DC Universe Doom Patrol – Five Reasons to Get Hype
How do you best pitch a show about a semi-obscure group of super heroes to entice fans to stick around for your new streaming service? Easy: you sneak a pilot into another series. DC Universe’s Doom Patrol enjoyed its pilot episode in Titans, in episode four of the same name, “Doom Patrol,” and I am on board the hype train. In fact, there are five very good reasons to be hyped for this show. And maybe a few reasons to be skeptical.
Brendan Fraser
Maybe this is my age showing here, but I couldn’t be happier to see Brendan Fraser as the loveable Cliff Steele, aka Robotman. Despite being a semi-cheesy-looking robot, Fraser’s “aw shucks” voice work showed that Robotman has potential to be the heart of the show. Not to mention there’s a lot of fun to be had with the brain of a race car driver stuck in a metal body.
Alan Tudyk
Do I even need to say anything else? Look, Alan Tudyk is flawless and I will support him in anything. Casting him as Mr. Nobody, the insane villain who can drain the sanity from others? Yes, please. His turn as King Candy in Wreck-It Ralph made me believe in the power of Evil Tudyk, and I cannot wait. Did I mention he can do no wrong? I was sold with this casting alone.
Crazy Jane*
A woman with 64 unique personalities played by the talented Diane Guerrero? I’m down with it, especially because Crazy Jane has so much potential from a narrative perspective. She’s an incredibly complex character who can bounce between funny, dark, violent, and kind within the space of a few minutes. This should give both the actress and the writers some room to stretch.
Doom Patrol Can Be Fun!
DC has the market cornered on grimdark, it’s time for them to give us something fun. If the “Doom Patrol” episode was any indication, I think Doom Patrol is going to be our answer. The episode was not only the first shining spot in Titans’ first season, it was a marked shift in tone for the series too. I don’t love Titans‘ ham-handed attempts at copying the Marvel formula for musical cues, but watching Negative Man cook to “Thunderstruck” was an inspired moment. I pray the series keeps that. Yes, they have have some drama and emotion, but a show about two robots, an ex-silver screen star, a man who is turned inside out, and a woman with 64 personalities should be lighthearted.
BOOYAH!
We need Cyborg, dammit. This isn’t even up for debate. He might eventually jump ship over to Titans to be with his long-time buddies, but I like the idea of having him find himself on Doom Patrol. Again, Cyborg has so much potential to keep the show from going too dark,or too serious. Also, Joivan Wade has the chance to make us forget the brooding disaster that was Cyborg in Justice League.
Having said all of that, there are three reasons I’m skeptical, and you should be too.
*Crazy Jane
Yes, Jane has potential to be really awesome and fun, but she also has potential to be really awful, too. With 64 unique personalities, some of her personalities are just ridiculous. Basically, this character can go from a nutty girl with coping mechanisms to a Mary Sue who makes the rest of the team moot. Also, there is a lot of pressure on Guerrero to make the character feel real, and distinguish the personalities. Split might be the best demonstration of this type of character, and my expectations are high.
The Chief
Look, I love Timothy Dalton as much as the next person, but recasting a character post-pilot always rubs me the wrong way. Maybe Bruno Bichir had schedule conflicts, or maybe after watching Narcos the powers that be decided he would chew too much scenery. I don’t know, but it feels an awful lot like they ran “Doom Patrol,” decided people liked it, and then called in a bigger gun.
Darkness! No curtains!
I love me some Titans, but it occasionally goes so far into the grimdark as to become farcical (those first two episodes were rough, y’all). I’m not entirely convinced DC can step away from the drama and misery. Titans is handling some dark material in a respectful and interesting way, but they have the grimdark market cornered. Sure, Doom Patrol is DC’s X-Men (or, if Arnold Drake is to be believed, the X-Men are Marvel’s Doom Patrol), but we’ve seen the dumpster fire that melodramatic schlock has turned into on the screen. Let’s go a different way, folks.
