Yahya Abdul-Mateen II Criticizes Disney Over Marvel Cancellations

Marvel Studios faced widespread criticism after Disney canceled the Disney Plus series Wonder Man and abandoned plans for its long-gestating Blade film starring Mahershala Ali. Fans quickly pointed out that both projects starred Black leads, a rarity within the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Similar concerns have surfaced around other Black heroes in the franchise. Some viewers argue that Marvel undercut Anthony Mackie’s role as Captain America by bringing back Chris Evans as Steve Rogers for Avengers: Doomsday. Other fans have questioned the trajectory of Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau following the events of 2023’s The Marvels, in which Rambeau crossed into an alternate X-Men universe but has remained absent from promotional materials for Avengers: Doomsday.

Wonder Man star Yahya Abdul-Mateen II addressed the conversation in an interview with Vanity Fair, speaking on Marvel’s recent cancellations and public reaction.

“I think the optics are obvious,” Abdul-Mateen said. “If I’m a big business, if I’m Disney, if I’m Marvel, I don’t want to be attached to these optics. So it should be a priority to change that narrative and to do what it takes to responsibly change that narrative with quality stories, with quality resources.”

Abdul-Mateen, who portrayed Simon Williams in Wonder Man, said executives told him the cancellation stemmed from viewership metrics rather than creative shortcomings.

“I felt that our show did have quality story, did have quality resources, did have quality actors and people, and did produce quality results that the viewers responded to positively, that the voters responded to positively,” Abdul-Mateen said. “So our show does deserve some study and some real, hard information about why a show like this did not continue forward, because it had all of the ingredients that one would want in a show.”

The remarks follow comments from Ali, who offered a pointed response in July after Blade stalled.

“[Marvel] had me under contract, they have billions of dollars,” Ali said. “If they wanted to do the movie, we would’ve done the movie. So we’re not doing the movie.”

Showrunner Andrew Guest expressed similar confusion regarding the fate of Wonder Man.

“Yahya, Destin, Sir Ben, and I all loved making this show,” Guest said. “[We] all felt passionately about continuing to do it, and were eager to. Contracts were signed. Schedules were cleared. The writers’ room was supposed to start this week. The production was supposed to begin early next year, and there was a decision made internally between Disney and Marvel that this didn’t make sense for them, even though a few months ago it did.”

Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige said in July that he felt “like a gigantic loser and failure that we didn’t get [Blade] off the ground with Mahershala [Ali].” Despite that acknowledgment, both Ali and Abdul-Mateen have made clear that the broader pattern of cancellations leaves an unmistakable impression.

Source: Polygon