Simon Williams’s Wonder Man was originally meant to make a Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 cameo, as played by geek icon Nathan Fillion, but it never ended up happening on the big screen. Vol. 2 director James Gunn finally revealed on Facebook why his long-time friend Fillion was nowhere to be found.
In a post to his official Facebook page on Wednesday, Gunn premiered an in-world movie poster from Vol. 2 featuring Fillion as Simon — an actor and stuntman in the Marvel comics for a period of time — playing Tony Stark in what looks to be a Jobs-esque biographical film.
Gunn revealed that Fillion’s role was originally meant to be an Easter egg of sorts, with Gunn hoping Fillion would get a real role as Wonder Man in the future.
I really do love the character of Simon Williams/Wonder Man in the comics - a sometimes douchey actor/superhero - and could see Nathan clearly in that role (not because he’s a douchebag but because he’s great at playing one). But, of course, in a movie set 99.9% in space I didn’t really have a place for him. So in a small flash to earth I decided to put a theater playing a “Simon Williams Film Festival,” with six Simon Williams movie posters outside. Obviously, from the posters, he’s had a run of B movies. Most of them in themselves are Easter eggs of some sort or another.
Gunn went on to explain in the post that the scene also included “storefronts named after comic book luminaries Starlin, Mantlos, Annett and others,” had to be cut for timing purposes. Gunn added that “a lot of people took photos of these posters on the day so suddenly every fan site was reporting that Nathan was playing Wonder Man in the movie. He was even the third-billed actor on IMDB!”
The Facebook post ends on a positive note, with Gunn saying that he thinks Fillion’s part as Simon can be considered canon, and that he will “hold onto hope that Simon Williams will rise again.”
Be on the lookout for more in-universe movie posters of Fillion as Simon, as Gunn has promised to reveal a few more in the coming days.
