Wonder Man almost featured a brutal death for a major MCU character
Marvel’s Wonder Man nearly took a shockingly dark turn, with a beloved MCU character once set for a grisly on-screen death as the series skewers Hollywood from the inside. Josh Gad even shows up as himself — before disappearing. So who was on the chopping block?
Sometimes Marvel really does let its freak flag fly, and this time, it nearly got properly weird behind the scenes. The upcoming Disney+ series 'Wonder Man' had a pitch-black gag lined up for fans — and it was Josh Gad, of all people, who was set to be at the receiving end of it. All of this stems from an interview he gave, and frankly, the story behind it is more interesting than most of the Marvel press machine’s usual fare.
Josh Gad Was Going to Get the Full Splatter Movie Treatment
So, Josh Gad is playing himself in the MCU, which is already a surreal enough thought. But in the first version of 'Wonder Man', the plan for his cameo took a sharp turn into the macabre. In Gad’s own words:
"My character originally got fully severed. His body completely came apart, and I died! Part of the reason why I signed onto do this was this hilariously gruesome death scene."
Yes, really. He was supposed to be totally dismembered on-screen, cartoonishly over-the-top, just to prove he’d actually carked it in the Marvel world. Not your average MCU moment, is it?
What Actually Happens Instead
That version was – perhaps unsurprisingly – scrapped. In the version viewers will see, Gad's MCU self gets sucked into a portal belonging to DeMarr 'Doorman' Davis. Gad goes missing; presumed, well, somewhere. Not dead, not alive, just... gone.
This portal-related mishap isn’t just a throwaway gag, either. Turns out, it has big ripple effects across MCU-Hollywood:
- The Department of Damage Control slaps Doorman with lifelong surveillance, since portals swallowing celebrities is apparently bad PR.
- Hollywood’s answer? A new rule called the 'Doorman clause', which bans any super-powered individuals from working in showbiz.
- This throws a spanner in the works for Simon Williams, the titular Wonder Man himself, now forced to juggle acting gigs while keeping his powers firmly out of sight.
Gad Survives (Probably) — With a Jonah-and-the-Whale Twist
Gad also let slip another tidbit: they recorded a load of dialogue for his hypothetical existence inside Doorman, just pottering about, living his best hermit life in the Marvel equivalent of a whale’s belly. For a while, Marvel toyed with running snatches of this over the end credits, which frankly would have been a high point of post-credits weirdness, even for them.
Whether it’s playing dead or doing voiceover as an accidental stomach lodger, Gad is clearly up for more. He confirmed that the plan is to have his MCU self make a return in 'Wonder Man' season 2, saying:
"I’m very interested to see where that narrative will take us."
If you’re curious to see how all this meta superhero satire plays out, 'Wonder Man' is streaming on Disney+.