the finale, can be used to simulate flight. What else can he do? Well, we’ll have to see the answer to our next question.
Will There Be A Wonder Man Season 2?
It’s a little too early to say if there will be a Wonder Man Season 2, but the answer is “probably not” with a side of “actually this show was extremely well reviewed.” Given many MCU shows have struggled or outright avoided a second season, and one was not planned for this series, it’s more likely that there won’t be a Wonder Man Season 2, but we could see Simon and Trevor pop up in other projects… The most likely is Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which is directed by Wonder Man co-creator Destin Daniel Cretton, so at the very least could throw in some Wonder Man movie posters to replace the increasing preponderance of posters for Rogers: The Musical in the MCU.
But on the other hand, Marvel TV has pivoted to try and find more multi-season shows, and thus far have come up with Daredevil: Born Again, a few animated series, and that’s it. Given Wonder Man is extremely well-reviewed, and Von Kovak’s hinting little speech in the finale, is it possible Marvel could fast-track a Wonder Man Season 2? A lot depends on those streaming numbers, folks, so keep that ionic energy flowing.
Listen to MarvelVision:
Discover more from Comic Book Club
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.