Doom Patrol Just Added Brendan Fraser In A Key Role

Brendan Fraser has tackled everything from drama to comedy to action in his long career on the large and small screen alike, and he's now slated to try something fresh thanks to a brand new role on a brand new platform. Fraser is coming to DC Comics' direct-to-consumer streaming service to play a unique character on the original series Doom Patrol. In a fun twist, Fraser will play a superhero both in live-action and via voiceover. TV lovers, prepare yourselves for Brendan Fraser as Robotman!

Yes, Brendan Fraser will tackle the role of Robotman, a.k.a. Cliff Steele, for the Doom Patrol series. Although Cliff once lived an exciting life as a race car driver, his body was wrecked by a terrible accident, and his body was left "uninhabitable." Since this is a comic book-based world we're talking about, an uninhabitable body does not mean death for a character. Deadline reports that Cliff lives on in a robotic body and becomes known as Robotman.

Cliff was saved from death after the accident by Dr. Niles Caulder, who is largely shrouded in mystery at the moment. Although Caulder saved Cliff's brain, his body is presumably gone. It should be interesting to see if this is something he chats about with Cyborg, who was also recently cast. It's too soon to say what the Doom Patrol version of Robotman will look like, but his comic counterpart is pretty wild:

dc comics robotman

Brendan Fraser will voice the character of Robotman as well as appear in the flesh in flashback scenes prior to the loss of Cliff's body. Fraser is actually the second actor to be cast as Robotman for Doom Patrol, with Riley Shanahan also landing the role. Shanahan will perform as Robotman himself, with Brendan Fraser providing the voice.

An entirely different actor was announced as playing Robotman for the character's debut on Titans, where he may or may not follow Robin's example and start dropping F-bombs. It's possible that Titans and Doom Patrol will simply use different actors for the same character, but it's also possible that the character has been recast now that a big name like Brendan Fraser signed on.

The Doom Patrol cast is filled out by April Bowlby as Elasti-Woman and Diane Guerrero as Crazy Jane. Joivan Wade will play Cyborg, but it's not yet confirmed how much of a role Cyborg will play in the series. The comics version of Cyborg is better known for his affiliations to groups like the Titans and Justice League. Yet to be cast are Negative Man and Dr. Caulder.

Details are still relatively scarce about what to expect with DC Universe, but you can find some info on our breakdown of everything you need to know. Some superhero series are returning to the small screen before DC Universe even launches thanks to the Arrow-verse, and you can find their premiere dates (as well as a whole bunch of others) on our fall TV schedule.

Laura Hurley
Senior Content Producer

Laura turned a lifelong love of television into a valid reason to write and think about TV on a daily basis. She's not a doctor, lawyer, or detective, but watches a lot of them in primetime. CinemaBlend's resident expert and interviewer for One Chicago, the galaxy far, far away, and a variety of other primetime television. Will not time travel and can cite multiple TV shows to explain why. She does, however, want to believe that she can sneak references to The X-Files into daily conversation (and author bios).