So ‘Swamp Thing’ was canceled, but DC Universe says that fans can still look forward to seeing the remaining episodes of the first season. The streaming service has also stressed that despite rumors, it is not shutting down. But there has been no news about the just wrapped ‘Doom Patrol’, featuring DC’s most bizarre superheroes. Matt Bomer stars as Larry Trainor, an Air Force pilot from the 1960s, who lived a secret life as a closeted homosexual. Things may or may not have gotten better after he flew through a field of “negative energy” charring his physical form, causing him to cover himself with bandages at all times.
Bomer splits the role with stunt performer Matthew Zuk, who plays Negative Man in the present, under the bandages, with Bomer supplying his voice and appearing in the uncharred flesh in flashbacks. The cast also includes April Bowlby as Rita Farr/Elasti-Woman, Timothy Dalton as mastermind Niles Caulder/The Chief, Brendan Fraser as Cliff Steele, who, like Bomer, splits the role with stuntman Riley Shanahan, Diane Guerrero as Crazy Jane, Alan Tudyk as the villain Mr. Nobody, and Joivan Wade as Victor Stone/Cyborg.
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The first season of ‘Doom Patrol’ got excellent reviews and has cultivated a devoted following. Its Rotten Tomatoes scores are 95% for both critics and viewers. But DC Universe is a smaller service and ‘Doom Patrol’ arrived around the same time as Netflix’s ‘The Umbrella Academy’, which has a somewhat similar premise and is much more widely available to the millions of Netflix subscribers.
That is one thing Bomer would like to see change. In an interview with Collider, he expressed:
“Oh, my gosh, I just want more people to see it. I am so in love with the show. (Executive producers) Jeremy Carver and Greg Berlanti, who are both so brilliant, called me to do that and I just thought, “This is definitely the superhero show that I wanna do.” They called me and said, “Listen, we have this character. He’s one-part Montgomery Clift, one-part the Elephant Man. He’s got this in his backstory. This is his journey, over the first season.” It was so obviously character-driven and well mapped out. And then, I read the script, and it was phenomenal and hilarious. I was dying laughing that Alan Tudyk’s character has the narration, and how well drawn all of the characters are. I knew that my character was gonna be a slow burn that we got to know, over the course of the season. He doesn’t come on full force, from the get-go. And I knew that there would be creatively challenging aspects of it because I couldn’t always be there. I’d be there in person, and then I’d have prosthetics on me, or I’d be recording things when I couldn’t see the physical life, which I’d then have to try to patch together. I knew that was gonna be challenging, but I think it all came together really nicely.”
He also sings the praises of his costars and the show’s creators, and even the crew of the series, which films in conservative Georgia.
“That cast has just blown me away, at every turn. I think what April Bowlby is doing as Rita Farr is so hard to do and so amazing. What Diane [Guerrero] is doing with all of her characters and how distinct they are is amazing to me. Brendan [Fraser] just kills me, every episode, with his wit and humanity. Alan [Tudyk] is phenomenal. Joivan [Wade] is great. Timothy Dalton is phenomenal. And the physical actors who embody our characters when we’re not there, Matthew [Zuk] and Riley [Shanahan], inspires me when I see it. The whole cast has just blown me away. It’s one of those disparate shoots because sometimes our storylines are off in their own little worlds, so I look forward to the day that we’re all in the same room together. But it’s really a testament to Jeremy Carver, that he’s brought so much humanity and depth to it, and been able to bring it all together, as a whole. And I wanna say that the crew in Atlanta is the hardest working crew I’ve ever been around, in my life. They worked from sunrise on Monday until sunrise on Saturday morning, every week, almost. They were as in it as the cast was, and they were as dedicated and committed to the story, even my stuff. I was like, “Oh, my gosh, I’m in Georgia shooting gay love scenes. It’s gonna get awkward.” But they were hugging me after takes, and they were so amazing, through and through. I’m really grateful to them.”
In the case of ‘Doom Patrol’, maybe no news is good news. While Warner Brothers is not attending SDCC next month, it is possible that DC Universe could make their own appearance to promote its shows and make announcements. Unfortunately, with the negative buzz that the service might be in danger, they may sit it out. At any rate, here’s hoping we hear soon whether or not ‘Doom Patrol’ will get a second season.
The first season is available to stream on DC Universe.