It’s been almost forty years since Peter Weller’s Alex Murphy was blown away by thugs in a dilapidated Detroit hideout, dying in the line of duty and being reborn as none other than RoboCop. Paul Verhoeven’s 1987 satirical action movie remains one of the most well-regarded science fiction films of all time, and even though sequels, remakes, TV spinoffs, animated shows, and video games have attempted to cash in on that popularity, none have ever been able to capture the magic of that original film. The good news for RoboCop fans is that no matter what, they will always have the original movie.
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That love for RoboCop is also what keeps these new attempts at reviving the property going, with new games, comics, and plans for reboots consistently earning at least an intriguing glance from the fandom. Now, though, the love that fans have for the original RoboCop is material, and the iconic movie character has finally returned home. Over a decade in the making, RoboCop fans now have a central location where they can see the man himself cast in bronze and standing guard over Detroit.
The Bronze RoboCop Statue Finally Takes His Post
Fourteen years ago, in a moment of internet virality that feels ancient by modern standards, the seed was planted for Detroit, the home of RoboCop, to finally pay tribute to the hometown hero. When the mayor of Detroit at the time asked Twitter users about what improvements should be made to the city (a slice of how the social media platform has changed completely since then) one user, who didn’t even live in Detroit, suggested the city construct a statue of RoboCop because, “Philadelphia has a statue of Rocky & Robocop would kick Rocky’s butt. He’s a GREAT ambassador for Detroit.”
That idea was immediately shot down, but it gave way to fandom fervor. Within days of the tweet, news reports and petitions about the potential RoboCop statue were written, with a Kickstarter campaign eventually started to fund the bronze statue. In just six days, 2,718 people donated over $67k to get the statue made. The statue faced multiple setbacks and hurdles along the way, though, with many calling into question the appropriateness of a RoboCop statue at all. Other issues, like the construction of the statue and ultimately where it would be placed, caused extensive delays, all of which were documented by the Detroit Metro Times in an extensive cover story four years ago.
The RoboCop statue itself was finally completed years later, and now, the RoboCop statue has a place in Detroit where it stands. Fans can go see it at 3434 Russell St. in Detroit’s East Market.
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Image courtesy of Daybreak Game Company
