“The Earth’s Strangest” heroes are getting their first live-action treatment whenDoom Patrolhits the DC Universe streaming service on February 15. The show is a decidedly wonky,wonderful delightfrom the character designs, to the performances, to the mysterious donkey who appears at the end of the premiere to literally discharge an ominous message from its ass. (The show is weird, people!) But I also understand that the members of the Doom Patrol—who have been around sinceMy Greatest Adventure #80in June 1963—aren’t as immediately recognizable as the Clark Kents and Bruce Waynes of the world.
Like every superhero crew in existence, the Doom Patrol line-up has gone through several changes over the years. The Teen Titans’ Beast Boy was onboard for a bit, as were bit players like Bumblebee, Lodestone, and Dorothy Spinner. But the core four as first imagined by writersArnold DrakeandBob Haneyalong with artistBruno Premiani—and the template being used for the live-action series—consist of Cliff Steele/Robotman, Rita Farr/Elasti-Woman, and Larry Trainor/Negative Man under the tutelage of “The Chief”, Niles Caulder. The live-action show will also include Crazy Jane, a character created by writerGrant Morrisonand artistRichard Casefor their absolute bonkers run on the series.
If those super-names were met with a super “who?”, I got you covered. Here’s our rundown of the oddities who call themselves the Doom Patrol.
Cliff Steele/Robotman
As the only character to appear in all sixDoom Patrolseries, Robotman is basically the face of the team, even if that face is welded together from scrap. The most metallic member of the team began life as Cliff Steele, a daredevil who got his thrills through extreme activities like cave-diving, white-water rafting, Himalaya-hiking, and, naturally, speed-car racing. Cliff’s body was destroyed in a wreck during a race in Speedway City, but his brain was salvaged by Doctor Niles Caulder and installed in a robot’s body. (This is comics, if your legal name is Steele you become a robot. Them’s the rules.) Steele awoke in his new body with faulty wiring and an understandable rage at being put inside a tin can and had to be talked down from a rampage by Caulder, who convinced him to join Doom Patrol.
Robotman—originally named Automaton in his first two appearances—boasts all the upgrades that come with being a living machine; super-strength, invulnerability, a nice sheen on rainy days. After Robotman man and the rest of the Doom Patrol were blown to bits by Nazi U-Boat commander Captain Zahl at the conclusion ofDoom Patrol #121, Steele was rebuilt by Will Magnus, creator of the Metal Men. Under writerRachel Pollack, Robotman began a relationship with Kate Godwin, a.k.a Coagula, one of the first transgender characters in comic history.
In DC Universe’s Doom Patrol, Cliff Steele will be portrayed byBrendan Fraser, who will also provide the voice for post-car-crash Robotman withRiley Shanahaninside the metallic outfit.
Rita Farr/Elasti-Woman
Rita Farr was one of the most in-demand actresses in the world—having already won an Olympic gold medal for swimming—when a freak accident in Africa involving mysterious volcanic gas gave her the ability to expand and contract the size of her body. This is very helpful on a super-hero team but not in general society, and Rita was shunned by both society and, possibly even more tragic, Hollywood. Dr. Cauler sought out the actress and offered her a place among other super-powered outcasts, making her a founding member of Doom Patrol.
Originally called Elasti-Girl—which is also the reason Pixar can only use the name “Mrs. Incredible” forHolly Hunter’sIncrediblescharacter on merch—Rita’s abilities have unsurprisingly morphed over the years. Sometimes she can only get really,reallybig and small, other times it’s one body part or the other, and occasionally she’s able to shrink other objects by touch. In the 60s, Rita was the adopted mother of Garfield Logan, who would go on to become Teen Titans member Beast Boy. It wasn’t untilKeith Giffen’s 2009 run with the characters, well after DC’sInfinite Crisiscrossovers had re-written, written, then written the Doom Patrol’s origin stories again, that Rita adopted the name Elasti-Woman.
The character will be played inDoom PatrolbyRita Bowlby.The series introduces a Rita who can’t control the various changes in her body, often resulting in a Hutt-like melty mess.
Larry Trainor/Negative Man
The third founding member of Doom Patrol—and the cover character of that original issue,My Greatest Adventure #80—Larry Trainor was a pilot who flew a test plane through a radioactive field in Earth’s atmosphere, causing a horrific crash. Larry survived the incident but left the wreckage horribly burned, radioactive, and sharing a body with a sentient energy spirit called Negative Man. Larry can project the entity—which can pass through solid objects and travel at high speeds—from his body but only at 60 seconds at a time, as the process leaves him weak. While recovering from the initial crash, Larry met Dr. Caulder, who gave him special bandages to contain his own radioactivity, the downside being he walks around looking like The Invisible Man.
After the explosion that killed the team in Doom Patrol #121, the Negative Man attached itself to Soviet Air Force lieutenant Valentina Vostok, who assumed the name Negative Woman. (Vostok also appeared, played byStephanie Corneliussen, in an episode ofLegends of Tomorrow.) During Grant Morrison’s run, the entity re-bonded with Trainor—who actually survived that explosion, by the way, because ¯_(ツ)_/¯—but athirdperson, Dr. Eleanor Poole, got caught up in the process, creating the three-part, god-like character named Rebis. Most versions after Morrison’s series ignored…all of that.
In DC Universe’sDoom Patrol,Matt Bomerwill play Larry Trainor in flashbacks and provide the voice for the bandaged up character withMatthew Zukactually under the wraps.
Kay Challis/Crazy Jane
“Crazy Jane”, real name Kay Challis, first popped up inDoom Patrol (Vol. 2) #19as a mental patient staying in the same loony bin as Robotman in the wake of The Dominators invading Earth. Abused since five-years-old by her father, Kay developed a form of dissociative identity disorder that gave her 64 distinct personalities, the dominant personality being Crazy Jane. Thanks to the metagene-kickstarter called the Gene Bomb that the Dominators dropped on Earth, all 64 personalities come with a unique super-power. Some, like the teleporter named Flit, are more helpful than others, like Sex Bomb, the personality who quite literally explodes when aroused. All 64 personalities reside within The Underground, a subway grid built inside Kay’s mind. At the lowest level of The Underground is K-5, the original personality of Kay Challis who hasn’t woken up since the other personalities took hold.
Crazy Jane, plus a whole host of other personalities, will be played byOrange is the New BlackalumDiane GuerreroinDoom Patrol.
