Not every Marvel Cinematic Universe character will have an origin story identical to their comic book version. While the MCU’s early films stayed relatively true to their source material, recent films and shows have shifted, and Wonder Man is the newest hero to undergo a complete reimagining. In the comics, his powers come from ionic radiation exposure. But in his Disney+ premiere, we never find out how he got his super strength or — though he could have been born with them.
Co-showrunner Andrew Guest says that was intentional. The team wanted to honor a particular type of superhero movie when exploring Simon Williams’ (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) backstory: Fox’s X-Men franchise.
“We wanted to ensure Simon Williams’ powers fit his character,” Guest recently told . “I think back to the first X-Men movie and how the teenagers’ powers felt so tied to their psychology… And Simon’s powers felt like something that was just part of him, not something he was either excited about or even wanted to understand.”
We never see Simon getting his powers, but Wonder Man does delve into how they show up, much like the X-Men films introduce Rogue and Cyclops when their abilities first surface. It’s hard not to wonder if Simon is a mutant, and apparently the Wonder Man team thought about that too. For now, though, it’s up to the decision-makers.
“That’s a great question,” Guest said. “We talked about it, but we chose not to give an answer.”
Wonder Man exists in a much bigger universe, so choices like this are probably beyond Guest’s control. Even so, Simon is practically a mutant except for the official label. Do we really need explicit confirmation after Wonder Man dropped such heavy hints?