Yahya Abdul-Mateen II reacts after Marvel cancels 'Wonder Man' S2
- By Sarah Brohi -
- Jul 31, 2026
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II broke his silence on the surprise cancellation of the Marvel TV series after they were renewed for a second season on Disney+.
The Emmy-winning actor, who plays reluctant superhero-turned-actor Simon Williams in the show, addressed the news directly on Instagram. He stated, “Word just dropped that Wonder Man won’t be coming back for Season 2,”. He continued with his statement and noted, “(And if you don’t knowww, now ya knoww!) That’s life, right? Everything will shake out. I wanted to say thank you to everybody who WATCHED the show, ENJOYED the show, and SHARED that they enjoyed the show in some way or other. The show worked.”
Marvel had renewed Wonder Man for a second season back in March, with Abdul-Mateen and co-star Ben Kingsley, who plays actor Trevor Slattery, both expected to return. According to Variety, the writers’ room for the new season was never opened, and the show’s writers have since been released to pursue other projects.
The reversal comes despite strong reception for the first season, which launched with all eight episodes on 27 January and holds a 91% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes. The show, created by Destin Daniel Cretton and Andrew Guest, brought in 618 million minutes viewed in its opening week according to Nielsen, ranking eighth among streaming originals that week, though it dropped off the chart the following week.
Read More: Disney+ cancels ‘Wonder Man’ despite earlier season 2 renewal
Abdul-Mateen earned a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for his performance, his second nomination after previously winning for HBO’s Watchmen.
Fellow actors offered support in the comments of his post, with Y’lan Noel writing “Well done, soldier. Up and Up,” while C.S. Lee, who appeared alongside Abdul-Mateen in the film Us, called his work on the show “amazing.”
A source told Variety that characters from the series could still appear in other Marvel projects going forward, despite the show itself not continuing.