Origin

Doorman was born a mutant with the ability to manipulate darkforce, mostly in the form of teleportation. He came from a hard-working family that tried to give him a leg-up. He completed four years of college and three years of grad school but became a superhero instead. His father never approved of his lifestyle.

Creation

Doorman first appears in West Coast Avengers (1985) #49 by John Byrne

Major Story Arcs

Great Lakes Avengers

Doorman answered a personal ad placed by Mr. Immortal for a new superhero team. After the Vision appeared on The David Letterman Show to introduce his new look to the public, the team decided to call themselves the Great Lakes Avengers and act as the team's Midwest branch. Hawkeye and Mockingbird, who had only recently quit the Avengers, were curious and investigated the team. Hawkeye decided to take the young heroes under his tutelage and shape them into a real team.

When the team detected an emergency summons from the real Avengers, Hawkeye led the team in a battle against the threat of That Which Endures which had already possessed The Avengers' Scarlet Witch and She-Hulk in a bid to push evolution forward. As the team battled against the possessed Avengers, Mr. Immortal saved the day. He jumped through Doorman into a locked room and destroyed the Assimilator, which freed everyone from its influence.

Lightning Rods

After the Avengers seemingly perished after battling Onslaught, the Thunderbolts took their place as the premier superhero team. The Great Lakes Avengers decided to abandon the Avengers name and attempt to become the West Coast equivalent of the Thunderbolts, taking the name The Lightning Rods.

During a run in with Deadpool, Doorman tried to rescue Blind Al from Deadpool’s clutches at the same time that Deadpool activated his own teleporter, causing the influx to teleportation frequencies to throw Deadpool and Al into time and make Doorman sick and vomit up temporal goo. With help from Weasel, they are able to pull Deadpool and Al from the timestream.

Eventually, The Lightning Rods were frustrated to learn that the Thunderbolts were actually the Masters of Evil in disguise. The team decided to try and arrest the Thunderbolts, but they were humiliatingly defeated by them and had their costumes stolen. The Lightning Rods tried again to get even with the Thunderbolts, only to be defeated once again. They eventually just gave up trying.

The Deathurge

The Great Lakes Avengers were trying to save their reputation after a number of setbacks. They come across the villain Maelstrom, who sought to destroy the universe. The team was led their by Mr. Immortal’s invisible friend, The Deathurge, who had been preparing him his whole life for this moment. Doorman used himself to get Mr. I beyond the force field protecting Maelstrom, killing himself in the process.

Once on the otherside, he was contacted by the cosmic being, Oblivion. He told Doorman that Doorman could tap into the darkforce dimension and that he had use of Doorman’s abilities. He chose Doorman as the new Deathurge, after growing disappointed in his previous herald’s behavior. He sent him back to his group with the added responsibility of occasionally escorting dead souls to the otherside.

He started with Maelstrom.

Returning Home

The Christmas after he became the Deathurge, he was forced to go home. His father, who didn’t care for Christmas and only decorated the outside of his house to compete with his neighbor, had fallen off the roof while trying to hang up lights. His soul was still puttering around the house, talking down to Doorman. He put off escorting his father’s soul for as long as he could, however, when he revealed he was the current Angel of Death, his father became proud that he became something meaningful.

50-State Initiative

After the New Warriors took on villains that they were ill-equipped to handle, Standford, CT was destroyed in a nuclear-like explosion. To get the superheroes a semblance of checks and balances, Tony Stark sponsored the Super-Hero Registration Act, which would require all superheroes to work for the government. Part of the act was the establishment of the 50-State Initiative, where each of the U.S. states would receive their own version of the Avengers, with heroes trained by former and active Avengers. The Great Lakes Avengers (renamed the Great Lakes Initiative) were assigned to Wisconsin.

GLA Again

Due to legal issues with Stark Holdings, they had lost the trademark to the Avengers name, which then went to the only other person who attempted to trademark it: Flatman. Avengers legal counsel, Connie Ferrari, offers Flatman the legal rights to the Great Lakes Avengers for the return of the Avengers trademark, which was good enough for Flatman, so he got the gang back together, except Squirrel Girl, who had become too popular for them. They even got a defunct Detroit Stark factory for their new headquarters. Sadly, this was only temporary until a court ruling could overturn Flatman’s trademark, allowing Stark to scoop it back up again. The Avengers sent Deadpool, active member of the Avengers Unity Squad at the time, to fire them.

Personal Data

Characteristics

• Height: 5"10'
• Weight: 180 lbs.
• Eye Color: Brown
• Hair Color: Black
• Citizenship: USA
• Education: Three years of graduate work and a four-year undergraduate degree
• Occupation: Adventurer, Angel of Death; former construction worker, freedom fighter, soldier, space militia pilot
• Known Relatives: Mr. Davis (Father, deceased)

Powers & Skills

Darkforce Manipulation: Doorman is a mutant with very limited teleportation abilities. By pressing himself against a solid surface, people and things could pass through him and to the other side of that surface. His powers are connected to the Darkforce Dimension.

• Intangibility: He could also use this power to become intangible allowing people and objects to pass right through him. Or pass himself through objects, becoming his own door.
• Flight: He could manipulate his intangibility to become weightless and float on air, allowing very limited flight.

Angel of Death: After being made into the new herald of Oblivion, Doorman has gained the ability to escort souls to the otherside.

• Death Sense: Doorman has the preternatural ability to sense when someone has died.
• Suit Manifestation: His new suit is made of darkforce, so he no longer has to get dressed in it. He can just summon it by will.
• Flight: As the Angel of Death, Doorman has received a better flying ability, manifesting two skies that allow him to float through the air and other ethereal planes.

Card Player: Doorman is a proficient poker player.

In Other Media

Wonder Man TV Series

Doorman had an entire episode dedicated to him on the Disney+ original series, Wonder Man. This series is part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and he is played by Byron Bowers.

Doorman starts off as a literal doorman at an LA Club, until he got his powers from a random pool of darkforce (which is never identified as darkforce) in the alley behind the club. He used that power to get 15 minutes of fame, including starring in a movie with Josh Gad. When they used his powers to perform real stunts, Josh Gad jumped through him and got lost forever. This led to a "Doorman" rule in Hollywood that no enhanced humans could be cast in a studio production since the insurance premiums would be too much.

His classic mask is part of his costume in the Josh Gad movie.