Wonder Man creators explain how Josh Gad and Joe Pantoliano were cast as spoof versions of themse...

Destin Daniel Cretton and Andrew Guest break down the hilarious celebrity cameos that were &34;essential&34; to Marvel's latest TV show. Wonder Man creators explain how Josh Gad and Joe Pantoliano were cast as spoof versions of themselves Destin Daniel Cretton and Andrew Guest break down the hilarious celebrity cameos that were &34;essential&34; to Marvel's latest TV show. By Sydney Bucksbaum :maxbytes(150000):stripicc()/headshotb5dc24df8d5d43d1a16c9ce0e0383119.jpg) Sydney Bucksbaum Sydney Bucksbaum is a staff writer at . She has been working at EW since 2019 and is a published author.

Destin Daniel Cretton and Andrew Guest break down the hilarious celebrity cameos that were "essential" to Marvel's latest TV show.

Wonder Man creators explain how Josh Gad and Joe Pantoliano were cast as spoof versions of themselves

Destin Daniel Cretton and Andrew Guest break down the hilarious celebrity cameos that were "essential" to Marvel's latest TV show.

By Sydney Bucksbaum

Sydney Bucksbaum

Sydney Bucksbaum is a staff writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2019 and is a published author. Her work has previously appeared in *TV Guide Magazine*, E! News/E! Online, *The Hollywood Reporter*, Mashable, Bustle, IGN, DCComics.com, Inverse, *The Daily Northwestern*, and more.

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January 27, 2026 9:00 p.m. ET

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Joe Pantoliano and Josh Gad on 'Wonder Man'. Credit:

**Warning: This article contains spoilers about the season finale of *Wonder Man*.**

Marvel's new TV show about actors trying to make it in Hollywood appropriately enlisted actors who have made it in Hollywood.

*Wonder Man* stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (hitting the comic book trifecta by joining Marvel after his *Aquaman* and *Watchmen* roles to play Simon Williams) and Sir Ben Kingsley (reprising his MCU role as Trevor Slattery) as unlikely friends who help each other audition for a big budget superhero movie. That is, until Simon's secret superpowers and the Department of Damage Control get in the way of their Hollywood dreams.

The meta series builds out an entire fake Tinseltown around Simon and Trevor, including talent managers, wacky directors, movie sets, and red carpet premieres, for an authentic and surprisingly grounded exploration of the lives of working actors today. But two real actors play spoof versions of themselves across the eight episodes: Joe "Joey Pants" Pantoliano and Josh Gad.

Joe Pantoliano in 'Wonder Man'.

"One of the most fun moments was casting the Joey Pants role," co-creator Andrew Guest tells *.*

Pantoliano first pops up in the second episode, clearly enjoying himself as he plays a fictional and dramatized version of himself. He's Trevor's longtime "rival" who represents what the failed actor/fake Mandarin could have been. When Simon needs a quiet place to film a self-tape audition, Trevor suggests visiting his former *South Shore Hospital *costar. And Joey Pants is happy to open his Malibu mansion — adorned with posters of his 1994 comedy *Baby's Day Out,* of course — to the struggling actors, paying it forward since he became a massive star after Trevor was killed off the medical drama.

Sir Ben Kingsley and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II in 'Wonder Man'.

Suzanne Tenner/Marvel

The former costars have varied memories of what caused Trevor to lose his job back in the day, but it turns out that Joey Pants did not sabotage Trevor like he thought for decades — Trevor did that all on his own due to his extreme drug and alcohol addictions. But Simon sticks up for his new friend by dropping this hilarious burn when they ultimately storm out of the mansion: "You suck, Joe Pantoliano. *Baby's Day Out* is garbage. Even that dumb baby couldn't make you funny."

Joey Pants returns in the finale to take over Trevor's part in *Wonder Man*, the fake movie-within-the-show that launches Simon's career as an A-list actor. (Trevor was dropped from the movie after deciding to publicly become the Mandarin again to take the fall for Simon after he lost control of his powers on set.)

Sir Ben Kingsley and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II in 'Wonder Man'.

Marvel Television

But it turns out that the Joey Pants role was not originally written for Pantoliano — or any specific actor, for that matter.

"We had a list of character actors who are some of the best actors out there who maybe not are household names, but there was such a love from every person at Marvel of so many of these people who've meant so much to so many of us," Guest says. "And Joey just stood out amongst the crop and was the first person we put a call into."

Once Pantoliano agreed to play the part, Guest and co-creator Destin Daniel Cretton then tailored the character — and all his quirks — to him.

Joe Pantoliano reveals 'Wonder Man' role 22 years after Marvel's 'Daredevil' movie

Ben Kingsley says 'Wonder Man' shows Trevor Slattery before and after the Mandarin

"The wonderful thing about him is he's got so much to say about [acting and Hollywood]," Guest says. "He's written several books. He'll talk your ear off about acting and about his thoughts about why he got into the business and where his love of the craft comes from. And we put all of that in the script, and it's really incredible."

Meanwhile, Gad stars as a conceited, ultra-famous version of himself in the standalone fourth episode, which Cretton calls "its own little short film." The black-and-white episode tells the origin story of the Doorman Clause, an insurance policy in the MCU's version of Hollywood that bars people with superpowers from getting cast in any TV or movie production. It was created after Gad helped a superpowered club doorman named DeMarr Davis become a famous actor. He only landed roles that used his powers, however, and over time, DeMarr developed a drinking problem. One day on set, he accidentally made Gad disappear into his portal while filming drunk, and he was unable to bring him back. DeMarr ended up locked up by the DODC, and Gad was never recovered.

Josh Gad in 'Wonder Man'.

"There was always a celebrity character cameo for DeMarr to be paired with in that episode, but Josh was the first person we asked," Guest says. "And once he said yes, we got to write it specifically to him. And he just jumped in with both feet. He was so much fun to work with on set."

Cretton knew Gad previously, and loved getting to create a darker arc for the actor than what he's portrayed before.

"Obviously he's so funny and is a bit of a Disney icon," Cretton says of the *Frozen* star. "To be able to take somebody like that, who is known for being so charming and wonderfully sweet and supportive, and have him play a bit of an alter ego — in a lot of ways, he's kind of playing the devil in this episode. He's taking somebody who was very happy with his life, who was very content with where he was, and he planted this seed of power of like, 'You're better than this.' He planted this seed that creates a bit of a monster that ends up in a very tragic place. But because it's Josh Gad, it's really funny and really fun to watch."

But Cretton's favorite part? How composer Joel P West created an EDM remix of Gad's *Frozen* song, "In Summer," for the fictional version of the actor to perform in the club scene before DeMarr is forced to expose his powers to save everyone from a fire.

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Sir Ben Kingsley in 'Wonder Man'.

Suzanne Tenner/Marvel

"The whole song is actually really good," Cretton says with a laugh. "I do hope they release that song, because it's a banger."

As for why the co-creators spent an entire episode on DeMarr's backstory, Cretton said they always wanted that arc to feel different and stand out from the rest of the series.

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"One of the things we knew we needed was to explain to our audience why Simon wants to have a career on his own terms, in the right way," Guest explains. "We needed a cautionary tale, essentially of like a one-hit wonder, a flash in the pan."

The writers were inspired by the comic book arc of the mutant Doorman, who can turn into a human door.

"The more we talked about him, the more we realized it could be a full episode," Guest says. "And making sure that our audience understood what's at risk for Simon, not only in a concrete way of the Department of Damage Control will just lock you up and you'll never work again, but also in a sort of more artistic way of like, that's not the career that Simon wants, and here's step-by-step what could go wrong for Simon if he got the wrong role or didn't approach the industry the right way. That was essential."

All eight episodes of *Wonder Man* are now streaming on Disney+.

Original Article on Source

Source: "EW TV"

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Source: TV

Published: January 28, 2026 at 02:38AM on Source: PRIME TIME

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