Wonder Man episode echoes Simpsons rise-and-fall catchphrase plot

Gamesradar reports that the Disney Plus series Wonder Man’s fourth standalone episode closely mirrors a classic Simpsons installment, reframing a self-contained story as a rapid rise-and-fall fame arc.

The show has deliberately diverged from the comics—Simon Williams is presented as an actor rather than an Avenger—and in this fourth standalone chapter the writers focus on DeMarr, a Doorman who gains teleportation powers from items discarded in a Roxxon skip. Josh Gad’s character shepherds DeMarr into celebrity, a small movie role and a viral catchphrase, 'Ding dong,' propel him to talk-show fame before the gimmick wears thin and the plot folds back into Simon’s storyline.

That trajectory recalls the 1994 Simpsons episode 'Bart Gets Famous,' in which Bart’s accidental line 'I didn’t do it!' becomes his ticket to fleeting fame and reduces him to a one-note gimmick. The Simpsons writers have said (via commentary on the season 5 DVD box set) they deliberately made Bart’s catchphrase 'lousy' to show how 'really crummy things can become really popular.' It is unclear whether Wonder Man intentionally referenced The Simpsons, though the series does nod to other Disney-owned properties such as Twilight and American Horror Story. Wonder Man is streaming now on Disney Plus.