A deleted scene in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) took place at a Simon Williams Film Festival, featuring posters from his movies, with Nathan Fillion as Simon on the posters. This generated fan speculation that Fillion would play Wonder Man, but Marvel announced the casting of Yahya Abdul-Mateen II in 2022. Fillion voiced Wonder Man in M.O.D.O.K. (2021).
The series was developed as a superhero satire and "a love letter to Los Angeles and the acting industry," with the producers citing the acting-centred shows Barry (2018) and Dave (2020) as an influence on the show.