Yahya Abdul-Mateen II Transforms Into Marvel's Wonder Man In Epic Art

Marvel Studios wants to flesh out the already-expansive Marvel Cinematic Universe, which means bringing in lesser-known yet fan-favorite characters from Marvel Comics. One of those is Wonder Man, and with Yahya Abdul-Mateen II tasked as the man to do so, Simon Williams is on his way to the MCU.

First introduced in 1964's "Avengers #9," Williams blames Tony Stark for his company's downfall, looking to Baron Zemo and the Masters of Evil to help get his revenge. After their experiment gifts him superpowers, he fights the Avengers, eventually seeing the error of his ways. Williams sacrifices himself for the team, but, as these are comics, is later resurrected, becoming the hero Wonder Man and an on-again-off-again member of the Avengers.

Marvel Studios hasn't revealed much about the upcoming "Wonder Man" Disney+ series outside of Abdul-Mateen II's initial casting as Wonder Man. However, recently posted fan art shows what the "Watchmen" star could look like in his MCU debut. U/Marvelicki posted an image of Abdul-Mateen II as Wonder Man on r/MarvelStudios, showcasing what Simon Williams could look like in the MCU. The art plays off Wonder Man's iconic red and black suit, giving it a more modern spin with neon red accents and a devilishly glowing pair of red sunglasses. The costume features a bright red V on his chest, taking a more subtle approach to the character's iconic W symbol.

One of the best parts of the Wonder Man fan art is its incorporation of ionic energy into the costume. The experiments that gave Simon Williams his powers, rivaling Thor's, also imbued his body with ionic energy. Wonder Man eventually learned to harness this power, even transforming into pure energy, effectively making him immortal. Presumably, the fan art's inclusion of neon red lights symbolizes the ionic energy flowing through the hero, and the glowing red eyes — while he tries to hide them with sunglasses — is a staple look for the hero.

The fan art does an excellent job of imagining what Abdul-Mateen II could look like as Wonder Man, holding fans over until an official reveal from Marvel Studios. It's safe to say the production has already nailed down a design for his MCU costume, but we don't know when to expect a first look at the character. Either way, Wonder Man fans will have to be patient, but if this fan art is anything to go off of, Abdul-Mateen II could quickly become an MCU fan favorite.

Despite a relatively young career, Abdul-Mateen II already has a surprising amount of tentpole roles under his belt. He played Black Manta in "Aquaman," reprising the role for "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom," Doctor Manhattan in HBO's "Watchmen" limited series, and Morpheus in "The Matrix Resurrections." With "Wonder Man," Abdul-Mateen II can take what he's learned from playing heroes and villains and forge his version of Simon Williams around it. As mentioned, the comic book character goes from villain to hero, and if "Wonder Man" explores that side of Williams, Abdul-Mateen II could be the perfect actor to bring that conflict to life.