Doom Patrol’s The Chief Cast In ‘Titans’ TV Series

Bruno Bichir has joined the cast of DC Entertainment’s Titans in the role of Niles “The Chief” Caulder, the man behind Doom Patrol.

Bichir is probably most recognizable from his role as Fernando Duque in Narcos. Caulder is the wheelchair-bound scientist who uses his immense scientific knowledge to make lives better for others. This put him shoulder-to-shoulder with a group of super-powered individuals who were either near death or struggling with belonging to the outside world.

Deadline, who reported the casting, describes Titans‘s Caulder as “a pioneer in medical science, searching the world over for those on the edge of death in need of a miracle. Brilliant, but controversial, Dr. Caulder will stop at nothing to help those he believes are in need, including his collection of strange heroes known as The Doom Patrol.”

DC chief creative officer Geoff Johns recently revealed that the Doom Patrol was coming to the Titans series, which was ordered straight to series and will air on DC’s upcoming streaming service from executive producers Greg Berlanti and Sarah Schechter (The Flash, Supergirl).

The original Doom Patrol was created by Arnold Drake and Bob Haney in 1963. “The World’s Strangest Heroes” originally consisted of The Chief, Robotman, Elasti-Girl, and Negative Man. Given their lack of cultural acceptance within the DC Universe, the strange-looking characters, and a mentor in a wheelchair, the team has often been compared to Marvel’s more successful X-Men franchise.

Beast Boy, a member of the Titans, has a long history with the Doom Patrol.

Doom Patrol has had its biggest commercial success in the comics when it was being treated as a strange, experimental playground for visionary creators. Grant Morrison’s Doom Patrol was so crazy, trippy, and bold that reprints eventually moved from DC proper to the company’s Vertigo imprint. That run remains beloved decades later, with a recent run of reprints.

The title was recently relaunched as the flagship for DC’s Young Animal imprint; written by My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way, the title has received critical acclaim and enough commercial success to justify a major crossover with Justice League of America — “Milk Wars,” currently ongoing by Way and Justice League of America writer Steve Orlando alongside a murderer’s row of top art talent.

Titans will launch on the DC streaming service later this year, along with the animated series Young Justice: Outsiders, among others.