Marvel Reveals an Unlikely Avenger is Huge in Europe

Warning: contains spoilers for King in Black: Thunderbolts #2

Few people have had the superhero career of Simon Williams aka Wonder Man. Originally an enemy of the Avengers, the superpowered former industrialist reformed and joined the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes where his unique abilities greatly assisted whichever team he joined. Although he originally left and tried his hand at being an actor, the lack of jobs only hastened his return to a team where he has been a long-standing member but hardly one of its most recognizable heroes. While his career has had many highs and lows, the Kingpin helmed Thunderbolts has hilariously informed others that while he is underappreciated in America, Simon Williams is considered a major celebrity in Europe.

Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in Avengers #9 (1962), Simon Williams was a criminal imprisoned on fraud and embezzlement charges whose dislike of Tony Stark was enough for Baron Zemo to recruit him for his Masters of Evil. Using an experimental technology that exposes Simon to chemical and radiation treatments, Zemo gave him a plethora of powers thanks to the energy coursing through his body which included superhuman strength, invulnerability, immortality, and others. Although manipulated to fight Stark and the Avengers, Simon eventually switched sides and fought by the heroes’ side while still suffering side effects from his powers. The constant battles and losses throughout the years, including one or two deaths and resurrections, combined with his suddenly unstable powers caused Simon to lash out, blaming the Avengers for the world’s problems and even forming a team called the Revengers to back him up. Following brief imprisonment, Simon was able to redeem himself by becoming a pacifist superhero, reconciling his relationship with the Avengers and providing crucial support in War of the Realms and the recent Empyre.

In the past, Simon Williams felt like he was only acting a hero so he left the Avengers to give an acting career a chance. With his only constant job being a strongman on a children’s show, Simon quit, and after a brief transition period from acting and the Avengers, he ended up getting regular work as a stunt man which also began to revitalize his acting career until his personal issues and responsibilities to the West Coast Avengers saw it go on permanent hiatus. In King in Black: Thunderbolts #2 by Matthew Rosenberg and Juan Ferreyra, the Thunderbolts are blackmailed by Kingpin to go on a mission through a symbiote-infested New York while guarding someone whose powers could help them end the gloomy invasion. Among the survivors is international criminal and exaggerated Frenchman and forgotten MCU villain, Batroc the Leaper who informs his teammates that Simon Williams is actually very popular in Europe, especially France.

Following a theater named after him in Stephen Strange’s Strange Academy, this is the second mention of someone who is considered a lesser-known and respected Avenger. Despite his impressive set of powers and long history with the team, Wonder Man never seemed to receive the American spotlight that other mainstream Avengers have. Whether that has to do with his criminal past or his personal issues, it’s amusing here to find that he’s quite the celebrity overseas, possibly due to reruns of his television or movie roles. Batroc himself might be quite a fan, eagerly comparing the Thunderbolts no-mask policy to his public identity or complimenting teammate Star on her heroic save, stating that she’s acting more and more like the signature strong hero.

While Wonder Man has been both hero and villain to the Avengers, he’s achieved the kind of popularity that brings to mind actor David Hasselhoff whose celebrity in the United States could not compare to the popularity he saw internationally as an actor and musician in the late 1980s and 1990s. With his big-screen debut rumored to appear on the current WandaVision series, it looks just like the ‘Hoff, Wonder Man might be due for a comeback.

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