I, honestly, don't think Robinson really ever HAD it - at least not for this context.
The characters he does well with are those he created, or have been rebooted, or languished unused long enough that he can basically rebuild them from the ground up, and either no one will notice, or there'll be an explanation for how they've changed.
Not characters currently being used, with well-established current characterizations. (The guest appearances in Starman were generally better than his usual, but even the best don't ring entirely true.)