Who Is the Fantastic Four’s Robot Sidekick, H.E.R.B.I.E.?

Who Is the Fantastic Four’s Robot, H.E.R.B.I.E.?

Similar to iconic characters like Harley Quinn and Jimmy Olsen, Marvel created H.E.R.B.I.E. for outside media before incorporating him into the comics. H.E.R.B.I.E., which stands for “Humanoid Experimental Robot B-Type Integrated Electronics,” first appeared in the 1978 New Fantastic Four Saturday morning cartoon. He effectively replaced Johnny Storm/the Human Torch on the team. Despite rumors for years that H.E.R.B.I.E. was created so impressionable young kids would not light themselves on fire emulating the hero, that was not the true reason. The rights to a Human Torch film were at another studio, so the producers of Fantastic Four simply couldn’t use him. This was why they created Firestar for Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends two years later.

The animation studio behind New Fantastic Four, DePatie–Freleng Enterprises, knew they needed a replacement for Johnny Storm. After all, this wasn’t the Fantastic Three. Although never specifically stated, a cute little robot sidekick debuting a year after Star Wars‘ R2-D2 captured everyone’s hearts is likely not a coincidence. Stan Lee created H.E.R.B.I.E. specifically for the cartoon, and Jack Kirby, who was designing characters for the new show, came up with the design. H.E.R.B.I.E. was Lee and Kirby’s last collaboration on a Marvel character together. Voice acting legend Frank Welker, the man behind Scooby-Doo, Megatron in Transformers, Garfield, and dozens more, was the voice of H.E.R.B.I.E. The series only lasted one season, consisting of 13 episodes.

How Did H.E.R.B.I.E. Join the Fantastic Four? 

In 1979, a year after his TV debut, writer Marv Wolfman and artist John Byrne introduced H.E.R.B.I.E. into the comics. His first canonical appearance was in Fantastic Four #209, in August 1979. His comic book origin is that Mister Fantastic and Master Xar of the planet Xandar created him. They intended that this little robot could help them find Galactus. They were hoping for help from the Devourer of Worlds to stop the villain called the Sphinx. In a fun bit of meta-commentary, Wolfman said that Reed designed H.E.R.B.I.E. to look like the robot used as part of the in-universe Fantastic Four cartoon show. Supposedly, Johnny did not sign his likeness rights to the animation studio, as he was out of town, so they had to create a replacement for him. Reed Richards then designed the real H.E.R.B.I.E. to look like his animated counterpart.

The Death and Rebirth of the Fantastic Four’s H.E.R.B.I.E. 

This is where things get complicated and even more meta. The villain Doctor Sun, an enemy of Master Xar, had his consciousness trapped within Xandarian computers. He transferred his mind from those computers into H.E.R.B.I.E.’s system. The new robot mascot was effectively Doctor Sun’s sleeper agent to take out the team. Eventually, he was exposed, and Dr. Sun abandoned H.E.R.B.I.E.’s body, entering one of the computers in the Baxter Building, the Fantastic Four’s headquarters. Now himself again, H.E.R.B.I.E. sacrificed himself to stop Dr. Sun.

The entire storyline was writer Marv Wolfman playing with the fans’ dislike of H.E.R.B.I.E. by making him an engine of destruction for the team. When the true H.E.R.B.I.E. sacrifices himself to save them, he knew readers would end up liking the character they once hated. Reed rebuilt H.E.R.B.I.E., but after a year or so, he disappeared from the comics. In more recent years, H.E.R.B.I.E. only made sporadic appearances. He usually appeared as a high-tech babysitter for Reed and Sue’s children, Franklin and Valeria Richards. Eventually, Reed Richards invented a more advanced version of H.E.R.B.I.E. This robot was H.U.B.E.R.T., short for Hyper-Ultronic Brain Employing Randomized Tracings. A H.E.R.B.I.E. Easter egg appears in the extended cut of the 2005 Fantastic Four. He’s also popped up in some modern animated shows.

H.E.R.B.I.E. in the MCU Fantastic Four

Since we know so little about the MCU Fantastic Four, it’s hard to say what role H.E.R.B.I.E. will play. The image Marvel released has a version of H.E.R.B.I.E. that seems to roll around on the ground, and not fly. Having said that, we didn’t know R2-D2 could fly until one day he just did. It could be that Marvel Studios and Disney want their own cute little robot, a version of BB-8 who talks. Even if H.E.R.B.I.E. plays a minor role in the film, we imagine Marvel will get a well-known actor to voice him. Possibly Frank Welker will come back? After all, he’s still working. That would be the ultimate Easter egg. We imagine that with movie exposure, H.E.R.B.I.E. will make a comic book comeback as well. Maybe this time, the fans will be nicer.