The first trailer for the Doom Patrol television show has arrived. This is the first look that we're getting of the full team together, complete with Robot Man, Elasti-Woman, Crazy Jane and the rest of the cast. Hearing Brendan Fraser's voice speak out of a lifeless Robot Man metal head is kind of surreal, but believable. Diane Guerrero (who plays one of my favorite characters on Orange is the New Black) is rocking the insane personality of Crazy Jane.
Cyborg is now a part of the Doom Patrol squad, replacing the green shape shifter. His mask looks schlocky, and not nearly as good as his cinematic counterpart, but budgets can be a cruel mistress.
This crazy cast of characters guest-starred on the Titans television show and were loved for their ridiculous personas. The Doom Patrol comic book characters haven't received much love over the years. The group starred in an episode of Batman: Brave and the Bold, where they fought some of their ridiculous villains like Animal-Vegetable-Mineral-Man. Beast Boy, who originated on the team in the comics, quickly found a place on the Teen Titans, but the rest of the squad failed to find success in the overarching DC mythos.
Do the Doom Patrol Rip-Off the X-Men?
The team's creation is also riddled with mystery. My Strangest Adventure #80, the original issue that revealed Doom Patrol to the world, released in June 1963, just a few months before the original X-Men in September of that year. The two squads share a lot of striking similarities: both are are groups of superhero misfits trying to save a world that doesn't want them around. They both also have a scientist in a wheelchair as their founder. Comics take six months from planning to creation, and it would seem that both were in production at the same time.
Doom Patrol might not be an X-Men ripoff, but you could argue it was "heavily inspired by" the Fantastic Four. Both teams share similar abilities like stretchiness, invisibility and invulnerability. FF came out two years prior to the Doom Patrol , which does make you wonder. The FF were admittedly inspired by an earlier DC group known as Challengers of the Unknown, bringing everything full circle.
Doom Patrol premieres Feb. 15 on the DC Universe streaming service.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Steven Asarch is a tech reporter for Newsweek currently based in New York City. In high school, he started stand-up ... Read more
