Josh Gad and Joe Pantoliano turn ‘Wonder Man’ into a sharp Hollywood satire

Josh Gad and Joe Pantoliano have become two of the most talked-about additions to Wonder Man, thanks to meta cameos that lean hard into Hollywood satire rather than traditional superhero spectacle.

The eight-episode Marvel series dropped in full on January 27, with viewers quickly picking up on how celebrity “as themselves” casting is used as a storytelling device, not just a quick joke.

Why their cameos stand out

Unlike brief cameo appearances elsewhere in the genre, Wonder Man builds its world around the entertainment industry. Gad and Pantoliano play heightened versions of themselves, instantly signalling status, influence and industry tension without heavy exposition.

Gad appears in a standout mid-season episode, while Pantoliano’s role stretches across the season and feeds directly into the show’s themes of competition and replacement.

What ‘Wonder Man’ is really about

The series stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Simon Williams, a struggling actor hiding superhuman abilities, alongside Ben Kingsley as Trevor Slattery, an actor clinging to relevance.

Rather than positioning supervillains as the main threat, Wonder Man frames Hollywood itself as the antagonistic force, with fame, branding and insecurity driving much of the conflict.

The result is a superhero series that feels less like an origin story and more like a commentary on how the industry rewards, discards and reinvents its stars.