Cast Griffin Newman in 'the Fantastic Four,' You Cowards!

By Chris Revelle | Film | February 29, 2024 |

By Chris Revelle | Film | February 29, 2024 |

Maybe you read around these parts recently that there’s a new Fantastic Four movie on the way. In that adorable announcement poster announcing the movie on X, we could see the new cast: Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm/Invisible Woman, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm/Human Torch, and Ebon Moss-Bacharach as Ben Grimm/the Thing. Eagle-eyed readers and/or fans of Marvel’s First Family may have noticed one character included in the poster who did not have evident casting: the wonderfully silly robot sidekick H.E.R.B.I.E.

As a character, H.E.R.B.I.E.’s creation has an interesting backstory: when the Fantastic Four was being adapted into a cartoon series, the Human Torch character wasn’t available for use because the character was being spun off into its own solo movie (that didn’t come together), so Stan Lee and Jack Kirby needed to create a new character to fill out the team. They created H.E.R.B.I.E. to be a cute robot sidekick and fun fact: this was the last thing Kirby designed for Marvel. They’re a cute character, one that’s been through various versions including as an unwitting double agent for a villain and eventually as the guardian of the Richards’ children.

But who’s to play this adorable robotic pal? As much fun as dream-casting Doctor Doom can be (Mads Mikkelson, Gwendoline Christie, Ben Mendelsohn, etc), dream-casting H.E.R.B.I.E is even more so because as much fun as a great villain is, people love an adorable robot sidekick. BB-8 is a great example of a beloved robo and though their voices were heavily modulated and processed, comedians Bill Hader and Ben Schwartz provided the sound they made. Alan Tudyk as K-2SO is a good example of a famously funny person delivering a memorable voice performance. It’s unknown as of yet whether Jack Black’s take on Claptrap in the Borderlands movie is a success, but it’s another example of a great comedic actor lending their charms to a robotic sidekick. This isn’t a new trend; comedians are typical choices for comedic relief sidekicks all the time, but I emphasize this to narrow down the scope of possibilities. When taking into account how light-hearted this new Fantastic Four seems to be, you may wonder what comedic actor could step into the role of H.E.R.B.I.E and to that I ask, Have you heard of Griffin Newman?

Griffin Newman is an actor who you may recognize from the likes of The Tick or Search Party as a uniquely dorky presence with a distinctively plaintive voice. Newman’s voice is a wonder: reedy and high like the sound the nerd emoji might make with sudden phlegmatic bass when he wants to really emphasize a word. Newman has used this wonder of a voice in many animated roles such as Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, Masters of the Universe: Revolution, Dicktown, and Disenchanted. If you’re a fan of podcasts (as I definitely am!), you may know his and David Sims’ wonderful film podcast Blank Check or maybe you’ve caught a performance or two of The George Lucas Talkshow wherein Newman plays Watto with a dead-on hilarious voice. In Masters of the Universe, Newman voiced Orko, a wizard-type character with similar vibes to H.E.R.B.I.E: a bit goofy, sweet, and a fun comic relief. You go listen to that performance and tell me Newman can’t voice a perfect H.E.R.B.I.E!

Newman himself has been campaigning a bit for the role on social media and it’s utterly charming. There’s a slight tongue-in-cheek tone to it, but I genuinely believe he would be a fantastic H.E.R.B.I.E. He’s a proven voice actor and a hilarious comedian, and he seems to be a wonderfully intelligent and sensitive person as far as his podcast indicates. Newman is also a lesser-known actor, especially when compared to the stars that usually get voice roles. It’s funny how often we value the star power of celebrities in animation when they can’t be seen and it’s genuinely a bore when the role goes to a Chris Pratt. Instead of the predictable, instead of the boring, instead of the expected, go with someone more fresh, fun, someone with a less familiar vibe, someone who’s known to nerds, but can still surprise us. Cast Griffin Newman, you cowards! Give us the H.E.R.B.I.E we deserve!

Chris Revelle cohosts a far-inferior film podcast called Why Did We Watch This? and listens to Blank Check religiously.