This is a story about an actor who views himself as a bit of an outsider. Then, after years of putting in the work, he lands a plum superhero role and makes it big in Hollywood.
But before you jump to any biographical conclusions, just know that he also possesses unharnessed “ionic” powers of strength, stamina and speed. He goes by the alter ego Wonder Man, and it’s easy to see why Yahya Abdul-Mateen II had a blast playing the title character in this new Disney+ series. An amusing and highly self-aware take on the genre, the eight-episode MCU satire, which premiered in January, features Abdul-Mateen’s Simon Williams as the aspiring star who’s secretly capable of saving the world — and who ends up leading a high-profile superhero film. It’s called ... Wonder Man.
“Wonder Man is easy to talk about, because it was so much fun,” he says. In fact, Abdul-Mateen is hesitant to use the obvious adjective to describe it: “There’s a world where it’s not ‘meta’ at all, because it’s about a guy trying to achieve his dream and what happens after he gets what he wants. It’s definitely closer to home than what you would expect in the Marvel universe.”
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Simon Williams with Sir Ben Kingsley, who makes his third MCU appearance as Trevor Slattery
He speaks from years of experience in cool costumes. Over in the DC Comics world, he menaced big time as villain Black Manta in two Aquaman movies. He memorably portrayed Cal Abar/Doctor Manhattan in HBO’s acclaimed Watchmen in 2019. That performance earned him an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Anthology in 2020; the trophy sits on the windowsill of his bedroom and is visible during his Zoom interview with emmy. (“I’m proud of it, so I need to find a more respectable place for it.”)
Standing 6’3” with a “pretty nice build” and a game-for-anything attitude, Abdul-Mateen admits he’s a natural at transitioning into superhero mode. But the New Orleans native began his post-collegiate career in the 2010s working for the San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development. Acting didn’t come into the picture until he got laid off and snared a key part in a regional production of Twelfth Night. The nightly performances inspired him to enroll at the Yale School of Drama.
When Abdul-Mateen came out of school in 2015, “I really wanted to put out a career where I wasn’t limited,” he says. “So, the phrase I was saying was ‘Clowns, kings and everybody in between.’ If a clown is considered lowbrow, and a king is the highest of the high, I wanted to cover the gamut.”
He accomplished his goal in a hurry — his first TV gig was disco prince Clarence “Cadillac” Caldwell in Baz Luhrmann’s 2016–17 Netflix period musical drama The Get Down. Since then, he’s appeared in everything from The Handmaid’s Tale to Black Mirror to The Matrix Resurrections. Behind the scenes, Abdul-Mateen recently started a production company. “I want to flex my muscles and be a voice for other artists,” he says.
And though his star is ascending so fast that he jokes, “I’m starting to get suspicious,” Abdul-Mateen maintains that moving from one exciting role to another isn’t so different from his city-planner days. “Both jobs are about serving people,” he says. “Before, I was helping the community and building the world I wanted to see. Now, when I’m at my best, I’m providing entertainment in the form of a good laugh and something to think about and something that really touches the heart. There’s a need for that, too.”
This article originally appeared in emmy Magazine, issue #1, 2026, under the title "Super Meta."
