According to one of its newest stars, Marvel Studios is set to address superhero fatigue in 2026. For several years, the idea of 'superhero fatigue' has been a phrase that has plagued franchises like the MCU. Detractors of the super-powered series have used the edict to publicly share their distaste for the continued exploration of comic-based media. While, for the most part, those involved in projects like the MCU have shied away from discussing superhero fatigue head-on, that may soon come to an end.
Wonder Man star Yahya Abul-Mateen II shared in a new interview with Empire that his upcoming 2026 MCU series will explore the concept of superhero fatigue and its impact on the modern entertainment industry. Mateen remarked that Wonder Man is "self-aware" and will feature "commentary about superhero fatigue and things like that:"
"The show is self-aware, without looking directly into the camera. There’ll be commentary about superhero fatigue and things like that, but to me, it’s just dressing. That’s not really the aim of the show. The focus of the show is about an actor’s journey. It’s about a journey of friendship."
The upcoming Disney+ series is set to focus on an actor working in a tongue-in-cheek version of Hollywood. This will include commentary on the modern-day movie-making machine, as well as featuring a couple of real-life actors as themselves in a move similar to Apple TV's The Studio series.
All eight episodes of Wonder Man will drop simultaneously on Disney+ on January 27. The new series is the latest Marvel project from Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings director Destin Daniel Cretton. It stars Mateen alongside Sir Ben Kingsley, Arian Moayed, and Zlatko Burić.
Wonder Man follows fledgling actor Simon Williams as he goes out for a role in the latest big-name superhero movie reboot. However, along the way, he discovers he may have superpowers of his own (read more about Simon Wiliams' superpowers here).
Why Is Marvel Calling Out Superhero Fatigue Now?
In the last few years—really, since the end of the Infinity Saga—the idea of superhero fatigue has been lobbed Marvel's way, calling out the franchise for its continued prolific output of comic book content.
The emergence of this phrase coincided with a period of ups and downs at Marvel Studios, as the studio's previously spotless track record began to accumulate some misses (either financially or critically).
In 2023, Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige issued a public statement about the idea of superhero fatigue, saying he "didn't really understand" the concept and was going to continue doing what he was doing in "adapting [these stories] into different genres." The Marvel executive did not bat an eye at superhero fatigue, even as it was increasingly being blamed for the studio's perceived fall from grace.
Now, with some time having passed since these comments from Feige, the studio seems ready to poke fun at the idea as well as itself a bit, including some of these more fourth-wall-breaking elements of the Wonder Man series.
Enough time has passed since what some saw as a dip in the MCU that Marvel seems ready to make fun of itself a little, and superhero fatigue would likely play into that.
Hopefully, this is a sign of new confidence from the studio, as it heads into a new, more deliberate era primed for the second half of the 2020s.
