The World's Strangest Heroes have a new robot, man.
Deadline has revealed that the upcoming DC Universe series Doom Patrol has cast Brendan Fraser as Cliff Steele, better known to DC Comics fans as the superhero android with a human brain, Robotman.
According to the article, Fraser will provide the voice for Robotman and will appear in flashback scenes as Cliff Steele. Riley Shanahan will provide the physical performance of the character in full body costume.
Robotman is described as "A former race car driver, Cliff Steele was in a horrific accident that left his body uninhabitable. Cliff’s brain was saved by the mysterious Dr. Niles Caulder and he lives on in a powerful robotic body."
Doom Patrol is a spinoff from the DC Universe series Titans and is a reimagining of one of DC’s strangest group of outcasts: Robotman (Fraser), Negative Man, Elasti-Woman (April Bowlby) and Crazy Jane (Diane Guerrero). Led by the mysterious Dr. Niles Caulder, they’re called into action by the ultimate hero for the digital age, Cyborg (Joivan Wade). Banding together, these rejects find themselves on a mission that will take them to the weirdest and most unexpected corners of the DC universe.
Fraser, 49, is best known as Rick O'Connell in The Mummy trilogy, and has appeared in the movies Encino Man, School Ties, George of the Jungle, Dudley Do-Right, Gods and Monsters, Monkeybone, Looney Tunes: Back in Action, Crash, Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008), G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, and The Nut Job. In addition, he's appeared in episodes of such TV series as The Simpsons, King of the Hill, Scrubs, Texas Rising, The Affair, Trust, and Condor.
Created in 1963 by Arnold Drake and Bruno Premiani, Robotman first appeared in My Greatest Adventure #80 as Clifford "Cliff" Steele, a race car driver who had an accident that destroyed his body (a later retcon had the accident intentionally caused by Niles Caulder). Caulder subsequently placed Cliff's intact brain into a robotic body which had superhuman strength, speed and endurance. After the operation, Cliff suffered from frequent depression because he viewed himself as less than human.
Cliff was approached by Caulder, who offered him a place among fellow "freaks" attempting to use their powers for good. As Robotman, he joined Caulder's team, the Doom Patrol. Eventually, tragedy struck when the Doom Patrol's enemies, the Brotherhood of Evil, threatened a small New England fishing village. The Patrol members opted to sacrifice themselves to save the innocents, and were killed in an explosion.
Although initially believed to have been killed by Madame Rouge, Cliff's brain had survived. Will Magnus, the robotics expert who created the Metal Men, recovered Cliff's brain and built him a new body. Cliff then joined a new Doom Patrol headed by a woman claiming to be Caulder's wife, Arani. Refusing to believe that Niles was dead, she formed this new team to search for him and took his place as leader, calling herself Celsius, due to her heat-and-cold-based powers. This new Doom Patrol was eventually almost all killed in action, with the exceptions of Cliff, Tempest, Negative Woman, and Rhea Jones (who remained comatose). Caulder had turned up alive by this time, and denied having been married to Arani, although he admitted having known her.
Cliff voluntarily committed himself to an asylum, having fallen into a state of depression due to his condition and the loss of his teammates. In particular, he was angry about being in a metal body and unable to enjoy the feeling and senses that humans take for granted. Caulder sent Magnus to try to help Cliff, and he introduced Cliff to a person with "worse problems than [his]", a woman called Crazy Jane. Forming a new incarnation of the Doom Patrol, Cliff became Jane's guardian, and eventually fell in love with her. Later, his human brain was revealed to have been replaced with a Central Processing Unit (CPU), making him a robot in reality.
In the current DC Comics continuity known as "The New 52", Cliff Steele is an adventurer and daredevil who agrees to be injected with experimental nanomachines designed to improve and repair his body. After he's involved in a fatal car crash during a high-speed race, the nanomachines respond by creating a robotic body in order to encase and protect his still living brain. Though initially distraught over his condition, the nanomachines prevent Cliff from being able to kill himself. After coming to terms with his new body, he becomes a freelance hero, later joining the latest incarnation of the Doom Patrol.
Fraser will be the second actor to portray the character in live-action, after Jake Michaels in the upcoming DC Universe series Titans. In addition, Robotman has appeared in various animation projects, including Teen Titans (voiced by Peter Onorati), Batman: The Brave and the Bold (voiced by Henry Rollins), and in the DC Nation Doom Patrol shorts (voiced by David Kaye).
Doom Patrol is expected to debut on DC Universe sometime in 2019.