The Beloved Marvel Disney Plus Series That Nearly Got Canceled After Test Screenings

Believe it or not, sometimes audiences can be a little off the mark in regard to what's actually good or bad. Most of the time we don't even know what we want from Marvel. That was precisely what happened with one of the best television shows to ever squeeze its way into the ever-expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe. Prior to its stupendously warm reception, the show that starred Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Simon Williams and Ben Kingsley returning as Trevor Slattery, "Wonder Man," was put through its paces by test audiences, who didn't like what they saw.

Appearing on The Watch podcast, showrunner Andrew Guest explained how he came close to panicking about the show's future after getting feedback from an audience who had watched the first two episodes. "When we tested the first two episodes, which we did in front of an audience, and it didn't test all that great because a lot of people were confused by the show," Guest explained. "I was like, okay, now they're going to say, 'Let's change it.'"

Thankfully, though, Marvel Studios stood strong with Guest and the project he delivered, albeit while concluding the audience wasn't necessarily wrong about what they'd seen. The issue was that what they were trying to sell didn't line up with what the test audience had been given. Things needed to change, but "Wonder Man" as a whole wasn't factored into the alterations.

Following that rather disconcerting reaction from test screenings, Marvel Studios deemed that the correct course of action was to repackage "Wonder Man" into what we ended up with. "'No, we have to market this differently,'" Guest recalled being the studio's approach. Such determination to ensure the show was handled with care was massively reassuring to the showrunner, particularly given the period things were happening. "What's amazing to me about this is the enthusiasm is one thing, but the realities of the period in which you were making the show were another."

Guest explained that this was a period when Marvel Studios was reevaluating how to handle its Disney Plus projects during a tumultuous, strike-effected time in Hollywood. "We, by the grace of somebody, story gods, we survived by the skin of our teeth several moments where we almost didn't survive, I can tell you."

Thankfully, by making it through and onto screens, the world was introduced to what's arguably one of the best MCU entrants in its televised section of storytelling. Currently standing on Rotten Tomatoes with 91%, there's no question that the right calls were made. Now all that's left to decide on is whether we'll see Simon and Trevor again in the future. We can only wonder. While you wait, have a look at our ranking of the best R-rated superhero shows here.