Marvel Almost Canceled One Of Its Best-Reviewed Disney Plus Shows

Just like the First Streaming War (Streaming War One?) has drawn to a close, so, too, has Phase 1 of the Disney+ Marvel experiment reached its end. And contrary to what the naysayers might argue, it was far from a wash. Shows such as "WandaVision," "Loki," and "She-Hulk: Attorney at Law" pushed the envelope for what Marvel Cinematic Universe titles can look and feel like (yes, I'm pro-"She-Hulk"; moving on), while "Ms. Marvel" and "Echo" effectively used the Marvel sandbox to tell both personal and culturally specific stories. Even the Frankenstein job that was "Daredevil: Born Again" season 1 held up an illuminating mirror to the times we live in.

Then there's "Wonder Man," a convention-bucking MCU series that was able to squeak past the finish line just as Marvel and Disney started revamping their entire approach to making television. Created by Destin Daniel Cretton and Andrew Guest (who's also the showrunner), it's essentially Marvel's answer to Apple TV's "The Studio" in that it's a self-reflexive comedy that's as much about the, hmm, peculiar status quo of the filmmaking industry as it is about the artists still scrambling to make a living in it. As such, "Wonder Man" makes for an uncommonly grounded character study that doubles as a peek behind the curtain of the MCU, as filtered through the lens of the MCU itself.

If that sounds ambitiously layered for a Marvel Studios venture, then you probably won't be shocked to learn that "Wonder Man" was nearly canceled prior to becoming one of Marvel's best-reviewed shows yet (with a 91% critics' rating on Rotten Tomatoes to prove it). What's more, as Guest explained on The Ringer's "The Watch" podcast, it seemed like the show was in serious trouble after test audiences were left "confused" by its first two episodes.

As hectic and disorganized as the House of Ideas' original approach to making shows for Disney+ was (in a nutshell, Marvel tried — and failed — to develop TV series the same way it does films), it did have some incidental perks. Specifically, by rushing to produce more streaming media as quickly as possible, Marvel couldn't avoid saying "yes" to shows that might not have otherwise gotten the time of day. That includes an MCU project as off the beaten path as "Wonder Man," as Andrew Guest knows too well.

Speaking on "The Watch," the showrunner admitted that "Wonder Man" was "one of the last projects in the door of the previous iteration of the Marvel Disney+ experiment, where they were saying yes to many things." He was also shocked when Marvel didn't ask him to rework the series in the wake of its test screening reactions, instead telling him, "No, we have to market this differently." Nevertheless, the show still temporarily found itself on the chopping block.

Confirming that "Wonder Man" was "taken off their board for a moment there," Guest recalled that "the producers who were part of our project fought like hell to convince people this is something worth continuing with." Thankfully, they succeeded, and the show has since earned major props from critics, particularly for Yahya Abdul-Mateen II's turn as impassioned wannabe superhero film star (and secretly super-powered actor) Simon Wells and his onscreen bromance with Ben Kingsley's scrappy scoundrel thespian Trevor Slattery. If nothing else, "Wonder Man" being just as much of an underdog as its leads feels in keeping with the show's observations about the interplay between art and life, especially when super-powers are involved.

"Wonder Man" is streaming on Disney+.