Every time it seems like Trevor Slattery has played his last role in the MCU, he crops up again. The character played by Ben Kingsley first appeared in Iron Man 3, pretending to be the Mandarin when he was really just an actor hired by Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce). Now, Variety reports that Kingsley will return as Slattery in Wonder Man, the Disney+ series in the works from Shang-Chi director Destin Daniel Cretton and Brooklyn Nine-Nine writer Andrew Guest.
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When we last saw Trevor Slattery, he was in Ta Lo with his buddy Morris, having been freed from the real Mandarin’s headquarters by the Mandarin’s kids, Shangi-Chi (Simu Liu) and Xu Xialing (Meng’er Zhang), and Shang-Chi’s pal Katy Chen (Awkwafina).
How he’ll get from there to Wonder Man is anyone’s guess. The character of Wonder Man first appeared as a villain in 1964, and returned to the pages of Marvel Comics in the ’70s and ’80s, eventually becoming an Avenger. Wonder Man is Simon Williams, an actor and stuntman whose family business struggles due to competition with Stark Industries. He gets powers via a deal with Baron Zemo, who is conveniently also floating around between Marvel TV series at the moment.
Variety notes, “Kingsley returning as Slattery lends credence to reports that the show is intended to be a Hollywood satire, as it has been established that Slattery is a failed actor and Wonder Man has been an actor and a stuntman in the comics.” Whether Marvel has the range to make a satire with any teeth remains to be seen.
No release date has been announced for Wonder Man.
