Matters grew tense for Doom Patrol fans when the sh*t started to hit the fan for HBO Max shows at at Warner Bros. Discovery. However, good news was eventually in order when we learned that Joker and Harley Quinn weren’t the only DC projects saved from the chopping block.
Everyone’s favorite DC misfit superheroes ended up being safe, too. This means that it’s celebration time for Brendan Fraser fans (who portrays the disembodied brain that remains after Cliff Steele’s race car-driving tragedy) after people grew disappointed with the Batgirl tax-break shelving. As well, we’ll soon see a return of Diane Guerrero’s Crazy Jane, and hopefully, that means more Karen mayhem, and she’ll demand to talk to the manager.
Season 4 will soon be upon us (on December 8). The principal members of the Doom gang (including Matt Bomer as Negative Man, April Bowlby as Elasi-Girl, and Jovian Wade as Cyborg) will return, and we’ll also see Michelle Gomez as Madame Rouge. A teaser previously told us that “daddy’s home,” meaning that Cliff is still making Jane smile despite herself.
From the looks of the newly released trailer, the group will be time-travelling (in a way, at least) to confront the traumas that ended up spawning their powers. Also, we’ve got a bunch of dancing butts doing obscene things.
As the trailer indicates, trouble looms on the horizon in the form of Immortus. We don’t receive much of a hint here on whether this is the General Immortus of DC Comics fame, but this seems likely, given the circumstances. As well, they must save the world, and Cliff will (still) be very upset that he couldn’t have an orgasm back when the collective climate scene took place, and boy, it never gets old to hear Fraser articulate profanities from underneath that robot apparatus. Still, the season’s logline suggests that the team could choose happiness over saving the world, so that should make for an interesting season finale.
If you haven’t yet had the pleasure of watching Fraser in this role, then you are missing out on a real treat. Although you actually can’t see Fraser himself during his non-flashback scenes, you can rest assured that this is one of his finest performances. Cliff Steele is such a tragic figure, but he’s also a hero who refuses to go by the usual hero playbook. I’d venture to say that this is the most textured, multidimensional Fraser character on the books so far, although The Whale might boast that same honor.
Regardless of what oddities await this motley crew of reluctant heroes, Doom Patrol returns to HBO Max on December 8. Generally speaking, HBO Max drops initial three episodes with weekly single-episode followups, so the show will carry us well into the new year. Yeehaw!
