The Fantastic Four Replacement Member Who Created An Urban Legend
Marvel treated everyone to a swingin’ new Fantastic Four image on Valentine’s Day, complete with a peek at the official cast and a groovy new logo. Eagle-eyed fans may have noticed a certain robot hiding in the corner of the image offering the Thing a cup of coffee. That’s H.E.R.B.I.E., otherwise known as the only Marvel character whose very existence sparked a long-running urban legend centered around self-immolation.
The Legend Of H.E.R.B.I.E.
In 1978, NBC was tasked with creating a new Fantastic Four cartoon, appropriately titled The New Fantastic Four. The show was a follow-up to the Hanna Barbera Fantastic Four series from 1967 but with one key difference: no Human Torch. Instead, The New Fantastic Four introduced the Humanoid Experimental Robot, B-type, Integrated Electronics, or H.E.R.B.I.E. for short.
Rumors Spread Like Wildfire
The decidedly less flammable robot was created for the most boring of reasons, but that didn’t stop kids and later adults from creating and spreading a more exciting origin for the diminutive droid. H.E.R.B.I.E. was created to replace Johnny Storm after the creators of the cartoon found out The Human Torch was already licensed by Universal Studios for a potential solo outing. Word on the street, however, was that NBC was afraid some impressionable child would set themself on fire while trying to emulate the Fantastic Four’s flaming vigilante.
An Urban Legend
In the internet age, that rumor would have (hopefully) been squashed pretty quickly. Back in the ’70s, however, there was no way to prove or disprove such a rumor, so most people just took it as fact. That’s why, to this day, there are some of you reading this and finding out the burning kid thing was just a myth. But even if H.E.R.B.I.E.’s reason for joining the Fantastic Four isn’t super exciting, that doesn’t mean the character itself is a dud—far from it.
H.E.R.B.I.E. Has A Special Place In History
For one thing, H.E.R.B.I.E. was the final collaboration between the original Marvel Dream team, Stan Lee, and Jack Kirby. Lee pitched the idea of the Torch’s replacement being a cute robot sidekick to Kirby, who was doing storyboards for the cartoon at the time. Kirby designed the little guy and then promptly left Marvel to go work for rival DC making H.E.R.B.I.E. his last official work for Marvel.
From Cartoon To Comic
The character proved popular enough that he was quickly integrated into the Fantastic Four comic book as well. H.E.R.B.I.E.’s comic book origin would be the first time a Marvel comic would get super meta. In the comic book, H.E.R.B.I.E. is a real robot that Mr. Fantastic builds based upon a Fantastic Four cartoon that exists within the 616 continuity. The in-universe reason for that cartoon H.E.R.B.I.E. is that comic book Johnny Storm was running late when it came time to sign likeness contracts for the cartoon so the creators were forced to replace him with a brand new member.
H.E.R.B.I.E. In The MCU?
As if that’s not meta enough, on The New Fantastic Four, the team had likewise authorized their likenesses to be used in a popular comic book. We’re not sure if the Fantastic Four in that comic book also has a cartoon based on them, but we wouldn’t be surprised.
Will the H.E.R.B.I.E. in the new Fantastic Four movie follow his comic book origin, or will he just show up as a one-off gag? We’ll have to wait until the movie premiers on July 25, 2025, to find out.
