What to Watch Before Wonder Man

 

The newest instalment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is set to release on Disney+ in mere days, so I’ve put together a list of the most relevant previous MCU entries of both the movies and shows to watch before the Wonder Man series hits our screens.

 

 

For this first entry, I recommend starting with Iron Man 3 (2013) which (kind of) introduced the armoured Avenger’s comic book arch-foe, The Mandarin. Controversially, the movie instead delivered a rug-pull moment and revealed ‘The Mandarin’ to be (SPOILERS!) actor Trevor Slattery (Sir Ben Kingsley) playing the role of the terrorist villain in propaganda material for the real mastermind of the film.

 

 

The fallout from the controversial decision was mitigated somewhat with the release of the short film All Hail the King, first released on the 2014 home release of Thor: The Dark World and now easily found on Disney+. The short focuses on the incarcerated Trevor Slattery being interviewed by a reporter who reveals there is a real Mandarin who is very much angered at his title and Ten Rings organisation being co-opted. The ending is ambiguous, with Trevor being broken out of prison to meet his namesake…

 

Next up, 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming introduced the Department of Damage Control, who were responsible for cleaning up in the wake of the Battle of New York seen in the first Avengers movie.

 

Notably, they grow and take on more responsibilities, collecting advanced technology and policing those with superpowers as we would see in Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), Ms. Marvel (2022) and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (2022). The most relevant DODC member is Agent Cleary (Arian Moayed) who will return in Wonder Man, pursing Simon Williams (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II).

 

Meanwhile, Trevor Slattery returns in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021), having been kept almost as a court jester by Wenwu (the real name of ‘The Mandarin’) to entertain members of his Ten Rings organisation. I’m curious to learn how Trevor made it back from mystical Ta Lo and headed to Hollywood for Wonder Man…

 

Hopefully that’s all the background you might need before Wonder Man releases this week.

 

Until I go full method and gain superpowers requiring cool shades, I remain

 

frogoat

 

 

 

 

Carol Danvers in the MC2

So I was lucky enough to see the Captain Marvel movie last night and I had a great time. It got me thinking I should do a little post about Carol Danvers in the MC2. That's where my trouble began.

For those who don't know, Carol Danvers first appeared in the Main Marvel Universe in Marvel Super-Heroes #13 and eventually gained powers, becoming Ms. Marvel in Ms. Marvel #1. The MC2's Carol Danvers presumably shares the same published history as her Main Marvel Universe counterpart up to a point...more on that shortly.

The only time we see Carol Danvers in the MC2 is Spider-Girl #60 where she appears in her classic black Ms. Marvel costume on the cover amidst other superpowered women of Marvel (including the first female Captain Marvel, Monica Rambeau- see here). However, Ms. Marvel only appears alongside various other previous superheroines in the thoughts of May 'Mayday' Parker as she compares herself to her predecessors. The real world reasons for these cameos was to acknowledge prior female heroes as the Spider-Girl title reaching it's 60th continuous issue, something only one other solo female superheroine title at Marvel had achieved, that being Sensational She-Hulk. The Spider-Girl title would go on to surpass this, reaching issue 100-a feat still unbeaten today.

Jumping into the world of speculation now, let's look at what we can guess at from other established facts. During her career as a superhero, Carol was known first as Ms. Marvel, then Binary during her time in space with the Starjammers team and -most relevantly- as Warbird following her return to the Avengers (Avengers vol. 3 #4). As this Avengers run was running concurrently with the first MC2 titles published in 1998 and 1999, some elements carried over into the flashbacks seen during A-Next #7, such as the costumes and team roster. Despite this, Carol does not appear. What this means is anyone's guess.

It's possible that if Ms. Danvers never rejoined the Avengers, she may not have taken on the moniker of Warbird, leaving it up in the air as to whether she stuck with Binary, went with Warbird or reverted to her Ms. Marvel identity or perhaps adopted the Captain Marvel title of her predecessor as in the Main Marvel Universe. Then again, as noted in my History of the MC2: Heroes Reborn/Heroes Return post, anything beyond Heroes Reborn: The Return #4 is completely up in the air!

Perhaps Carol is alive and well, albeit retired or elsewhere as she remains unseen. Alternately, given the large number of casualties during the Avengers final mission, it's also entirely possible that Danvers perished alongside so many of her teammates. Personally, I'm hoping for the former! Someone should ask Jessica Drew aka Spider-Woman, as the two used to be friends...


Until I recover all my missing memories and piece together my damaged psyche, I remain

frogoat