From a race car driver to a living robot, Cliff Steele has been through a lot

Doom Patrol (TV series) type TV Show network DC Universe genre Superhero

“Sorry about the writing. Robot fingers, you know?”

That darkly funny line is uttered by Robotman, a.k.a. Cliff Steele, in the pages of writer Grant Morrison’s seminal Doom Patrol comics from the ’80s. Morrison didn’t create the Doom Patrol, but he did infuse them with a surreal sensibility that will have a definite influence on the upcoming DC Universe show. The so-called World’s Strangest Superheroes have been written by many writers over the years, from original creator Arnold Drake to Gerard Way, and the team’s lineup has varied quite a bit as a result. But Robotman is the constant; it wouldn’t be the Doom Patrol without him. This new exclusive teaser video gives a preview of how we’ll appear, played by Brendan Fraser, in the live-action Doom Patrol show coming to DC Universe next month.

Cliff Steele was a former race car driver who almost died in a terrible car accident, until the Chief (founder of the Doom Patrol) was able to transplant his brain into a robot body. While Robotman is strong and nigh-invulnerable as a result, he also can’t taste food or feel anything. That was apparent in the Doom Patrol-focused episode of Titans, in which Robotman (Fraser) repeatedly asked young Rachel (Teagan Croft) to describe the taste and feel of what she was eating for him.

While Fraser voices Robotman in his current incarnation, he also plays the human Cliff Steele in flashbacks. Check how that looks in the exclusive teaser above. Doom Patrol premieres Feb. 15 on DC Universe.

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