DC's 'Doom Patrol' TV Series Officially Adds April Bowlby's Elasti-Woman

The DC Universe streaming service is bringing fans some highly-anticipated original series in Titans and Doom Patrol, and now the latter has officially cast actress April Bowlby (Drop Dead Diva) in the role of Elasti-Woman, according to Deadline!

Bowlby will first appear as Rita Farr in a guest-starring role on Titans, before stepping in as one of the leads of the Doom Patrol series, which is being overseen by Arrowverse alum, Greg Berlanti.

The character's origin involves Rita being an up-and-coming actress, whose body is forever altered by exposure to toxic gas. After trying to reclaim her old life (and presumably failing), Rita finds a new life and purpose as a member of Doom Patrol.

The series will be spun-out of the Titans show, following the blueprint of Berlanti's Arrowverse series by having Titans fifth episode (rumored to have the appropriate title of "Doom Patrol") serve as a sort of back door pilot to the spinoff series. You can check out the show's official synopsis, below:

"Doom Patrol is a reimagining of one of DC's strangest group of outcasts: Robotman, Negative Man, Elasti-Woman and Crazy Jane. Led by the mysterious Dr. Niles Caulder they're called into action by the ultimate hero for the digital age, Cyborg. Banding together these rejects find themselves on a mission that will take them to the weirdest and most unexpected corners of the DC universe."

Deadline's report also adds the following story and character info:

"Jeremy Carver is writing Doom Patrol, a reimagining of the beloved superhero DC characters originally written and drawn by Arnold Drake, Bob Haney and Bruno Premiani. It revolves around Robotman, Negative Man, Elasti-Girl (Bowlby) and Crazy Jane, led by modern-day mad scientist Dr. Niles Caulder aka The Chief. The Doom Patrol's members each suffered horrible accidents that gave them superhuman abilities — but also left them scarred and disfigured. Traumatized and downtrodden, the team found purpose through The Chief, who brought them together to investigate the weirdest phenomena in existence — and to protect Earth from what they find. Part support group, part Super Hero team, the Doom Patrol is a band of super-powered freaks who fight for a world that wants nothing to do with them.

Picking up after the events of Titans, Doom Patrol will find these reluctant heroes in a place they never expected to be, called to action by none other than Cyborg, who comes to them with a mission hard to refuse, but with a warning that is hard to ignore: their lives will never, ever be the same."

It's already been confirmed that it will be Justice League's Cyborg making an appearance in the series, which raises some interesting questions about both Titans and Doom Patrol's possible connection to the larger DC Extended Universe. Since no casting for Cyborg has been announced, it's too early to confirm if it will be the same DCEU character, or (more likely) a new version made for TV. So far, we have additional Doom Patrol casting in Bruno Bichir as The Chief, and Jake Michaels as Robotman.

Titans will launch on the DC streaming service later this year, along with the animated series Young Justice: Outsiders, Swamp Thing, and more. Doom Patrol will follow Titans with a 13-episode season released in 2019.