Doom Patrol debuts on DC Universe this Friday and fans got to hear Brendan Fraser as the voice of Robotman during Titans‘ first season, they’ll actually get to see him appear as Cliff Steele, the character’s human form in the upcoming series. Now, Fraser is revealing a bit about what drew him to the unique character.
During the recent Television Critics Association press tour, Fraser spoke with ComicBook.com about his role in the DC Universe series and explained that for him, it’s the journey Cliff Steele goes on in the story that drew him in.
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“Cliff Steele’s a straight up narcissist,” Fraser said. “He’s a daredevil. Okay, so he drives cars fast, and I question if, or not, he really won those races all fair and square. He’s a glory hound, and a cheater in more than one way, not just on the track. Yes, he needs to get it together, but it’s too late before he makes the decision to turn things around if he can, when he immediately loses his wife and child, or does he? Keep watching. It’s a comic book.”
In Doom Patrol, Cliff is a former race car driver who was involved in a horrific accident that left his body uninhabitable. However, his brain was saved by the mysterious Dr. Caulder and he lives on in a powerful robotic body. It’s that recreation that Fraser said reminded him of a specific story from literature: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.
“His journey as the beautiful creature of The Chief, as a creationist. And I say that straight from the spirit of whatever moved Mary Shelley to have a brain put in another body,” he explained. “Maybe she borrowed it from mythology, when Prometheus really annoyed the gods for stealing thunder to animate clay and create a man. He was punished for an eternity to push a boulder up a hill, wasn’t he? No, that’s Sisyphus. Anyway, a very highfalutin’ answer.
Fraser went on to explain that Cliff’s story isn’t exactly a new one, but it’s how Cliff’s journey unfolds that really drew him in.
“It’s not a new conceit. Cliff will learn to become a better human as a robot than he was as a human encased in a robotic environment, a car, an engine,” Fraser said. “That’s the journey he’s gotta take, so that was enough of a hook for me.”
You can check out the official series synopsis for Doom Patrol below.
“A re-imagining of one of DC’s most beloved groups of outcast Super Heroes: Robotman, Negative Man, Elasti-Girl and Crazy Jane, led by modern-day made scientist Dr. Niles Caulder (The Chief). The Doom Patrol‘s members each suffered horrible accidents that gave them superhuman abilities — but also left the 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 the 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.”
Doom Patrol premieres on February 15th, with new episodes airing every Friday on DC Universe.
Additional reporting by Scott Huver.
