In the not-too-distant past, it was easy to keep track of the Marvel timeline. For the most part, each new movie was one step forward towards a definable, well, endgame. But nowadays, you need a Tony Stark-level intellect to keep up with the when, where and how of the MCU, with shows and movies rarely taking place concurrently.
We've already broken down the entire Marvel timeline into release and chronological order, but you might be wondering where Marvel Studios' latest show, Wonder Man, fits – and that's where we come in. Complicating matters slightly is the fact that Wonder Man is a Spotlight (ie. no homework required) show, but there are still two returning characters, so while prior Marvel knowledge isn't essential here, it's still useful.
When does Wonder Man take place in the MCU?
Thanks to some on-set sleuthing, we know exactly when Wonder Man takes place, as an in-universe casting call for the Wonder Man movie says 'Shooting Starts January 2026.' If you've watched all 8 episodes of Wonder Man, you'll know that the show covers roughly 1-2 years in the lives of Simon Williams and Trevor Slattery, as Simon goes from a struggling actor fired from the set of American Horror Story, to auditioning for and being cast in Wonder Man, to completing filming and moving onto his next project (aka breaking Trevor out of prison). So we can reasonably assume that the show takes place from roughly late 2025 to mid-2027.
The question of when the events of Wonder Man take place in relation to other movies in the MCU is a little more complicated, given the unusually broad period of time the show covers. Considering everything we know about the MCU timeline, we can say that Wonder Man's opening episodes are roughly concurrent with the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, which takes place Christmas 2025 (meaning Mantis and Drax are terrorizing Kevin Bacon at roughly the same time that Simon Williams is auditioning for the life-changing role of Wonder Man), while the show's final episodes takes us right up to present day MCU, with Thunderbolts*, Captain America: Brave New World and Daredevil: Born Again's first season all resolving in 2027.
Wonder Man may be a Marvel Spotlight series, meaning that no prior knowledge of MCU events is required to watch, but it does pick up the story of one particularly memorable supporting character from previous instalments: Trevor Slattery. First appearing in Iron Man 3 (set in 2013), that film saw Slattery assume the role of Ten Rings leader The Mandarin, only to be exposed as a plummy British actor whose King Lear was the toast of Croydon. Slattery popped up again in Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings (set 11 years later, in 2024), where it's revealed that he's been living as a prisoner of the real Mandarin, Wenwu.
Wonder Man, then, picks up with Slattery roughly one year after we last saw him, as the thespian returns to Hollywood to do his mum proud… only to be immediately arrested by the Department of Damage Control (by returning DODC Agent Cleary, who previously popped up in Spider-Man: No Way Home and Ms. Marvel) upon arriving in the country. Slattery also mentions that he's '13 years sober', which tallies with what we know, because it's been 13 years since his stint as The Mandarin at the start of Wonder Man.
Where and when we'll see Slattery and Simon Williams next pop up on the MCU timeline, however, remains to be seen.
Wonder Man is streaming on Disney Plus now. For more, here's everything you need to know about Marvel Phase 6, as well as our guide on how to watch the Marvel movies in order.
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