| “ | You made one mistake, Eric. I'm sure you thought it poetic to use us as your puppets -- but we're AVENGERS. And Avengers will oppose you -- to the bitter end -- and BEYOND. | „ |
| ~ Wonder Man. |
| “ | That's what my fair super hero was saying to me...that I had the honor of being around to remember great deeds...spectacular wins and harrowing failures... It's not just that I will never die... It's that, because of me...they will never die. And every year I will come to this place...to this Great Wall...and I will light the watchtowers...every year, on the anniversary of Ladyfair's passing...to remember that this wall was built as a means of defense, as those heroes were defenders...and to remember that sometimes even the most formidable walls -- like the walls we build around ourselves -- can be overcome...if someone is just willing to look at it...and wonder what's behind it. | „ |
| ~ Simon Williams. |
Simon Williams, also known as Wonder Man, is a fictional superhero in Marvel comics and universe.
Simon was originally the head of his father's business when he was sentenced to prison for embezzlement, but was bailed out by Baron Zemo and the Enchantress. He became a supervillain dubbed as "Wonder Man" and was tasked with defeating the Avengers. However, he redeemed himself, became a superhero and prominent member of the team.
He was created by the late Stan Lee, the late Jack Kirby, and the late Don Heck, and first appeared in The Avengers #9 in October of 1964.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Simon Williams was born in Patterson, New Jersey, being the youngest son of industrialist Sanford Williams and Martha Williams, and is the brother to Eric.
When his older brother declined his father's offer to join the family firm, Simon readily accepted due to being more studious and less athletic. After Sanford's death, Simon inherited full control over the business when he was only twenty two years old, but Williams Innovations began to lose its competitive edge in the marketplace to such other companies like Stark Industries.
Going to his brother for advice, Eric suggested that Simon embezzle some money from the company in order to invest in some business enterprises that Eric had gotten wealthy from (e.g. Maggia crime family). Desperate to save the family business, Simon embezzled money, and the board of directors discovered this and his connection with the Maggia, and had him brought to trial.
Becoming Wonder Man[]
Simon was found guilty and was given a prison sentence, but was released when Amora the Enchantress paid his bail and enchanted the authorities. Baron Zemo read William's case, and was intrigued that Simon blamed Tony Stark for his downfall, and head Amora recruit him for the Masters of Evil. Disoriented by the upheavals in his life, Simon agreed to accompany Amora to Zemo's base, and also agreed to become a test subject for Zemo's "ionic ray" treatment. Simon was given superhuman strength and other abilities after receiving ionic rays, and also underwent chemical and radiation treatments to give him more attributes. Zemo then gave Simon a costume and dubbed him "Wonder Man", and outlined his plan to use him to defeat the Avengers.
When he explained to the Avengers that he was dying, they accepted Wonder Man into their ranks and unsuccessfully tried to cure him. Eventually, Wonder Man led the team into an ambush by the Masters of Evil, but Simon had a change of heart and decided he couldn't betray the Avengers' kindness. Zemo then deprived Simon of the life treatment, and Wonder Man succumbed to the mysterious side effect of his power acquisition. Wonder Man then tanked the Avengers, and was glad that his final act was a noble one.
Although he was assumed to had died, Wonder Man had actually gone into a deathlike coma brought on by the unstable mutagenic changes triggered in his body. His body was brought back to the United States, and his brother Eric, now known as the criminal Grim Reaper, retrieved Simon's body. Eric wished to use his brother's body to bribe the Vision, an android whose artificial brain was cybernetically programmed with the memories and behavior of Simon. Eric tried to convince Vision that his consciousness could be transferred into Simon's body, and the Vision pretended to go along with the Reaper's scheme in order to help the Avengers apprehend him.
Civil War[]
After the Superhuman Registration Act was passed, Wonder Man registered and became a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent tasked with hunting down unregistered superhumans. He once followed an Atlantean agent to a warehouse, and found it to be a stockpile for Atlantean weapons. Shortly after, Wonder Man battled the Green Goblin to defend the stockpile, but was unsuccessful. He was also pressured to continue working for the pro-registration, and was instrumental in creating televised messages to educate the public about the Registration Act. Simon was one of the first to led the Fifty State Initiative training program for inexperienced heroes, alongside Ms. Marvel and other former Avengers.
Revengers[]
During his career, Wonder Man became disillusioned with the Avengers after their numerous failing, feeling the group were causing more harm than good. Simon decided to organize a group of lesser known heroes called the Revengers, and convinced them that the Avengers had to be stopped. The team targeted the Avengers mansion, and battled the entire roster of New Avengers, and defeated them. With them defeated, Wonder Man set his sights on the Avengers tower, but Iron Man trapped him in his ionic form in a containment unit. Thor then teleported the Revengers to the Citi Field, where they subdued and later imprisoned by the Avengers and the New Avengers. Wonder Man managed to escape from his containment unit, not before speaking to Beast and warning them.
Uncanny Avengers[]
Wonder Man later returned to help the Avengers rescue the Wasp from the microverse, thus redeeming himself. He later joined the Avengers Unity Division, and upon joining, revealed to the others that he became a pacifist. During a mission, Rogue absorbed the powers of Simon and numerous heroes, and the overload caused Rogue to lose the control over her powers once again. She absorbed Simon's essence into her mind and his powers into her body, but his consciousness was still within Rogue during the attack by the Red Skull on Genosha.
After Rogue was returned to normal, Simon aided her on missions, but his consciousness was removed from Rogue by the Master Scientist. Although Rogue couldn't hear Simon's voice in her head, it was revealed that Simon had been in Rogue's mind all along. Simon was later released when Rogue kissed Deadpool, due to his healing factor acting like a circuit breaker that allowed her body to expel Simon.
Portrayals[]
Films[]
- In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he was to be portrayed by Nathan Fillion (who also played Malcolm Reynolds in Firefly, Richard Castle in Castle, The Detachable Kid in The Suicide Squad and voiced Edward Buck in the Halo franchise) in deleted scenes of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, but he will be played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (who also portrayed Will Sharp in Ambulance) in the upcoming titular tv series.
Television[]
- In The Avengers: United They Stand, he was voiced by Hamish McEwan.
- In The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, he was voiced by Phil LaMarr, who also voiced Hermes Conrad in Futurama, Samurai Jack in the titular series, Green Lantern and Static Shock in the DC Animated Universe and Kit Fisto in Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
Video Games[]
- In Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, he was voiced by Dave B. Mitchell.
Trivia[]
- Ranked 38th in IGN's "The Top 50 Avengers" in 2012.
- The character was brought back in Avengers #151 by Jim Shooter in response to DC creating Power Girl shortly after Marvel gave Luke Cage the alias "Power Man".
See Also[]
- Wonder Man on the Villains Wiki.
