If you just went to see The fantastic 4: first steps In the cinema, or that you have watched the many trailers of the film, you are certainly wondering where the funny robot comes from which plays the kitchen assistant and the baby-sitter for the heroic family. Is it still a mascot imagined to sell toys in stores and derivative products in Disney parks? After all, the big ears firm did not hesitate to capitalize on Baby Groot for many years. But think again.
This attractive intelligent machine that bears the sweet name of Herbie (for Humanoid Experimental Robot B-Type Integrated Electronics, yes, it’s complicated) is actually an unusual piece of Marvel’s story. Its introduction into the world of 4 Fantastic did not take place in comics but in a cartoon, and Its creation was motivated by rights problems. It may be hard to believe, but Herbie was thought of as the replacement of a main member of the superhero quartet.
The human torch is not available at the moment …
… Please leave a message to Herbie after the beep. No, it’s not a joke: The small robot you saw on the big screen was once the replacement for Johnny Storm, alias the human torch. In 1978, Marvel found himself in embarrassment in full development of a new animated series, entitled The New Fantastic Four. The rights of use of the hero all fire any flame for the screen are then attributed to Universal, which seeks to make a feature film dedicated to it. It is therefore impossible to include Johnny Storm in the cartoon, but the fantastic 4 cannot find themselves 3.
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This is how Stan Lee evokes the idea of a robotic acolyte to the legendary artist Jack Kirby, who then runs to give life to Herbie, a character who will become his last collaboration with Marvel. The height in this story is that The Universal project has never succeeded and therefore has the sole inheritance of the indirect creation of the robotic companion of the fantastic 4. A year after her first appearance in the cartoon, Herbie finally joined the continuity of comics in number 209 of 4 Fantasticpublished in August 1979.
A hero who gives bad ideas to children?
An urban legend would like Johnny Storm to have been replaced in the cartoon The New Fantastic Four for fear that children want to set themselves up by fire to look like him. This explanation is obviously false, but not less unusual. The heroes inspire, of course, but not this kind of stupidity. Unless Ant-Man fans are looking to become ants? Who knows.
What is its story in the series?
Replacing a hero as important and powerful as human torch is not an easy task. It was therefore necessary to imagine significant capacities and a major objective so that Herbie was not considered as a robotic mouth. The robot was therefore developed by Reed Richards (Fantastic MR) and Xar de Xandar scientist, in order to provide key support in Galactus hunt.
Herbie is then able to fly, to connect to any type of computer system, to provide strategic support thanks to its extensive artificial intelligence, but also to see through certain surfaces via infrared scanners, or to defend yourself with lasers or electricity. Concretely, it is a real heroic Swiss knife designed to overcome the absence of Johnny Storm. Over the years, this little character, however imagined in emergency, has imposed itself as a cult and endearing figure of the universe of fantastic 4. His appearance on the big screen in the new feature film of the MCU therefore participates in paying tribute to its impact on the franchise.
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