HERBIE Wasn’t Always Part of ‘The Fantastic Four’ — Here’s Why
The Fantastic Four’s friendly kitchen helper was actually made for a far more important mission, despite initially not being a part of the original comics.
Time has finally come for Marvel’s “The Fantastic Four” to receive a decent movie adaptation, and its most adorable character is conquering millions of hearts in theatres once again.
Titled The Fantastic Four: First Steps, the movie stars Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as the four superheroes setting out to save the universe from Galactus with some help from their own invention called HERBIE.
Voiced by Matthew Wood in the new movie, the cute robot has been long believed to be an integral part of the original superhero team, though not always things have been like this.
Who Is HERBIE in ‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’?
In the new adaptation and some previous movies or shows, HERBIE (or rather H.E.R.B.I.E.) is a robot whose official name comes as Humanoid Experimental Robot B-Type Integrated Electronics.
He was created by Mister Fantastic and Xandar’s scientist named Xar for helping both of them defend the universe from Galactus.
Ironically, HERBIE is also there for Marvel’s first family when there’s a need to clean their house or babysit their children while the superheroes are out for another mission.
HERBIE Wasn’t Part of “The Fantastic Four” Comics Until the 1978 Animated Series
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Despite many believing that the robot has always been there for the family, that’s not quite true, especially when it comes to the original comic book created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.
Published back in 1961, “The Fantastic Four” first comics had no mention of HERBIE whatsoever, continuing the story without the character until an animated TV show of the same name and based on the book series came out in 1978.
There, however, HERBIE was introduced not as a separate new character but rather some sort of replacement for Johnny Storm aka Human Torch; this was due to the creators’ decision to not risk showing their young fans a teen character setting himself on fire.
After HERBIE became everyone’s favorite in the TV series, the character was quickly brought into the further comic books and remained there ever since.
Meanwhile, The Fantastic Four: First Steps is now playing in theatres worldwide.
