A Brief Guide to HERBIE,Fantastic Four‘s Weird Robot Friend

Marvel ’s First Family has had almost as long ahistory in adaptationas they ’ve had in the comic themselves . As one of the van of the Silver Age of Comics , like Spider - Man they were often at the forefront of Marvel ’s elaboration beyond the Sir Frederick Handley Page and into TV and eventually take — and nowThe Fantastic Four : First Stepswill just be the latest in that farsighted melody . But in bringing Reed , Sue , Johnny , and Ben into the MCU , First Stepsis also bringing in another part of that adaptive history with it in the phase of the team ’s teeny robot pal , HERBIE .

We only briefly see HERBIE — which stand for “ Humanoid Experimental Robot B - Type Integrated Electronics”—in this week ’s trailerforFirst Stepscooking a repast with the Thing in the squad ’s residence at the Baxter Building , but HERBIE has been part of our early tone at the cinema from the very kickoff , from the moment the castwas first confirmed . Which make sense , giving his stemma , because not only did HERBIE arise out of adaptation himself , but when he was first introduced , he was a fully fledged penis of quartet in his own right .

The New Fantastic Four

HERBIE first appear in 1978 as part of the team ’s 2d animated series , The New Fantastic Four , developed by DePatie – Freleng Enterprises after NBC brokered a deal between the vivification studio and Hanna - Barbera , which had in the beginning been slated to give rise a follow up to its own 1967 cartoon , exchanging development of aGodzillaanimated serial that would also transmit that same year . HERBIE was just another of the weird problemsNew Fantastic Fourfaced in early growing : at the time , Marvel and Universal had licence a number of cartoon strip characters for likely live - activeness TV and moving picture adaption , including the Human Torch . Unable to use Johnny in the animated serial due to the rights , Stan Lee vend DePatie – Freleng on a replacement 4th fellow member of the team , in the course of an R2 - D2 - esque automaton companion .

ab initio DePatie – Freleng and Marvel approached comics artist Dave Cockrum — best known at the sentence as the germinal illustrator on the other years of Chris Claremont ’s legendary running game onUncanny X - Men , and the atomic number 27 - Lord of the the like of Storm , Colossus , and Nightcrawler — to design the new fourth member of the team . However , Cockrum reportedly chafed at the approximation of having to supercede Johnny , and intentionally submitted designs for the robot that were rough and rudimentary . rather , the studio turn toFantastic Fourco - Godhead Jack Kirby to handle the invention for the part , originally called “ ZZ-123 ” before he was pass on his absurd acronym name , in what would be Kirby ’s terminal work with Marvel before departing the newspaper publisher for the first time .

Despite being the “ new member ” of the titular team , HERBIE ’s character onNew Fantastic Fourwas passably flimsy . In a series that was already constrain intemperately by the rules of broadcast standards at the time , HERBIE was n’t much of an active combatant , and was largely shorten to the background as a detector sweeper and tech keep , claver aside and providing comment ( apparently unlikeFirst Steps , inNew Fantastic FourHERBIE could communicate in English , and was voice by animated cartoon legend Frank Welker ) .

Herbie Fantastic Four First Steps

© Marvel Studios

HERBIE Heads to Comics

The New Fantastic Fourwas not a particularly well receive show , either by audience or NBC . After the first time of year came to an end in December 1978 , several factors led to NBC not picking up the series for an expect 2d season — but HERBIE would n’t pass with the show that had create him . Just months afterNew Fantastic Fourwrapped up , Marv Wolfman and John Byrne brought HERBIE over to the comics in the Sir Frederick Handley Page ofFantastic Four#209 . Part of an discharge where the team was form with the New Champions to intercept the raise of the Sphinx by siccing Galactus himself on the raw god , Reed hastily rise a robot familiar for the team using Xandarian engineering science to provide distant access to the Baxter Building ’s computer systems while they searched for Galactus in space .

But what ’s peculiar in part about HERBIE ’s bloodline in the comedian is n’t just that he came from a real - world boob tube show : it ’s that Wolfman retainedthatorigin for the cartoon strip . In the story itself , Reed explains that the pattern for his hastily constructed golem came from one he ’d drop calendar month working on with an spiritedness studio for an in - universeFantastic Fourcartoon series . Just as was the case withNew Fantastic Four , in the comics they also needed a replenishment for Johnny , who notes that he was “ out of town ” when the team signed contract for the series . “ Ah ha ! The enigma behind the great F.F. cartoon show disputation , reveal at last ! ” tot up Nova , as Reed introduces the robot , make it all the more absurd that eventually an urban caption would arise that Johnny was replaced by HERBIE inNew Fantastic Fourout of a fear kids would attempt to emulate him through self - immolation — we’ve know the truth from the get - go !

The squad uses HERBIE to reckon their path to hear and find Galactus , and goes about their spacebound business — but little did Reed bonk that his new creation was harboring a black secret from the mo he was innovate . InFantastic Four#217 it ’s reveal that HERBIE is an unwitting turncoat , having been secretly take over by the livelihood golem Dr. Sun . Sun had been hidden within Xandar ’s computer systems , and used Reed ’s development of HERBIE to transfer his cognizance out and potentially attempt to leverage the Sphinx ’s top executive for himself . After freeing Blastaar from the Negative Zone to assay and assassinate the squad , Sun / HERBIE reveals himself by using the Baxter Building ’s security organization to imprison Sue and Johnny , while using HERBIE ’s in - build artillery systems to handicap Reed and Ben . Although Sun transfers himself out of HERBIE ’s body to try out and take over the Baxter Building ’s computer systems altogether , HERBIE make up one’s mind to sacrifice himself once freed of Sun ’s ascendance , blast himself into the computer system while Sun was still trapped in it , destroy it , himself , and Sun in the process .

Herbie New Fantastic Four Cartoon

© Marvel/NBC

A twosome of years later , Reed reconstruct HERBIE to pretend as a caretaker for his and Sue ’s boy , Franklin , watching the growing of the powerful fry ’s burgeon powers … only for a fluctuation in Franklin ’s abilities to promptly destroy the recreated robot . From there , HERBIE ’s comic chronicle disappearance into the background : Reed would develop not just a singular HERBIE , but a whole host of third - generation robots that would roleplay as a maintenance gang to help lean the Baxter Building , and finally developed a humanoid , elementary HERBIE golem to once again service as Franklin and eventually Valeria ’s babysitter , appearing irregularly through the comics until eventually Valeria decide to remove an inhibitor chip tie HERBIE to serving the Richards family , direct to him going his own fashion and finally sign up with the golem - right chemical group known as the AI Army .

Befitting his history range bothFantastic Fourcomics and the team ’s adaptations , HERBIE has carry on to thrive outside the Thomas Nelson Page of Marvel ’s books too — he appeared in several Marvel liven up series beyondNew Fantastic Four , and althoughFirst Stepswill mark his first major cinematic appearance , he concisely appear deactivate during a cancel aspect from the 2005Fantastic Fourmovie . decent now , you’re able to even see him starring in Netease’spopular hero shooterMarvel Rivals — not as a playable role , alas , but an escortable objective on the biz ’s New York function , introduced alongside Sue and Reed ’s addition to the roster January 2025 .

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Herbie Fantastic Four 209