Wonder Man's British Soap Opera Reference Goes Way Deeper Than You Think
By Dan Bibby
January 29th, 2026
Incredibly minor spoiler ahead for Wonder Man
Wonder Man is here with an unconventional addition to the MCU, and it comes with an incredibly meta reference to a long-running British soap opera. The Disney+ series itself is fantastic, and it's filled with little Easter eggs like this to augment the well-written storyline. While American audiences may miss one of these fun moments or cast it aside as fictitious nonsense, there's a hidden layer that needs to be accounted for.
Because Wonder Man takes place almost as a self-contained narrative within the MCU, it's easy to forget that there's a larger universe to account for while you're watching it. Then, a random mention of Captain America, for example, pulls you back into the "correct" mindset. If there is such a thing when watching a show like this. However, one of my favorite Wonder Man Easter eggs doesn't even acknowledge the MCU. But...in a way, it also sort of does.
Because Wonder Man takes place almost as a self-contained narrative within the MCU, it's easy to forget that there's a larger universe to account for while you're watching it. Then, a random mention of Captain America, for example, pulls you back into the "correct" mindset. If there is such a thing when watching a show like this. However, one of my favorite Wonder Man Easter eggs doesn't even acknowledge the MCU. But...in a way, it also sort of does.
Let's Break Down Wonder Man's Coronation Street Reference
Coronation Street has been running continuously since 1960, making it even older than the other ancient British show, Doctor Who. The age of the soap opera means it has had a revolving door of cast members through the decades. Some characters been more memorable than others, but certain actors are still only really known for their Coronation Street roles. Wonder Man acknowledges the former group of stars by implying Ben Kinglsey's Trevor Slattery appeared as a character called Ron Jenkins in Coronation Street.
Like countless other Brits, I was pretty much born with a respectable amount of knowledge about Coronation Street. I've only ever dipped in and out of the show, but a lot of the lore is essentially embedded in the culture. So, when Simon Williams (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) recalled Trevor's role as Ron during a brief moment in Wonder Man episode 2, "Self-Tape," I assumed the scene was being more playful than it turned out to be. Surely, I'd know if the great Ben Kingsley had been in Coronation Street? Turns out I was wrong.
After doing some digging, I discovered he actually DID play a character called Ron Jenkins in 7 episodes of Coronation Street between 1966 and 1967. If I hadn't checked, I'd have been fully fine with just accepting that Wonder Man had made use of the British soap's laundry list of past stars to hide a fictional Trevor Slattery role, giving him a believably long acting career by rooting it in a real-world project. The truth is far cooler. That said, it is a little hard to believe that Simon would know or care about Trevor's Corrie tenure. I guess it just reinforces Simon's passion and encyclopedic knowledge of the industry.
Like countless other Brits, I was pretty much born with a respectable amount of knowledge about Coronation Street. I've only ever dipped in and out of the show, but a lot of the lore is essentially embedded in the culture. So, when Simon Williams (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) recalled Trevor's role as Ron during a brief moment in Wonder Man episode 2, "Self-Tape," I assumed the scene was being more playful than it turned out to be. Surely, I'd know if the great Ben Kingsley had been in Coronation Street? Turns out I was wrong.
After doing some digging, I discovered he actually DID play a character called Ron Jenkins in 7 episodes of Coronation Street between 1966 and 1967. If I hadn't checked, I'd have been fully fine with just accepting that Wonder Man had made use of the British soap's laundry list of past stars to hide a fictional Trevor Slattery role, giving him a believably long acting career by rooting it in a real-world project. The truth is far cooler. That said, it is a little hard to believe that Simon would know or care about Trevor's Corrie tenure. I guess it just reinforces Simon's passion and encyclopedic knowledge of the industry.
What Wonder Man's Roy Jenkins Reveal Means For Coronation Street In The MCU
Well...this isn't something I thought I'd ever be writing about. But here we are, so let's get stuck in. The most obvious revelation here is that Coronation Street canonically exists as a TV show in the MCU. Wild. Piggybacked onto that is the fact that Ben Kingsley, the actor, DOESN'T exist in the MCU. Instead, it was Trevor Slattery playing Roy Jenkins in the 1960s. If Trevor was ever credited as Ben Kingsley, it was probably just a stage name. Zooming out a little, other differences can be analyzed.
As its core, past all the family drama and other successful storylines, Coronation Street's primary function is to act as a sort of social commentary. It regularly folds in notable elements of popular culture to increase the illusion of the show taking place in the real world. It's safe to assume that this is a trait that the soap opera's MCU counterpart also boasts. This is where things get a little crazy. Although Corrie was probably virtually identical in both the MCU and the real world when Roy Jenkins was part of the story, the decades that followed will definitely have resulted in some very obvious changes.
As superheroes became more and more a part of everyday life in the MCU, its version of Coronation Street would have been forced to acknowledge them. In the real version of the show, including superheroes like Iron Man would completely transform its genre label. We won't even mention the lawsuits that would probably materialize. So, the version of Coronation Street that's referenced in Wonder Man will be vastly different from the real-world project by the time of the MCU's present-day setting.
Wonder Man is streaming now on Disney+
As its core, past all the family drama and other successful storylines, Coronation Street's primary function is to act as a sort of social commentary. It regularly folds in notable elements of popular culture to increase the illusion of the show taking place in the real world. It's safe to assume that this is a trait that the soap opera's MCU counterpart also boasts. This is where things get a little crazy. Although Corrie was probably virtually identical in both the MCU and the real world when Roy Jenkins was part of the story, the decades that followed will definitely have resulted in some very obvious changes.
As superheroes became more and more a part of everyday life in the MCU, its version of Coronation Street would have been forced to acknowledge them. In the real version of the show, including superheroes like Iron Man would completely transform its genre label. We won't even mention the lawsuits that would probably materialize. So, the version of Coronation Street that's referenced in Wonder Man will be vastly different from the real-world project by the time of the MCU's present-day setting.
Wonder Man is streaming now on Disney+
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We have written nothing else about Coronation Street. But we do have a bunch more about superheroes:
- Check out the current state of James Gunn's DCU timeline and what's still to come.
- We have all the information you'll need about Daredevil: Born Again season 2.
- Read about how Gen V keeps wasting its best characters.