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Between the trailer and other promotional material for “The Fantastic Four: First Steps,” we’ve gotten some good looks at most members of the team, but one little guy we could use a little more of is the team’s unofficial fifth member, H.E.R.B.I.E. (Humanoid Experimental Robot, B-type, Integrated Electronics) the robot. Now Empire has provided us with a new look at him as he puts together a crib, presumably for Reed and Sue’s baby.
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According to “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” director Matt Shakman, H.E.R.B.I.E. deserves as much love and praise as anyone in the movie. “He’s absolutely as important and as alive as any other member of the cast,” Shakman said. “He’s sometimes a slightly put-upon robot, but he is definitely a member of the family. He’s just so charming and adorable.”
Shakman also made it clear that H.E.R.B.I.E. is an important asset to Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal): “He is really Reed’s right hand in the lab, capable of assisting him on any sort of experiment, always by his side, whether in New York City or out in space.”
H.E.R.B.I.E. is not simply a CGI-rendered puppet, but was created largely from practical effects. The different versions of H.E.R.B.I.E. on set include an animatronic whose actions are controlled by four different people.
“Our ‘prime’ one has fully moving head and arms,” SFX supervisor Alistair Williams told Empire. “We’ve had him driving around the set, cleaning, picking up toys, serving Martinis…”
CGI effects were added to H.E.R.B.I.E. later, along with a voice performance by Matthew Wood, best known for voicing the “Star Wars” villain General Grievous.
Like Harley Quinn, H.E.R.B.I.E. is the rare example of a character who was created outside the comic books first and proved too popular to be left out.
The robot first appeared in the animated series “The New Fantastic Four” in 1978, but rather than an “unofficial” fifth member, he was there as a replacement for the Human Torch.
Many fans continue to believe the urban myth that Human Torch was left out of the series because executives were afraid children would be inspired to set themselves on fire. In fact, the rights to the Human Torch had been optioned for a movie. The movie never happened, but regardless, the character couldn’t appear in the cartoon.
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