‘Doom Patrol’ Star Jovian Wade Says Flawed Characters Make the Best Superheroes

One glance at DC Universe’s Doom Patrol and you know you’re not looking at your average superhero team. Comprised of characters who have been given their powers through extreme trauma, the unlikely heroes often find themselves struggling with their issues as much as they do with foes and for series star Jovian Wade, that’s exactly what makes them great.

In an interview with Deadline, Wade, who plays Vic Stone/Cyborg on the series, said that the heroes of Doom Patrol share in the real struggles that the audience does, something that makes the show more interesting.

“These characters are real people and they are characters in which they are human first,” Wade said. “They have mental and physical illnesses and these powers, but they are humans first and that’s really going to allow us to connect with these different stories to keep us watching the show. You absolutely don’t know what is going to happen next. That is for sure.”

“The most interesting superheroes are the ones who have these situations,” he continued. “They don’t have everything together. The heroes that have everything together, they aren’t very interesting at all.”

That human quality also extends to the show’s representation of Larry Trainor/Negative Man. On Doom Patrol, much of Larry’s pain comes not just from his physical situation — he’s horrifically burned from head to toe — but also from his internal struggle as a gay man. Matt Bomer, who plays the character on the series, recently explained that Larry’s sexuality is only one thing that defines him — something that is very real and human.

“I’ve never really seen a gay, male superhero, and what I love most about the character is that, even though it’s a huge struggle, internally, for him, it’s not the sole thing that defines who he is,” Bomer said. “He’s such a multi-faceted character. If it had just been one stereotypical thing, I think I would have had more reservations about it, but the fact that he is this nuanced character who has so many places to grow, and he has so much shadow and so much light that he doesn’t even know he has, is what appealed to me, just as much as his sexuality.”

“I love Larry,” he went on to say. “I love who he is, and I love who is going to become. I love who he is in the process of becoming.”

Doom Patrol is available on DC Universe with new episodes dropping each Friday.