Wonder Man Season 1 Episode 1 Recap: This MCU Premiere Has No Right Being This Good
- Lance
- 2 hours ago
- 2 min read
Matinee kicks off with a surprisingly charming and unsettling premiere that blends Hollywood satire with superhero mystery. The episode opens on a sweet, almost corny note: Simon Williams watching an old Wonder Man movie with his dad. It’s a small moment, but it immediately sets up how much this character wants to matter—on screen and off.
Cut to present day, and Simon (played brilliantly by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) is very much not where he wants to be. We meet him in his trailer, psyching himself up with a motivational speech that’s equal parts funny and sad. He’s landed a tiny day-player role on American Horror Story, playing a professor, and he is trying way too hard. Simon offers constant script changes, critiques the dialogue, and even gives the writer notes. You can practically feel the director’s patience evaporate. Unsurprisingly, Simon gets himself fired.
From there, the episode leans into the struggling-actor reality hard: Simon drives a terrible car, returns home to find his girlfriend Vivian moving out, and stares at himself in the mirror as subtle tremors ripple through him. Something is clearly off and not just emotionally.
Things get interesting when Simon heads to a movie theater and meets Trevor Slattery (Ben Kingsley, and yes, that Trevor). Trevor’s casually talking on the phone during previews, which somehow works for his character. Afterward, he tells Simon he’s auditioning for a Wonder Man reboot directed by Von Kovak. That’s all it takes.
Simon spirals in a very Simon way. He interrupts his manager Janelle’s meeting, snoops through her emails, steals a casting director’s number, and scams his way into an audition using a fake female voice. It’s messy, unethical, and honestly impressive. At the audition, Simon can’t help himself , he’s scribbling notes, inventing backstories, obsessing over subtext. Meanwhile, Trevor absolutely kills his audition with effortless confidence.
Their hallway conversation is one of the episode’s best scenes. Trevor bluntly tells Simon that his process is getting in his way but also offers genuine camaraderie. Shockingly, Simon’s audition is actually great. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is phenomenal here, selling both insecurity and raw talent.
The two grab a drink, where Trevor reveals he’s 13 years sober and believes “not thinking” is the secret to acting. Their pairing works incredibly well until the twist hits. Trevor receives a mysterious phone call. Every interaction? Staged. Simon has powers. He’s unstable. And someone wants him in custody.
It’s a fantastic hook and a strong start. Matinee feels funny, sad, and ominous all at once and I’m absolutely in. The MCU TV Universe may have struck gold with this one.
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