“The Fantastic Four: First Steps” Robot H.E.R.B.I.E. to be Voiced by General Grievous Actor Matthew Wood

The Star Wars sound designer and cast member lends his voice to the FF’s robot pal.

When we meet the Fantastic Four’s robot H.E.R.B.I.E. in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, he’ll be voiced by someone who has plenty of experience providing robotic character voices - Star Wars’ Matthew Wood.

What’s Happening:

Empire broke the news about the casting, revealing Wood will voice the FF’s robotic pal.
Director Matt Shakman tells Empire that when it comes to H.E.R.B.I.E., “He’s absolutely as important and as alive as any other member of the cast. He’s sometimes a slightly put-upon robot, but he is definitely a member of the family. He’s just so charming and adorable."
Shakman explains, “He is really Reed’s right hand in the lab, capable of assisting him on any sort of experiment, always by his side, whether in New York City or out in space."
Empire also revealed a new photo of H.E.R.B.I.E. building a crib - which makes sense since Sue Storm/Invisible Woman is pregnant in the film.

There were many versions of H.E.R.B.I.E. created to bring him to life in the film, with Empire noting that included a wooden puppet stand-in on set and a full animatronic that took four people to control.
First Steps’ SFX supervisor, Alistair Williams, tells Empire “Our ‘prime’ [H.E.R.B.I.E.] has a fully moving head and arms. We’ve had him driving around the set, cleaning, picking up toys, serving Martinis…"
Matthew Wood’s primary job is as a sound designer, working on projects dating back to the late 1990s, including on the Star Wars prequel trilogy and most Star Wars projects since then. But he’s done a lot of voice work as well, and is best known on the performer side for his role as the cyborg villain General Grievous in Revenge of the Sith, which he’s reprised several times since. He also would eventually become the voice of the Battle Droids, playing all those characters and Grievous throughout Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
It’s not clear yet if we’ll hear H.E.R.B.I.E. speak in full sentences in the film, since the trailers have only shown him making clicks and whirring noises. But Shakman tells Empire, “He’s charming, he’s funny — but he also will break your heart, which I hope is emblematic of the movie."
The Fantastic Four: First Steps stars Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm/The Human Torch, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm/The Invisible Woman, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm/Thing.
This film opens in theaters on July 25, 2025.

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