It was announced in June that aWonder Manseries was in the works from Disney Plus andMarvel Studios. While casting for the lead role is presumably still underway, fans now know Ben Kingsley will be returning to the MCU in the developing series.
Varietyhas revealed that legendary actor Kingsley is on track to reprise his role as actor Trevor Slattery, a character who first appeared inIron Man 3. Slattery was pretending to be terrorist leader The Mandarin but was quite a comical character actor hired to portray the criminal. Theactor’s casting as The Mandarinwas initially criticized because he is not of Asian descent, but the reveal of his character’s plot twist quelled the backlash at the time.
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Kingsley then appeared as Slattery in the short filmAll Hail The King, where he is broken out of jail by a minion of The Mandarin. Following that appearance, Slattery popped up inShang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Ringsas a ‘court jester’ of The Mandarin.Slattery ultimately escapes and helps to defeat Wenwu. TheWonder Manseries is co-created and executive produced by Destin Daniel Cretton, who also directed and co-wroteShang-Chi, meaning that it will be a reunion project for Kingsley and Cretton. While the details of the show are tightly under wraps, the appearance of Slattery could point to it somehow being related to Hollywood. Slattery is a failed actor andWonder Man has been both an actor and stuntmanin the comic books.
Wonder Manis a Marvel Comics hero who is born out of frustration as his family’s company goes out of business due to Stark Industries. Wonder Man makes a deal with Baron Zemo and gains superpowers such as super strength and durability. TheWonder Manseries is co-created by Andrew Guest and Cretton. Guest will also function as head writer on the series while there is a possibility that Cretton will direct some episodes. Cretton currently has an overall deal with Marvel Studios and Onyx Collective and will be returning to helm the sequel toShang-ChiandAvengers: The Kang Dynasty.
Kingsley has a long and much-celebrated acting career that includes performances inLucky Number Slevin,Sexy Beast,Schindler’s List, andGandhi.He has been nominated for multiple Academy Awards and won Best Actor for his performance inGandhi.Kingsley has alsoreceived multiple Emmy nominations, Golden Globe wins, a Grammy, and a BAFTA to name but a small sample of his acclaim. On top of that, the actor was knighted by Queen Elizabeth in 2001 on his 58th birthday.
At the time of writing, no statement has been made by representatives for Kingsley and Marvel Studios doesn’t comment on projects that are in development.
