The actor believes “Wonder Man” deserves “some study and some real, hard information about why a show like this did not continue forward, because it had all of the ingredients that one would want in a show.”

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II says* Wonder Man *was canceled over ‘viewership numbers’

The actor believes “Wonder Man” deserves “some study and some real, hard information about why a show like this did not continue forward, because it had all of the ingredients that one would want in a show.”

By Emlyn Travis

Emlyn Travis

Emlyn Travis is a news writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2022. Her work has previously appeared on MTV News, Teen Vogue, and NME.

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August 20, 2026 2:26 p.m. ET

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II on ‘Wonder Man’. Credit:

Courtesy of Marvel Television

- Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is revealing the reason he was told *Wonder Man* season 2 was canceled.

- The Marvel series was previously greenlit for a second season in March.

- However, that decision was ultimately reversed in July.

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is sharing the surprising reason why *Wonder Man’*s season 2 renewal was ultimately reversed.

The actor, who played Simon Williams on the Emmy-nominated Marvel series, revealed that he was informed that the decision to cancel *Wonder Man *came down to its overall viewership.

“I was told that it had something to do with the viewership numbers,” Abdul-Mateen told *Vanity Fair*. “I wasn’t told what those numbers were, but ultimately, for whatever reason it was, I think they decided that it didn’t make sense for business, and that’s the decision that we live with and we keep on marching forward.”

The cast and creatives of ‘Wonder Man’.

Jesse Grant/Getty

The news comes as a bit of a surprise, considering Marvel and Disney+ likely knew its viewership numbers when they initially greenlit the series for a second season in March. In an Aug. 3 video, *Wonder Man* co-creator Andrew Guest revealed that the show’s numbers hadn’t really been shared with him.

While speaking with* Vanity Fair*, Abdul-Mateen was asked if he felt there was a problem with “what is and isn’t being greenlit or supported” at Disney and Marvel following *Wonder Man’*s cancellation and the continued delays surrounding the *Blade* film, which recently lost its lead Mahershala Ali. “I think the optics are obvious,” he replied. “If I’m a big business, if I’m Disney, if I’m Marvel, I don’t want to be attached to these optics.”

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Abdul-Mateen emphasized that it should be Marvel and the streamer’s “priority to change the narrative” surrounding their ongoing projects and to foster even more “quality stories” created with “quality resources” at hand.

“I felt that our show did have quality story, did have quality resources, did have quality actors and people, and did produce quality results that the viewers responded to positively, that the voters responded to positively,” he continued. “So our show does deserve some study and some real, hard information about why a show like this did not continue forward, because it had all of the ingredients that one would want in a show.”

In general, Abdul-Mateen explained that he wasn’t too familiar with how the second season of *Wonder Man *would’ve unfolded, but still “had my hopes and my dreams about where I wanted the character to go” in the next installment.

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“I was very interested in telling the story of Simon, who we watched pursue everything he’s always wanted. And then I think, for me, the interesting question to explore is: Well, what are you going to do when you finally get it?” he said. “What do you do when you finally get everything that you’ve always wanted? And for a guy like Simon to get fame and notoriety and a little bit of power, he has a big heart, but he also has an ego. He also wants to be a star.”

In his video released earlier this month, Guest revealed that *Wonder Man*’s season 2 contracts had already been signed, schedules had been cleared, and the writers’ room was set to reconvene this month before the series was canceled. “Production was supposed to begin early next year and there was a decision made internally between Disney and Marvel that this didn’t make sense for them even though a few months ago it did,” he said. “And that’s, essentially, all I really know.”

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II on ‘Wonder Man’.

Suzanne Tenner/Marvel

Guest also noted that he appreciated fans taking to social media to express their disappointment about the show’s shuttering. “I think there’s important conversations being had online about the kind of stories that we’re prioritizing,” he said. “And the kind of shows platforms want to make. I hope people are listening.”

Created by Guest and Destin Daniel Cretton (*Shang-Chi and the Ten Rings, Spider-Man: Brand New Day*), *Wonder Man* followed aspiring actor Simon (Abdul-Mateen) and Trevor Slattery (Sir Ben Kingsley), the latter of whom previously appeared in *Iron Man 3* and Cretton’s *Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.* It also starred Olivia Thirlby, X Mayo, Arian Moayed, and more.

Speaking with* * in January, Kingsley confirmed that they “of course” wanted to create a second season of *Wonder Man*. “It would be dishonest to say, ‘Ooooh, I don’t know. Let’s wait.’ Of course we do,” he said at the time. “I’ll say it to the world.”

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