Doom Patrol Showrunner Explains Why Cyborg Is Flying Solo Early in Season 2

Season 2 of Doom Patrol has finally arrived, with the first three episodes of the new installment having dropped on both DC Universe and HBO Max early Thursday morning. The second season picks up with most of the team zapped down to miniature versions of themselves and stuck on Cliff's toy racetrack. However, for anyone who watched the trailer for Season 2, or has already taken a dive into the episodes, it's clear that the Doom Patrol members don't stay small for long. It's also evident really early on that Cyborg is going to have a bit of a different journey than the other characters in Season 2.

After the team returns to their normal size, Cyborg heads off to take care of some things on his own (though we won't get into too much detail to preserve any potential spoilers). While away from the team, he meets a woman named Roni and gets the chance to explore his own story for a time. It may seem strange to see a core character split from the rest of the crew so early in the season, but showrunner Jeremy Carver explained the decision behind Cyborg's journey in these first episodes, and why he needed to be on his own.

"Number one, he was not done with his recovery from the events of last season and the trauma caused specifically by Mr. Nobody, and the fissures it caused with his father," Carver said during an interview with ComicBook.com. "So first and foremost, we felt like Cyborg needed to do some work on himself. And then once we decided that he needed to do some work on himself, that's when the idea of something else entirely happening to him, which was meeting this woman in that support group that happened when he was least expecting it. So, it was a character decision for Cyborg, but also, this is a little bit of a deep dive, but the ultimate betrayal from last season was Niles and these four people whose lives he inextricably altered, and Cyborg was not one of one of them. So it felt in the beginning, let's let — for lack of a better term — the four children, deal with dad."

Carver went on to explain that this version of Cyborg is very different from the ones we've seen in other DC adaptations, and this time away helps elaborate on this specific time in the character's life.

"We feel a real obligation with Cyborg to sort of fill in that gap between the younger man and the hero that folks know from the Justice League and to sort of like fill in those blanks for at least from our perspective of the circuitous path someone can take to being a hero," he added.

Not to worry, though, Cyborg won't be away from the rest of the team for the entire season. He's just got a bit of self-discovering to do before he heads back home.

What do you think of Doom Patrol Season 2 so far? Let us know in the comments!