Hi @yellowboi,
Do you see that space in between https: and //acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/directory in your command line above? The space doesn't belong there; https://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/directory is a single URL and should be entered with no spaces as part of the command.
Edit: two other things to keep in mind for the future:
(1) You've added the base domain (example.com) alongside the wildcard (*.example.com). This is a useful thing to do, but it will require an extra -d option, like -d example.com -d *.example.com instead of just -d example.com *.example.com.
(2) The method you're using with --manual will not be capable of automated renewal at all, so you'll have to repeat this process at least every 90 days (ideally sooner than that). If you're not OK with that, you might want to look into more automated options, which Let's Encrypt usually recommends. This can be less convenient for a wildcard certificate specifically, because it would normally require API access from your DNS provider.