'Doom Patrol' Trailer: "Just What The World Needs, More TV Superheroes"

A new Doom Patrol trailer is here, and it sure does lean into how funny the show is supposed to be. There's jokes galore, and even some meta commentary, as villain Mr. Nobody (Alan Tudyk) flat-out calls the characters "TV superheroes." Are they going for some Deadpool-style fourth wall breaking here, or is that line out of context? Who knows! Watch the Doom Patrol trailer below.

I've yet to watch a DC Universe original, so I can't comment on whether or not they're good. But I do know that the trailers for the shows so far have been seriously lacking. First we got the "F*** Batman!" trailer for Titans, and then we got the rather bland photo-op teaser for Doom Patrol – neither of which inspired much confidence. Now, here's a Doom Patrol trailer with more footage. Does it fare better? Eh, not really. I have to admit it's hard to resist a show where Brendan Fraser plays a character named Robotman, but so far, I remain lukewarm on this series.

Doom Patrol "reimagines one of DC's most beloved groups of Super Heroes:

"Robotman aka Cliff Steele (Brendan Fraser), Negative Man aka Larry Trainor (Matt Bomer), Elasti-Woman aka Rita Farr (April Bowlby) and Crazy Jane (Diane Guerrero), led by modern-day mad scientist Niles Caulder aka The Chief (Timothy Dalton). Each member of the Doom Patrol suffered a horrible accident that gave them superhuman abilities, but also left them scarred and disfigured. Traumatized and downtrodden, the team found their purpose through The Chief, coming together to investigate the weirdest phenomena in existence. Following the mysterious disappearance of The Chief these reluctant heroes will find themselves in a place they never expected to be, called to action by none other than Cyborg (Jovian Wade), who comes to them with a mission hard to refuse. Part support group, part Super Hero team, the Doom Patrol is a band of superpowered freaks who fight for a world that wants nothing to do with them."

There's certainly potential here to craft a quirky show filled with flawed misfit superheroes, and did I mention that Brendan Fraser is playing a character named Robotman? Still, it's hard to get too excited about this, because we've seen so little footage. This is the first real footage-filled trailer to arrive, and it's only 30 seconds long. Normally, a series can build up to a longer trailer – but Doom Patrol premieres next week. Perhaps the producers are hoping to keep things as spoiler-free as possible.

Doom Patrol premieres on DC Universe February 15, 2019.