Marvel Studios has revealed the cast of The Fantastic Four after the big speculations and rumors surrounding the upcoming MCU movie. While the official cast of the Four was not very surprising, the robot in the poster has left fans perplexed.
The robot is HERBIE, the good companion of the superhero circle. The MCU debut of the character has created a buzz and that is worth wondering what the character might bring to the evolution of the narrative. But before that, diving into the root of the character would ease into understanding its prominence in the movie.
HERBIE’s MCU Debut in The Fantastic Four
After months of speculations, Marvel Studios dropped a hand-drawn character poster revealing the cast of the movie. While the poster teased that the movie would be set in the ’60s, for which the movie received wide applause from fans, the final cast also created a splash prompting a huge discussion.
Complementing the widely circulated speculation, Pedro Pascal joined The Fantastic Four as Mr. Fantastic a.k.a. Reed Richards, Napoleon star Vanessa Kirby will play Sue Storm. Stranger Things fame Joseph Quinn will light up the role of Johnny Storm a.k.a Human Torch and Ebon Moss-Bachrach will play Ben Grimm who also goes by the name of The Thing.
Alongside the Fantastic Four, the titular MCU robot, Humanoid Experimental Robot, B-type, Integrated Electronics, or simply, HERBIE will make a glorious debut in the upcoming movie. Marvel Studios hasn’t revealed the HERBIE actor.
With the initial impression of the movie and the logo, it seems that the movie will be a tribute to the roots of the character. Also, HERBIE’s presence has elevated the hype further. As the character made it into the poster, it would be fair to judge that the humanoid robot will have a decent amount of screen time.
Who Is HERBIE? Tracing The Roots of The Character
The retro-looking humanoid robot in the poster can be traced back to its origin as the character appeared in the animated series, The New Fantastic Four. HERBIE was created for the series that was aired in 1978. The character served as a replacement for Human Torch in the original series as a live-action Universal TV show scheduled Johnny Storm to appear around the time of airing the cartoon holding the rights of Storm. As there can not be three superheroes in the Fantastic Four, HERBIE was introduced out of utmost necessity.
Later, the charter was adapted into the comics making its first appearance in Marv Wolfman and John Byrne’s Fantastic Four #209. In the comic book version, Reed Richards and Master Xar of the Xandarians created HERBIE to guide them to find Galactus.
Since the comic book debut, the character emerged across Fantastic Four media being an integration of the superhero band, guiding their path. With the reintroduction of the character with its retro essence, HERBIE revived the promise of a cinematic journey of a humanoid character on the big screen. Marvel keeping the essence of the character’s vintage root equally glorified the celebration among fans.
The Fantastic Four is scheduled for 25 July 2025 release.
