Wonder Man has generated heaps of speculation among MCU fans, particularly when it comes to the source of Simon Williams' powers. Unlike his comic book counterpart, this version of Simon mysteriously gained his abilities aged 13.
Baron Zemo didn't experiment on him; there was no exposure—that we know of—to magical artefacts or alien technology, so could Simon be a mutant? That's the prevailing theory, and Wonder Man showrunner Andrew Guest has now chimed in.
"You know, it's a very good question," he said when The Direct asked him outright if that's the case. "And it's one we discussed and it's one we decided we weren't going to answer. So I'll leave it up to the people who make those kind of mutant questions."
Guest later confirmed that the answer "is" out there, and added that "one of the things we wanted to do was make sure that the powers for Simon Williams served his character."
Despite stopping short of confirming Simon's mutant status, the Wonder Man writer further linked the Disney+ series to the X-Men by revealing that he turned to the team's big screen franchise for inspiration.
"I look back at that first X-Men movie and how those powers that all those teenagers [had] felt so psychological," Guest mused. "They felt like it was about all these life changes we go through. And Simon, felt like it was it was some part of him that sort of happened to him as opposed to something that he was A., excited about, or B., wanted to even get to know."
"He doesn't have any curiosity about them. They're just really kind of a hindrance," he continued. "And that felt like it helped us tell the story we were trying to tell about Simon. So, I wanted to make sure we didn't do the first moment of seeing superpowers when he was a kid that we might have [done]."
Ultimately, where Simon's powers come from doesn't matter too much in the context of the story being told. Having access to mutants allows Marvel Studios to avoid convoluted origin stories where needed, and the actor being one of Zemo's science experiments because his brother was defrauding the family business wouldn't have fit into this series at all.
Plus, with a reboot looming for the post-Avengers: Secret Wars MCU, it may not matter that much soon, anyway. As of now, Ms. Marvel and Namor are the franchise's only confirmed mutants on the Sacred Timeline.
Wonder Man follows aspiring Hollywood actor Simon Williams, who is struggling to get his career off the ground. During a chance meeting with Trevor Slattery, an actor whose biggest roles may be well behind him, Simon learns that legendary director Von Kovak is remaking the superhero film "Wonder Man."
These two actors, at opposite ends of their careers, doggedly pursue life-changing roles in this film as audiences get a peek behind the curtain of the entertainment industry.
All eight episodes of Wonder Man are now streaming on Disney+.