‘Wonder Man’ Puts a Tragic Spin on This Forgotten Superhero

The following article contains spoilers for Wonder Man.The Marvel Cinematic Universe, much like the comics that inspired it, show that ordinary people often rise to become heroes when they're granted incredible powers. It's also been an inspiration to countless fans. After all, who didn't wish they could wield Thor's hammer, Mjolnir, or Captain America's mighty shield, or even stick to walls and shoot webs like Spider-Man? Wonder Man flips the script, showcasing how gaining superpowers could change your life for the worse in its fourth episode, "Doorman".

"Doorman" takes time off from Simon Williams's (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) story and shifts gears to focus on DeMarr Davis (Byron Bowers). As his name implies, he's a doorman at a fancy club and genuinely seems happy with it; during a conversation with his manager, he says he's not interested in chasing acting or fame like other Hollywood residents. DeMarr's life takes a massive change when he touches toxic waste from a dumpster. The waste pulls DeMarr through an alternate dimension, transforming him into a living portal — and making his name of "Doorman" quite literal. Comic fans will recognize Doorman as a member of the obscure superhero team known as the Great Lakes Avengers, whose origin is very different.

Doorman Has A Wildly Different Origin in the Comics

First appearing in West Coast Avengers #46 by John Byrne, Doorman joined the Great Lakes Avengers when he answered an ad in the paper for a superhero team. In the comics, he didn't get his powers from a toxic waste leak; he was born with them because he's a mutant. The newly formed Avengers soon ran into Hawkeye, who agreed to train them as heroes and fought a wide range of opponents — including Deadpool, who was far from the wisecracking antihero fans would come to love. Though he usually had a pessimistic outlook on superheroics, Doorman continued to help out the Great Lakes Avengers whenever he could.

Doorman got a cosmic upgrade when he was summoned by the entity Oblivion, who sought to exploit his connection to the mysterious Darkforce Dimension. This transformed him into the literal angel of death and gave him the ability to shape weapons from Darkforce energy, not to mention that he's a cosmic force of nature. He'd continue to stick with the Great Lakes Avengers, who would change their name throughout the years in response to lawsuits. Whether it was the Thunderbolts, the X-Men, or even the Champions, the GLA never met another superhero team it didn't want to shamelessly rip off.

'Wonder Man' Showcases the Pitfalls of Fame and Superhumanity Through Doorman

Throughout "Doorman", DeMarr Davis experiences massive ups and downs with his superpowers. He first consciously uses them to save a building full of people when the club he works at catches on fire, including Josh Gad (yes, really). Gad eventually hires DeMarr as his bodyguard and then casts him in a key role in a heist film, where he wears a mask similar to the one he wears in the comics. Yet DeMarr also has to deal with online negativity and a string of roles that pigeonhole him, particularly when he comes up with the corny catchphrase "Ding Dong." Eventually, DeMarr hits rock bottom after a lawsuit...and then past rock bottom when Josh Gad ends up lost in the Darkforce Dimension inhabiting his body.

This has a major effect on the narrative of Wonder Man, as the Gad incident leads Hollywood to adopt the "Doorman Clause", which forbids individuals with superpowers from working on film or TV sets. This massively affects Simon as he tries to keep his powers under wraps while securing the role in a Wonder Man ​​​​​​reboot. Further complicating matters is the Department of Damage Control, which wants to nab Simon to keep their state-of-the-art prison open and has roped in Trevor Slattery (Ben Kingsley) to spy on him. Wonder Man co-creator/showrunner Andrew Guest also spoke with Entertainment Weekly about how he wanted DeMarr's journey to serve as a dark mirror to Simon's.

"We needed a cautionary tale, essentially of like a one-hit wonder, a flash in the pan...And making sure that our audience understood what's at risk for Simon, not only in a concrete way of the Department of Damage Control will just lock you up and you'll never work again, but also in a sort of more artistic way of like, that's not the career that Simon wants, and here's step-by-step what could go wrong for Simon if he got the wrong role or didn't approach the industry the right way. That was essential."

Doorman might only be the focus of one episode, but his presence can be felt throughout Wonder Man, and it shows that not everyone who gets superpowers is meant to be a hero.

All episodes of Wonder Man are available to stream on Disney+.