Marvel‘s newest series Wonder Man has bolstered its cast with the addition of Demetrius Grosse to the show, according to a new report by TVLine. Grosse has been cast in the role of Eric Williams, the brother of Simon Williams – the alter ego of the titular Wonder Man, who will be played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Candyman, Watchmen, The Matrix Resurrections). Grosse has most recently been seen on television in AMC‘s Fear the Walking Dead and Apple TV+‘s Swagger, as well as Banshee, Brave and Justified.

Wonder Man was created by Stan Lee and illustrated by Don Heck and Jack Kirby and was first introduced in Marvel Comics in 1964 with The Avengers #9. The character is the son of the industrialist, Sanford Williams. In the wake of his beloved father’s death, he assumes control of their highly successful ammunition business, but comes to see its successes limited when it comes into direct competition with Tony Stark’s Stark Industries. Simon gains ion-based superpowers, including super strength.

He establishes himself as an antagonist to The Avengers while working under Baron Zemo. Later, however, he has a change of heart and ultimately he decides to become part of the same superhero team. He then develops an interest in acting and fellow superhero Hercules helps him to establish a career in Hollywood.

Who is Grim Reaper?

The character of Eric was seen as the “black sheep” of the Williams family, according to comic book lore. Simon was seen as the diamond of the family, and as such, his shunning steered Eric towards pursuing a life of crime and violence. He would ultimately gain a scythe that was upgraded with coma-inducting abilities, while he took on the mantle of Grim Reaper.

The series is being developed by Destin Daniel Cretton – who helmed Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings for Marvel, and who has also been entrusted with the next Avengers movie, entitled The Kang Dynasty. Hawkeye co-producer Andrew Guest is also assisting in the development of the series. Sir Ben Kingsley is also slated to reprise his role as Trevor Slattery in the series. Kingsley played the role twice previously for Marvel, both on the big screen, in Iron Man 3 and Shang Chi. The character of Slattery is an actor, and as such, tying him into Wonder Man’s desire to become an acting star would make perfect sense for the series.

Filming on the series is believed to be slated for this spring.

via Collider