Something Marvel cannot be accused of is poor casting. The slate of stars attached to the franchise’s myriad projects is enviable and the latest to be joining the troupe could be acclaimed Westworld actor Ed Harris. The actor is rumored to be in the running for a villain role in the upcoming Yahya Abdul-Mateen II-led series Wonder Man.
The rumor was launched by alleged scoops Twitter account CanWeGetSomeToast who said Harris is “ONE [sic] of the actors Marvel has been in talks with to play the villain” in the first season of Wonder Man. Harris has positively built a career on playing the bad guy from The Man in Black in Westworld to his roles Snowpiercer, The Truman Show, and National Treasure: Book of Secrets. It’s shocking he’s not part of the MCU yet.
If Harris was indeed to be cast in a villainous role in Wonder Man, he would be joining Abdul-Mateen II, who’ll be playing the titular character Simon Williams, as well as Ben Kingsley, reprising his role of Trevor Slattery. Breaking Bad‘s Bob Odenkirk has also been rumored to be involved, with some theorizing him and Harris could be up for the same role.
In the comics, Simon is the son of Sanford Williams, the boss of one of Stark Industries’ biggest competitors Williams Innovations. Simon holds a grudge against Tony Stark and joins Zemo in a plan to infiltrate the Avengers. This origin story might be difficult to execute seeing as Tony is no longer around and Zemo has already attempted to break the Avengers up in Civil War.
Still, Marvel Producer Stephen Broussard has said the show will “definitely [be] influenced by the comics,” albeit feeling “very unique,” and unlike anything we’ve seen in the MCU thus far. Fans find this hard to believe, but everyone is allowed the benefit of the doubt.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings director Destin Daniel Cretton will be taking on Wonder Man in both the director and executive producer chairs, while Hawkeye co-producer Andrew Guest serves as head writer.
Wonder Man is set to come out in late 2023 or early 2024.
