Doorman, in the comics, is a minor character, part of a group of lesser-known, mostly used as joke characters called the Great Lakes Avengers. He’s actually not the first of the GLA to show up in the MCU, since a version of Immortal Man popped up in the She-Hulk series. He’s been referenced several times so far during Wonder Man. Now, we finally get to see what happened that led to the “Doorman clause” that prohibits superhumans from working in Hollywood movies. Probably tv shows, too, but that hasn’t really been spelled out yet. They use black and white to emphasize that almost the entire episode is a flashback, as we get the story behind “Doorman.”

Our story begins at the door of a clearly popular club. Appropriately, the future “Doorman,” AKA DeMarr Davis, is working the door, teasing and flirting with the customers, and seems to be a nice guy. Amusingly, Josh Gad is a big part of the episode, playing himself, or I suppose the MCU version of himself. Gad is clearly on good terms with DeMarr, and they have some kind of friendship. Later, DeMarr is talking to the club manager, played by Chalotte Ross, who I have been a fan of since her days on NYPD Blue, and a recurring role in Arrow. DeMarr is that rare creature, someone happy with his life and doesn’t seem to have any major problems at all. A nice guy in Hollywood is its own kind of rare critter, I suppose. DeMarr does his boss a favor, gets exposed to something that gives him powers, and we get a passing reference to Roxxon, a criminal corporation in both the MCU and the comics.

Later, after we see how his odd powers work, DeMarr goes back to work, and uses his newfound powers to save lives during a potential disaster at the club. Gad is present for this, too, and offers DeMarr a job. This leads to the first of a few appearances of the show “Hot Goss,” a TMZ kind of program with a Hollywood “reporter” in a cameo, covering Doorman’s work for Gad. During planning for a movie, Gad gets an idea, and talks DeMarr into a career change. DeMarr is not happy about this idea, and comes up with several different ways things could go, but Gad is persistent in a friendly way, and DeMarr goes from staff to movie star. This sequence shows him as close as he gets to his comic book look, and kicks off a fairly predictable “rise and fall” story of DeMarr, fleeting fame, catchphrases, and money problems. When DeMarr is at a low point, he gets a comeback opportunity, but some of his newly acquired bad habits set up an incident, and this gives rise to the “Doorman” clause we’ve heard so much about.

I have to say this clause doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. What happened was bad, certainly, and I could see it making Hollywood executives nervous. Some degree of limitations around the use of powers on set makes sense to me. But a wholesale ban on people with powers? There are so many ways powers could save studios money (that’s how Simon has made a living at times in the comics). It seems like a massive overreaction, but then, that happens. One could argue the Sokovia Accords were the same thing.

We gradually shift from black and white to color as Hot Goss covers developments in this issue, and we see the start of the “Doorman clause.” On set somewhere which is never specified, Simon looks very uneasy and then walks off. Clearly, this is when Simon decides to keep his secret, and I get that. Why should he be penalized for something he had nothing to do with, over a condition he had no control over? The episode does a great job of showing why the “no powers on set” rule is so important.

What I Liked: I always find it impressive when a show is confident enough in its writing and storytelling to do a story with no major characters in it. Simon barely makes an appearance in an episode of his own limited series. Taking an entire episode to focus on Doorman was a bold choice, and I think it worked. DeMarr was very likable, and I felt for him during his rise and fall story. I was also glad to see Charlotte Ross again. Making Roxxon the bad guy, even indirectly, is a good use of an established property. This does make me wonder if the other Great Lakes Avengers will eventually turn up. Members we haven’t see in the MCU yet include Dinah Soar, Flatman, and Big Bertha. Go look them up; yes, they are as goofy as they sound. Josh Gad was entertaining in his role. Since so much of this was covered on the “Hot Goss” show, I could see Trevor not knowing about this.

What I Didn’t: While it made sense, the “rise and fall” story is something we’ve seen versions of so many times before. I feel like they could have done a few things differently there. I wonder if we’ll see Doorman again, since he still should be out there somewhere. As I mentioned above, the blanket prohibition of powers on movie (at least) sets seems like an overreaction.

It was a decent episode, and I really hope we get to see Doorman again. I will give this a 4 out of 5.