‘Doom Patrol’ was initially announced as a spin-off from DC Universe’s live action ‘Titans’ series, as a version of the misfit team will appear on that series, which will be the first original offering from Warner Brothers’ upcoming streaming service. But in June, it was announced that Warner Brothers was courting Frasier Crane himself, Kelsey Grammer to play the Chief, Niles Caulder. The odd thing is that Bruno Bichir is playing the Chief on ‘Titans’. Why would they choose a new actor to play the same role in the spin-off? Now, another ‘Titans’ Doom Patrol member has been recast. Brendan Fraser will replace Jake Michaels as Robotman/Cliff Steele.
Fraser may be best known for headlining Universal’s ‘Mummy’ movies from the late ’90s-early 2000s. But he was once one of the hottest actors in Hollywood, having appeared in ‘School Ties’, ‘Encino Man’, ‘Airheads’, ‘George of the Jungle’, ‘Dudley Do-Right’ and ‘Crash’. Lately, he has been making a name for himself in television series like ‘Texas Rising’, ‘The Affair’, ‘Trust’ and ‘Condor’.
According to Deadline, Fraser will appear in the flesh in flashbacks on ‘Doom Patrol’ and will simply provide the voice of Robotman in the present. Riley Shanahan will provide the motion capture performance for Robotman. It’s unclear how he will be rendered on ‘Titans’ but he will probably be mostly CGI with Michaels providing the voice. (Unless they bring Fraser in to re-record his lines before the episodes become available.)
But not all the ‘Titans’ Doom Patrol are being recast. April Bowlby will portray Rita Farr/Elasti-Woman on both shows. ‘Orange is the New Black’ star Diane Guerro will embody new addition, Crazy Jane, a character that won’t start off on ‘Titans’ but is a major character from the comics. ‘Doctor Who’ alum Joivan Wade will play Cyborg/Victor Stone, a popular Titans character who will not be part of that show, but will be the lead character on ‘Doom Patrol’.
‘Supernatural”s Jeremy Carver wrote the first episode and will serve as showrunner. For the time being, ‘Titans’ will also feature Dwain Murphy as Negative Man/Larry Trainor. Will he make it to ‘Doom Patrol’? We’ll probably know the answer to that question soon.
Check back for updates!
