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Anne Lewis was a Detroit Police Department officer at the Metro West precinct who was partnered with Alex Murphy at the time of his death. She was partnered with him again after his reconstruction as RoboCop and continued to patrol with him through multiple police strikes, often facing some of Detroit's most fearsome criminals with little or no backup.

Biography[]

Murder of Alex Murphy[]

Anne was partnered with Alex Murphy shortly after he transferred from Metro South to Metro West. On his first day on the job at his new precinct, he was murdered by a vicious gang of thugs led by Clarence Boddicker. Lewis was incapacitated by gang member Joe P. Cox and was separated from Murphy at the time of the murder and could not cover him. After the carnage ceased, the only thing Lewis could do was summon help to get Murphy medical attention, although he was declared legally dead shortly afterwards.[1]

Assisting RoboCop[]

Some time later, remains from Murphy were used in the creation of the cyborg RoboCop. This information was not public knowledge, but Lewis recognized RoboCop, who had mannerisms from his former life and she helped him rediscover his past.[1]

Later, Anne was alerted to the orders for Lt. Hedgecock and his SWAT force to destroy RoboCop. She arrived at the third level of the OCP parking complex, seeing RoboCop damaged by the SWAT force and helped him to get into her car. As one of the SWAT team members discovered them, Lewis quickly got in the car and drove away, escaping the gunfire.[1]

The two escaped to the old steel mill, where she brought supplies to RoboCop and told him what happened to Murphy's family. She later helped him calibrate his aiming systems before Boddicker and his gang arrived.[1]

A firefight ensued as Lewis gave pursuit to the gang in her cruiser. She encountered Boddicker, who had crashed his car but managed to shoot Lewis, who collapsed into a shallow pool of rusty water. As Boddicker prepared to kill her, RoboCop arrived and was soon buried under metal from a crane operated by Leon Nash. Lewis destroyed the crane control room along with Nash with Clarence's Cobra Assault Cannon, enraging Clarence. The crime lord attempted to kill RoboCop once and for all but was fatally stabbed in the neck by the cyborg.[1]

I'm a mess

RoboCop desperately called to Lewis, who responded that she was "a mess." RoboCop assured her that OCP would fix her, as they fix everything. Indeed, she was soon taken to a hospital, where she recuperated.[1]

Police strike[]

When the police went on strike again the following year, Anne was one of the few police officers that did not. She was once again partnered with Murphy as RoboCop. Although RoboCop could strike as he was a subsidiary of OCP, the increased demand on his duties had been putting a strain on him, as well as his support staff. This was to the advantage of Cain, a drug lord developing a new narcotic known as Nuke. Cain's gang at one point managed to mangle and dismantle RoboCop, depositing his remnants near the police precinct. Lewis used RoboCop's ruined state to show the strikers how Cain's gang was having a field day. The strike was called off, and the police officers returned to duty in a united effort to bring down Cain.[2]

After a confrontation with RoboCop, Cain was killed and OCP had his brain placed into RoboCop 2. This new cyborg went berserk and ended up battling the original RoboCop, who he almost dominated until Lewis distracted him with a can of Nuke, allowing RoboCop to extract and destroy his brain.[2]

The "New Guy"[]

WARNING: This article/section contains spoilers from RoboCop: Rogue City. Continue reading at your own discretion.

Amid a crime wave sparked rumors of a crime boss known as the "New Guy in Town," Lewis and RoboCop responded to a hostage situation at the Channel 9 studio. When RoboCop visibly glitched while trying to save a hostage, Lewis stepped in and made the rescue.[3]

Lewis was captured by the "New Guy," identifying himself as Wendell Antonowsky, the brother of Emil Antonowsky, one of Murphy's murderers. In front of her partner, Lewis was shot by Antonowsky and she was hospitalized at Gibson Memorial Hospital, where she slipped into a coma. Soon after she woke, the hospital was attacked by mercenaries with the goal of killing her, an ordeal she narrowly escaped.[3]

Lewis immediately returned to the force, providing backup for RoboCop as he continued his campaign to eliminate Antonowsky. She and her partner responded to an attack on the OCP headquarters, during which she helped the wounded while Murphy took down RoboCop 2, now containing the brain of the late Old Man.[3]

Opposing the Rehabs[]

OCP was eventually bought out by the Kanemitsu Corporation and was still bent on creating their project, Delta City, to replace the rotting city of Detroit. Unfortunately to them, the inhabitants of the area had no intention of abandoning their homes simply for desires of the company. To this end, OCP decided to force them to leave by employing a ruthless mercenary army, the Rehabs to attack and harass them. By this time, Lewis, RoboCop, and Reed were transferred back to the Metro West precinct.[4]

Lewis went with RoboCop to a church, where they discovered several refugees in hiding. The Rehabs soon arrived with their commander, Paul McDaggett, to arrest the refugees. Lewis refused to give them up, telling McDaggett that he would have to shoot through her and RoboCop first. However, McDaggett responded, "I don't have a huge problem with that," and opened fire, mortally wounding Lewis.

Lewis dies

Lewis dies

A group of rebels came to RoboCop's aid as he carried Lewis into the church and laid her on the altar, where she said her dying words to her friend, "Get them for me. Promise me!" to which he said faithfully, "I promise." With her final word, "Murphy...", Anne died.[4]

Behind the scenes[]

Originally, Stephanie Zimbalist, one of the stars of NBC television series Remington Steele, was cast as Lewis after the series' cancellation. When her co-star Pierce Brosnan was cast in the role of James Bond in The Living Daylights, interest was renewed in Remington Steele, so its cancellation was reversed. This cost Zimbalist the role of Lewis and Brosnan the role of Bond because the show's continuation made them unavailable for those films. Eventually, Nancy Allen was cast in the role, which she reprised in RoboCop 2 and RoboCop 3. Allen's likeness was used for Lewis in the video game RoboCop: Rogue City, though she was voiced by Kosha Engler.

Allen created her own backstory for Lewis. According to this, Lewis was raised in the Detroit suburbs and helped raise her younger brother after her father died when she was eleven. She joined the Detroit Police when she was 19.[5]

There exists an urban legend that Nancy Allen was so displeased with RoboCop 2 that she agreed to do the third film under the condition that her character be killed off early in the film. However, this is false, according to several interviews by Allen.

The character of Anne Lewis was not featured in the TV miniseries RoboCop: Prime Directives. In regards to the character, co-writer Joseph O'Brien went on to say, "As far as we were concerned Anne Lewis is dead. Whether this happened in RoboCop 3 or not we leave to the discretion of the individual viewer." She is referenced when Ann R. Key reveals her name to RoboCop.

Anne Lewis 2003

Lewis in the 2003 game

Lewis is featured in the 2003 RoboCop game, but does not bear Allen's likeness.

Trivia[]

  • In a deleted scene from the end of the first film, Lewis is hospitalized and visited by Mayor Gibson. She is then interviewed by Mediabreak's Justin Ballard-Watkins, who asks if she had ever considered another line of work. Anne responds, "No, I like being a cop. And you know what they say, 'If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.'"
  • In the comics, Anne Lewis didn't get killed and instead it was Warren Reed that died, adapted from the original RoboCop 3 script.
  • In the Marvel comic books there is an inconclusive romance between RoboCop and Anne Lewis, she kisses him in the 19th issue of the series.

Appearances[]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 RoboCop (1987)
  2. 2.0 2.1 RoboCop 2
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 RoboCop: Rogue City
  4. 4.0 4.1 RoboCop 3
  5. RoboDoc: The Creation of RoboCop – "Destination Delta City"
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