There have been assorted changes made from the comics to the on screen world of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. So far, it seems like the adaptation of Wonder Man might be one of the furthest from the source material. They are definitely leaning hard into Simon Williams’ acting career, even if they are ignoring the rest of his history. The acting career and the Hollywood life are very much the focus of episode two of Wonder Man’s series, “Self Tape.”

The episode opens with the hapless Trevor Slattery flying back to Hollywood before the events of the first episode. His chat with a fan lasts until after they land, which is when Trevor gets tackled by the FBI. This leads to him meeting Damage Control Agent Cleary, who has been a thorn in the side of assorted heroes like Spider-Man and Ms. Marvel. Why Cleary is suddenly on the West Coast instead of New York isn’t explained, but Cleary wants Trevor to go undercover and prove Simon has powers. As far as I know, having powers isn’t illegal in the MCU, but Cleary doesn’t seem to dwell on formalities like due process. Between them, they come up with a scheme to set up Simon.

Speaking of, Simon goes through his morning routine and then gets an angry call from his agent. She is not pleased about his falsely using her name to get the audition for the Wonder Man movie. They go back and forth, and she grudgingly tells him he has a chance at an indie project. Simon gets to work but isn’t happy with the results. He gets upset over the audition and then watching some old videos of him and his ex, which triggers his powers going off. His powers are impressive and destructive, but have nothing at all that I can see in common with the comic book version.

Trevor and Cleary do some more plotting, and then Trevor starts scheming to spend more time with Simon for Cleary. Trevor’s attempt to get into Simon’s apartment doesn’t work out, and they end up going to that uniquely Hollywood institution- the self tape studio. After dealing with some incompetent “help” there, they go wandering. First to Trevor’s place, which is full of mementos of Trevor’s career (some of which are meta Easter eggs from Ben Kingsley’s actual career). They get chased out of Trevor’s place by some very loud music from a neighbor, and end up with an extended cameo from Joe Pantoliano, who has worked with Trevor before. This, in turn, falls apart over some simmering resentment from Trevor to Joe, and Simon reluctantly brings Trevor back to his place.

Throughout all of his appearances, Trevor has been a fairly self-involved, looking out for himself character to a greater or lesser extent. He has a chance to change that when he’s left alone in Simon’s place, and we see that Trevor is many things, but a self-sacrificing hero isn’t among them. Trevor betrays Simon’s trust once, then goes snooping and finds something even more disturbing. It’s a disappointing, but in character, moment from Trevor.

What I Liked: All of the performances are good, Ben Kingsley, Yahya Abdul-Mateen, Joe Pantoliano, and even Arian Moayed (Cleary) do well. The episode focuses on some of the more bizarre aspects of life in Hollywood. I’m interested in figuring out what Simon’s powers are in this world, and how he got them. I’m also really curious what Simon did to get on Damage Control’s radar, and why Clearly ended up with the case and changing coasts.

What I Didn’t: A lot of really bad adaptations have shared the same flaw: needless changes from the source material. I’m enjoying the series so far, but I’m a bit worried about all the changes to Simon’s powers and, apparently, his back story. I’m also not surprised by Trevor’s various choices, but I am disappointed.

This was a good episode. I’ll give it a solid 4 out of 5, and am looking forward to rest of the series, and hopefully some answers to my various questions.