How Sir Ben Kingsley and the ‘Wonder Man’ team made Marvel’s breakout Hollywood hit

LOS ANGELES — In Marvel Television’s “Wonder Man,” the biggest challenge isn’t saving the world — it’s making it in Hollywood.

The cast and creative team gathered at the Television Academy for an Emmy “For Your Consideration” event, where they shared what sets the series apart from the typical superhero story.

Sir Ben Kingsley returns as Trevor Slattery and praised co-star Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, who stars as Simon Williams, an aspiring actor trying to break into the industry while hiding his superpowers.

“The writing is so rooted in real human behavior that it allowed a relationship between two characters to form quite naturally,” Kingsley told On The Red Carpet.

A second season is in the works with Kingsley and Abdul-Mateen II both returning.

Showrunner Andrew Guest said seeing audiences connect with the series has made its long journey to the screen worth it.

“It’s been over four years since we all started working on it and we got shut down by the strikes and then it took a while for our show to come out on the air, so to have people like it and respond to it is really gratifying,” he said.

For X Mayo, what made “Wonder Man” resonate was that, beneath the superhero story, it was really about finding yourself.

“It’s about dreamers, people who are super nervous and constantly seen as the black sheep in their family,” she said.

All episodes of “Wonder Man” are streaming on Disney+.

The Walt Disney Company is the parent company of Disney+ and this station.