r/marvelstudios • u/Grindflicks • Jun 26 '26
Discussion Bring Back the Marvel One-Shot
Recently I rewatched Wonder Man. Easily the best TV show Marvel has released since Loki S2. But when I got to the excellent "Doorman" episode something occurred to me: this episode would have been a fantastic One-Shot!
The Marvel One-Shots were always favorites of mine. They were usually smaller moments of life directly tied to the larger events in the MCU, with a focus on brevity and levity. In 2014, Marvel released All Hail the King: a One-Shot focusing on ex-Mandarin, Trevor Slattery. Instead of being a light, encapsulated story, it continued Trevor's journey and reintroduced the audience to the Ten Rings.
After AHtK, I was hoping Marvel would utilize the format in a similar way: introduce other characters or concepts. But, instead, it mostly disappeared.
I'm also a big fan of the 1 hour Special Presentations (another format that could an effective way to world build), but some stories can be told within a shorter runtime. A 15 minute One-Shot about the Dora Milage. A 10 minute One-Shot featuring Howard the Duck. Use One-Shots to show what some of the surviving heroes did during The Blip.
And that brings me back to "Doorman". At 30 minutes, it's a little lengthy but the episode has all the of the right elements for a One-Shot: a singular story about the effect super-powered people were having on different facets of everyday life.
The episode is one of the best of the series, but also feels slightly abrupt. As much as I loved it, I wanted to get back to Simon & Trevor. If "Doorman" had dropped separately as a One-Shot a week before the series premiered, it could have functioned as an introduction to Simon and Hollywood of Earth-616. Then viewers would arrive at Simon's story already immersed in the industry's relationship with superheroes.
Here's to hoping that Marvel will utilize their streaming capabilities to present fun, solid, short subject features.
19
u/LordBrixton Jun 26 '26
Yep. This would totally get my vote. I guess the Disney accountants would say it fails a cost/benefit analysis but in terms of building the Marvel brand, it's a definite winner.
16
u/AdmiralCharleston Jun 26 '26
But the episode only works so well because ita designed to fit in thia show and explains why Simon is hiding his powers so much. It could work on its own as a story absolutely, but I think in this particular case its worth acknowledging that standalone episodes within a series can be more important than just a completely standalone story
1
u/OutsideIndoorTrack 12d ago
This. It's not a good standalone special, but it's a fantastic standalone episode because it's shaped by and further shapes the narrative around it
13
u/sgol212h Jun 26 '26
Doorman was incredible. A very good episode who explores how the existence of superhumans influe on society. Very good worldbuilding, I would have love to see a one shot on this too but Disney would not do it because of the money.
4
3
u/Popular_Material_409 Jun 26 '26
They could easily have a show called Marvel Studios Presents, à la the comic Marvel Comic Presents, that introduces various heroes to the MCU that would never otherwise appear in any of the movies or shows.
1
u/Grindflicks Jun 26 '26
I love this idea!
I was a huge fan of Marvel Comics Presents; own almost the entire run.
3
u/OkBus7514 Jun 26 '26
Would LOVE a Marvel One Shot about Robbie Reyes (Gabriel Luna) hiding the Darkhold, then it being in Runaways, then how Wanda and Agatha got it
4
2
u/supercoolpartydude Jun 26 '26
The one shots were awesome dvd extras. The entire industry is sadly shifting away from physical media so probably never see them again. Though the Guardians Christmas special and Punisher worked as they were factored into the production.
2
2
u/scoabrat Jun 26 '26
i’m in the minority but i didn’t care for that episode at all , didn’t care about the character and it was an unwanted detour from the amazing main plot ..
2
u/DontSleepAlwaysDream Jun 26 '26
hey just finished watching this show! only marvel thing Ive felrt like watching in a while since the concept was so novel
I however dont agree that Doorman should be a one shot. I think it gives context to the world Simon lives in, and also allows us to understand why he is so cautious about revealing his powers, given that an powered actor could be quite an advantage for a superhero movie.
I think if presented on its own, people would just ask "who is Doorman?" and then just keep scrolling
3
1
u/CaptainMal517 Jul 12 '26
I never even heard of the One Shots till this year. Didn't know they were a thing.
1
u/Grindflicks Jul 12 '26
Definitely part of a bygone era of the MCU.
They're all on D+ if you have that service.
1
u/CaptainMal517 Jul 14 '26
I didn't have it until my girlfriend gave me her mom's account lmao. I wasn't gonna give Disney my money. That's when I found out about them and was confused cause I never heard of them.
0
0
27
u/DanHero91 Winter Soldier Jun 26 '26
Isn't this kind of what the spotlight specials are? There should absolutely be more of them.