‘Wonder Man’ Stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Ben Kingsley Share Secrets Behind Their Chemistry During Lively Heat Vision Live Screening

It was life imitating art — and the other way around — during the Heat Vision Live special screening of Wonder Man. Stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Sir Ben Kingsley went into full thespian mode, much like the characters they play in Marvel Studios’ Disney+ series about two actors trying to catch a big break and get cast in a superhero movie.

As creators Destin Daniel Cretton and Andrew Guest looked on, and to the delight of the audience assembled at the Directors Guild of America for the Jan. 23 screening, Kingsley and Abdul-Mateen talked about the show as if they were dissecting a script.

“It’s written as a duet,” Kingsley said of the show, “but the duet is in the base notes, not in the obvious high notes.”

Kingsley, an acting legend thanks to his Oscar-winning performance in Gandhi, later dived so deep into a scene from episode three that the crowd, bewitched by witnessing the actor’s process, erupted into applause.

Wonder Man, which debuted all its episodes Disney+ on Tuesday, is unlike any other Marvel show before it. With no world-ending jeopardy but plenty of personal stakes, the show tells of a struggling actor, Simon Williams (Abdul-Mateen), vying for his dream role, that of Wonder Man, after an arty European director undertakes a remake. Williams teams up with Trevor Slattery (Kingsley), an actor (and former terrorist, although that part wasn’t his fault) trying to make a comeback but who has an agenda of his own.

The eight-episode series is both a buddy drama and a showcase for Abdul-Mateen and Kingsley, even as it pokes at the absurdities of the movie industry.

Cretton, who previously directed Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and who came up via the indie world with movies such as Short Term 12, co-created the show and directed the first two episodes that screened ahead of the Q&A.

“Our pitch really was character first,” recalled Cretton, talking of the show’s origins and indie vibe. “When people say ‘indie style,’ it’s typically an aesthetic that is created to serve the performers.” He went on to note that when a show doesn’t have big explosions or big VFX, instead you can focus on capturing surprising performances from the actors. “The aesthetic is kind of built around being able to let the actors have as much freedom as you can. And have an environment that can move nimbly,” he said.

The drama started even before cameras rolled on the series. Cretton described Kingsley as an actor who “likes to make sure that he is working with people who are going to be as dedicated as he is.” And ahead of Abdul-Mateen’s very first conversation with Kingsley, Cretton loosely tried to give the actor a heads-up to be prepared for some intensity.

“I got on the phone with Yahya [after] and he said, ‘You didn’t tell me how, what that was going to be like!’ And I was like, ‘I tried to tell you.’ ‘You did not tell me!’ But, Yahya’s credit, he did not buckle with intimidation. He said, ‘I see what Sir Ben is like, and I like it. And he said, ‘The next time I see him, I am going to be ready.’”

And ready he was. At the first table read, he had the script memorized. (Kinglsey, as most actors do, read from the script.)

“There is nothing wrong with having high expectations of one’s colleagues,” Kingsley noted at the panel, telling Abdul-Mateen: “Absolutely, I had very high expectations of you. And that’s a compliment.”

The character of Williams is that of an actor who is hungry to make his mark, and Abdul-Mateen said that, despite the success he has had, he still has unfulfilled dreams.

“While we were filming this, I think I might have been eight, going on nine years removed from graduate school,” said the Yale-trained actor, who has appeared in leading roles in Aquaman, Watchmen and Candyman. “Had a Tony nomination, had an Emmy award, but still was feeling like, ‘I haven’t done the thing that I want to share. I haven’t artistically I haven’t said the thing that I want to say.’”

The show has an undercurrent of dejection and loneliness, something that moderator Aaron Couch touched upon when he asked if Marvel embraced the melancholy.

“Not in those words,” answered showrunner Guest, eliciting laughs. He continued, “The trick is, these two characters are selfish and narcissists and, but we still have to like them enough. And part of what makes you connect with them is that loneliness, is that melancholy. They’re lost and they care.”

Watch the video of the Q&A above.