Sean Fletcher, Maker of Games

Tonight’s family game night event: Diced Veggies. Fairly quick and light, with just enough puzzle-y bits to guarantee we’ll get plenty more plays in.

I made Chicago Dogs.

Anyway, the whole thing is built in eight 30-ish minute episodes, so it can easily be binged in about 5 hours or less. Just go watch it. Even if you’ve never paid attention to the Marvel movies, this is just fantastic TV.

Even Josh Gad would agree.

Simon *wants* to be Wonder Man. Simon can eventually *be* Wonder Man (okay, maybe a little spoiler, but again, very telegraphed). But it’s clear from the start that Simon has work to do to get there, and he can’t do it alone. He just doesn’t understand what he needs. He’s human like that.

Wonder Man does not adhere to the original source material. And while that can often be a cardinal sin in making a film or show based on an established character, I think it works so well here. This isn’t the story of comics-accurate Wonder Man’s adventures. It’s the story of a Simon Williams.

In an age where show premises have to be ultra-edgy or inconceivably clever, this one is just human. It hangs the lampshade here too; being about the entertainment industry, there are jokes that specifically call out those other approaches, but do so without mocking them.

The aesthetic of the show is a quiet, introspective lo-fi, with a constant nod to TV and films of the 70’s and 80’s; before Simon was even born, and likely the peak of Trevor’s career. It works so well, especially given the current backlash-climate around high-budget blockbuster superhero films.

It makes him that much more attuned to understanding Simon and his internal challenges (played amazingly by Yahya Abdul-Mateen). Between the two, we see two phenomenal actors playing with characters who may not always be great actors themselves, becoming more complete people, and they nail it.

And Trevor Slattery (surprisingly, what might be one of Sir Ben Kingsley’s most engaging roles; he’s fucking brilliant) plays the teacher so well for Simon. Trevor is all over the place, but he knows it. He knows the highs of his career, he knows the lows (The Mandarin). He owns it all.

The only character with any question as to what comes next is Simon, and as much as you’d expect a show called “Wonder Man” to tell the story through his eyes, it doesn’t. We watch and feel Simon’s struggles, but we’re never really surprised by them. He’s an open book, but only to us (and Trevor).

The writers could have followed a more typical pattern for this sort of story, with twists and turns and suspense. Instead, they telegraphed everything, starting from episode 1 and hanging the lampshade in every beat after. We see everything coming from a mile away, and that choice was perfect.

The acting is great. The writing is great. The pacing is great. It never feels quite like a superhero story, instead focusing a relationship story of two flawed people who become much needed friends; a lonely student and a unlikely mentor.

There’s a lot of really bad, really disturbing stuff happening in America right now, so focusing on something as trivial as a superhero TV show feels almost a little disrespectful to me in the moment.

Still, I have to tell you. Watch Wonder Man.

A spoiler-free review…

That finale was incredible. 10/10, no notes.

One could argue I haven’t seen a Pats SB loss in quite a while either.

Meanwhile I’m legitimately emotionally invested in both teams. Awkward.

Soy you’re saying they disarmed a man that was pinned to the ground, then shot him 10 times in the back?

The bravery of those fucking hero-wannabes.

That might be a spicy card pool.

Welcome to the less-shit-slingy monkey house.

You’re going to OrcaCon, right? 😁

The ICE agent who allegedly* murdered Good has been identified, you say?

Huh.

*(hasn’t been officially charged or convicted yet, but, you know, lots of video evidence and witnesses, so…)

There are things I desperately want to say, but it’s all been said.

Things need to change, and it can’t happen fast enough.

Have the pet food companies started calling you for endorsements yet? Because if you’re not the person most associated with love for their pet in America right now, I’d be stunned.

All of Night Thoughts was great, but the Bagel stories are permanent Kumail canon. Heartfelt in a way we all need.

It was Heather’s turn to pick the game for game night tonight. She chose original recipe Small World, and was… displeased… when I beat her score by 2 points to take first place.

My in-laws used to have a miniature poodle that would come running and fixate on the TV if Godzilla movies were on.

Untitled TCG Playtester Application Interested in helping us playtest and improve a new fantasy-themed Trading Card Game? Tell us a little about yourself! This will help us find players with similar backgrounds to pair up and make demo ...

CALLING ALL PLAYTESTERS!

The short version: David Freeman and I have been designing a Trading Card Game (two, actually) for an author named Ryan Cahill. We’re looking for playtesters well-versed in TCGs and Tabletop Simulator. Interested? Plug in your details here!

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Today on the DiscoCandybar blog, I procrastinate and avoid writing a rules document revision by writing about revising rules documents.

discocandybar.com/2026/01/02/m...

Having lived in San Diego County, I can verify this.

Having lived in Seattle, I can say SoCal does not have a monopoly on this phenomena.

My finished New Years’ Lego build.

New Year’s Eve at our house: Chicken nachos, a Lord of the Rings marathon, and a butt ton of Lego projects.

I got my son a glass that has the symbol for his Gloomhaven character on it (left). He’s overjoyed.