Get Ready for the ‘Doom Patrol’! EP Jeremy Carver Previews the ‘World’s Strangest Heroes’
Q&A
Members of the Doom Patrol know better than anyone that life isn’t always fair, but the good news is that now, the cult-favorite DC Comics super-hero team, often called the “World’s Strangest Heroes,” is getting their own series.
Doom Patrol premieres Friday, February 15, on the DC Universe streaming service. The series features the original cast of characters — Cliff Steele/Robotman (Brendan Fraser), Larry Trainor/Negative Man (Matt Bomer), Rita Farr/Elasti-Woman (April Bowlby), and Dr. Niles Caulder/the Chief (Timothy Dalton), as well as characters from other incarnations including Crazy Jane (Diane Guerrero) and Mr. Nobody (Alan Tudyk).
Taking a page from the Justice League, the team is also incorporating The New Teen Titans comic book character Vic Stone/Cyborg (Jovian Wade) into the series.
TV Insider caught up with executive producer Jeremy Carver to chat about his vision and goals for DC’s strangest group of heroes!
In the TV series, Elasti-Woman appears to be able to do more than she can in the comics. Her face gets all blobby, for example.
Jeremy Carver: In terms of doing more than growing big or shrinking small, yes. We’re going to see Elasti-Woman embracing the “otherness” about her, her “blobby-ness.” You’ll be meeting an Elasti-Woman who doesn’t even understand completely what her powers are. The “blobby-ness” is a part of her shame. There will be more growth this way. We’re starting from a different place.
It’s a bit ironic that handsome guys Brendan Fraser and Matt Bomer have been cast as characters whose faces we don’t see.
We do see plenty of them in flashback. Everyone is sprinkled into everything. Brendan said it wonderfully well when he said everyone has their moment to shine in the show. There is no one leader in the bunch.
Writer Grant Morrison revealed in the comics that The Chief had purposely orchestrated the original tragic “accidents” that transformed Cliff, Larry, and Rita into the Doom Patrol so he could assemble the team. Will you take a page from that?
The show is dipping into different versions of the Doom Patrol from over the years. In terms of where we’re going with the storyline, we’d rather let the story grow itself week to week and let the fans discover the show for themselves.
What’s the theme of Season 1?
The heart of the first season is that they’re on a mission to find The Chief and it’s really about finding themselves.
Why doesn’t Crazy Jane ever age? Is there a reason she doesn’t?
There is a reason, but we can’t talk about that [yet].
There have been at least five Doom Patrol comic book series. How many have you read?
Between my staff and myself, we’ve covered much of it. There are still some gaps, but I love the Silver Age stuff as much as I love Grant Morrison’s run [in the 1980s and 1990s]. These characters have been left in the far corners of the universe. I love exploring the idea that everyone feels like that they are different. That should be celebrated.
Kidding here, but will you answer the age-old debate – which team debuted first: The X-Men or the Doom Patrol? Both teams have leaders in wheelchairs, members have unique powers, and villains with the words “Brotherhood” and “Evil” in them.
[Smiling] I think history has answered that, has it not?
Will we see homage to their tragic “end” in the Silver Age in which the Brotherhood of Evil offered the captive Doom Patrol a choice — either their lives or the people living on a small fishing village in Maine? (The team selflessly responded in unison: “Fire away!”)
Not that, but there will be some to more notable beats throughout the year.
Larry has a different backstory. He’s married to a woman but is involved with a man?
Yes. He has a secret lover. That’s a relationship that is at the heart of our show in Season 1.
How much are you on social media?
Personally, I’m not on social media or Twitter, but I do look at it. There’s a contingent of fans out there who are big Doom Patrol fans. We hope that that grows. It’s been wonderful to skirt through Twitter and see people’s excitement grow. I really want to do them justice. They seem to be embracing what we are doing in terms of the ‘otherness’ and embracing it. In our show, it’s messy and scruffy and it’s not always politically correct and it can be in your face. We hope we’re going to punch you in the heart.
Doom Patrol, Now Streaming, DC Universe
