Now is the best time to pick up that DC Universe subscription

Doom Patrol, which debuted in 1963 is probably most famous for being DC’s version of the X-men. They’re a dysfunctional team of misfits that relunctantly take on the responsibility of superheroes while being led by a wise leader in a wheelchair. Luckily the similarities end there with the makeup of the team itself and the overall tone of the show. Here we have Robotman, Elasti-Woman, Crazy Jane, Negative Man, and, fresh off a lackluster Justice League movie, Cyborg, who all have to deal with their past trauma before even thinking about saving anything.

Doom Patrol’s ability to straddle the line between heart-breaking realism and some of the most mind-boggling creations in genre history shouldn’t work.

It’s a classic story foundation: in order to save the world, they have to save themselves. However, these aren’t the issues that can be fixed in 90 minutes. Robotman, a.k.a. Cliff Steele (voiced here by Brendan Fraser, who has been a missed presence in film and television over the past decade), was once a successful racecar driver, but an accident left him with a brain and little else. Not only does he have to adapt to his new body, but accept that the mistakes he made in his past might not be fixable. Rita Farr, a.k.a. Elasti-Woman (played by April Bowby) was once a old-Hollywood diva before she came into contact with a lifeform that made her body malleable, but uncontrollable. The allegory is a bit obvious — a vain woman known for her beauty now has to deal with a monstrous version of ugliness — but Rita still has to come to terms with her situation, and become a better person to make a best of it. Larry Trainor (Negative Man, voiced by Matt Bomer) has to deal with his own self-loating about his sexuality while Crazy Jane (Diane Guerrero) struggles to handle the 64 personalities that inhabit her body.

The core team could be a solid superhero team, but their unstability and mental health problems prevent them from going outside themselves. This is extremely unhelpful when they go up against Mr. Nobody (Alan Tudyk, who is just having a blast here), who looks to exploit their insecurities so he can get revenge on the Chief.

The reluctant superhero story isn’t new — the Umbrella Academy show, which is also about a team of reluctant super-powered misfits, came out the exact same week as Doom Patrol — but the writing manages to make Doom Patrol seem exciting by focusing on the characters and putting spins on their origin stories. The show even gives new life to Cyborg’s narrative. He’s arguably the most well-known of the Doom Patrol members thanks to the Teen Titans cartoon, so his backstory is familiar to many viewers, but faced with people less capable than him, he takes on the leader role. However, lingering issues with his father, who helped to create him, and not being able to trust that his memories are real, create a tension that goes byond just typical father/son drama.

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