'Wonder Man' Ending Explained & Finale Recap: Did Simon Become A Star?

Wonder Man’s ending was about Simon risking it all to rescue Trevor from a high-security DODC (Department of Damage Control) prison. Why did things come down to that? Well, an enhanced actor named DeMarr Davis had accidentally sent Josh Gad (yes, the actor) into the liminal space that existed between the portals Davis was able to create from his belly. So, the DODC had put out a law that disallowed enhanced individuals from taking on acting roles. In addition to that, the DODC was keeping track of Simon because he had the ability to channel ionic energy and use it to blast his enemies, increase his strength, and even fly. When Simon tried to break into the movie industry, the DODC had a legit reason to nab him. But since he was so good at hiding his superpowers, DODC’s Agent Cleary sent in Trevor to get all the info the agency needed to get ahold of Simon. In exchange for that, Trevor wouldn’t be sent to jail for pretending to be the Mandarin (in Iron Man 3). However, since Trevor was an actor as well, he actually got invested in Simon’s journey through the world of cinema, and, instead of giving him up to the DODC, Trevor worked with him on his acting chops, and both of them got cast in Von Kovak’s film on the titular character. Eventually, after an interview with the New York Times’ Kathy Friedman, Trevor’s deal with the DODC came to light, which caused Simon to break his bromance with Trevor and set off an ionic energy explosion in the film’s set. What happened next? Let’s find out.

Spoiler Alert

Apologies for being Captain Obvious, but, yes, Simon and Trevor’s story had the same beats as that of Wonder Man and Barnaby’s story in the movie. Barnaby was Wonder Man’s best and only friend, but he betrayed Wonder Man because General Broulard had successfully bought his allegiance. As per the script, that’d lead to a final battle between Wonder Man and Broulard, which’d end with Wonder Man defeating Broulard and saving the planet. In the show, Trevor was Simon’s best and only friend, and he was leaking information about him to Agent Cleary to secure his own freedom. After that explosion, technically, Cleary would have gone after Simon, thereby leading to a final battle between the DODC and Simon. But in order to avoid acting like the character he was playing, Trevor donned his Mandarin costume again and took the blame of the explosion upon himself. He made up an excuse that he destroyed the film’s set to stop the United States government’s attempts at brainwashing innocent viewers by wielding the manipulative powers of the entertainment industry; but the truth of the matter was that he didn’t want to be the villain of Simon’s story. By the way, feel free to read up on the real-life Marvel Studios’ ties with the United States government; it’s borderline frightening. And treating it as a conspiracy theory being peddled by Trevor seems like Marvel’s efforts of tackling any criticisms about the studio actually being hand-in-glove with the US government. This joke would have worked a few years ago, but since there are numerous articles on the internet about this “conspiracy theory,” joking about the preposterousness of such allegations isn’t going to fly. Anyway, going back to the plot, although Cleary knew that Trevor was taking the fall for Simon, he had no option but to play along with Trevor, or else he would have been fired by his boss, Deputy Secretary Heyerdahl. 

Cleary had spent so much of the DODC’s time and money on using Trevor to nab Simon. After that, if he told Heyerdahl that Trevor was pretending to be the real Mandarin just to save his friend, Simon, that would be scandalous. I have to remind everyone that Trevor was imprisoned by Wenwu and the Ten Rings for telling the world that he was the Mandarin. Doing that again may or may not attract the ire of the current leader of the Ten Rings, Xialing. No, we don’t see Xialing and the Ten Rings descend upon California to punish Trevor; he was arrested and imprisoned in the DODC’s high-security prison. Since Simon’s name had been cleared, he got to finish filming Wonder Man. Von Kovak gave the role of Barnaby to Joe Pantoliano, Trevor’s arch-nemesis in the world of acting. The movie was received well at its premiere, especially by Simon’s mother, Martha, and Simon’s brother, Eric. Von Kovak told Simon that he was open to doing a sequel, even though he knew that it wouldn’t measure up to the original, which is a lesson that Marvel itself should have taken instead of releasing countless sequels, prequels, and spin-offs. Joe seemingly joined Janelle’s talent agency because she was responsible for finding a gem like Simon. Joe was also on good terms with Simon, and he promised to show him the wonders of real estate, even though Simon hated Baby’s Day Out, which in my humble opinion is a comedy classic and everyone who hates it probably has no sense of joy in their life. Either way, it was clear that Simon was destined for great things in the world of entertainment. He had worked hard to get there, and he was ready to reap everything that he had painstakingly sown.

In Wonder Man’s ending, Simon threw all that potential in the bin by breaking into the DODC and rescuing Trevor. Why? What was he thinking? His dream wasn’t just to see himself on the silver screen; it was to be on the silver screen as Wonder Man. And after all those ups and downs, Trevor had given Simon the perfect excuse to keep being an actor, while keeping his superpowers a secret. So, what was the point of undermining Trevor’s sacrifice? Well, if Simon had accepted the “out” that Trevor had given him, he would have proven that he was still an extremely self-centered guy. It’s tough to determine why Trevor became so selfish. He wasn’t like that when he was a kid. Maybe his father’s death (who was the loudest cheerleader of his acting), his superpowers, the fire incident, his brother’s antagonism, his mother’s overprotective nature, the bullying he faced at school, and the rejections he got while trying to land acting roles prompted him to only think about himself. He never lent a helping hand to anyone and he was so ignorant about how wrong that attitude was that he got offended when others weren’t generous to him. Then Trevor entered his life and Simon felt grateful for the help that he provided; which was why his betrayal must have hurt because the new chapter of his life was built on a lie. So, Simon could have accepted Trevor’s act of selflessness as penance for his backstabbing. But that would have meant that he had learned nothing over the course of this adventure that led him to become the titular superhero. By sacrificing his career for the sake of friendship, he proved that he was ready to prioritize others before thinking about himself. Sure, that’d prevent him from becoming an actor anymore, but it’d make him a good human being and a responsible superhero. 

Marvel superhero movies and shows had become about the lore, nostalgia-bait, overcomplicated plot machinations, violence, and setting up the next sequel that they forgot to talk about what it means to be a superhero. Simon knew Trevor for a few days only, yet he chose to free him rather than enjoy his stardom, and I think that was the right thing to do. I mean, Cleary said that Simon could be an asset. Therefore, in the future, if Simon strikes some kind of a deal with Cleary that’ll ensure Trevor’s freedom and allow Simon to continue working as an actor, then this seemingly rash decision to break into the DODC will seem like a boon rather than a bane. That’s something that even one of the showrunners, Andrew Guest, has hinted at. He’s even said that there’ll be a mission to bring back Josh Gad. So, if Wonder Man gets greenlit for a sequel or Season 2, maybe Simon will work with Davis to rescue Gad from the portal-verse and motivate the DODC to strike down the Doorman (that’s Davis’ superhero name) Clause. That way, superheroes will be allowed to enter the entertainment business again, Simon won’t have to live a dual life, his friendship with Trevor will prevail, and his family will continue to be proud of him. Heck, maybe a second season will give the writers the opportunity to tackle what happens when a character played by a White guy is rebooted with a Black actor at the helm, because it’s something that they completely ignored in this show. Or, much like every overpowered superhero that’s been introduced in the post-Endgame phases, this is the last that we’ll see of Wonder Man. Anyway, that’s what I think about the ending of the show. What are your opinions on the same? Let me know in the comments section below.