Created by James Gunn, Creature Commandos takes place after the events of Peacemaker season one and follows Amanda Waller (Viola Davis), who is no longer able to put human prisoners in jeopardy for her clandestine operations as she did with Task Force X. When another international incident arises Waller assembles a new task force of non-human prisoners called Task Force M, aka the Creature Commandos, lead by General Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo) to combat the new threat, but things are not what they seem.
The first chapter of the new DCU is finally here, introducing us to a revamped universe through the eyes of new and lesser-known characters from the pages of comics. I’ve been eagerly awaiting this series ever since its initial announcement and I had a huge amount of faith that it was going to be something special since James Gunn has proven time and time again that he’s able to make incredible and unique comic book projects even with the most absurdly obscure characters.
After being able to watch all seven episodes of the first season I can happily say my faith was justified because this series is absolutely amazing and phenomenal. Creature Commandos is an unhinged yet captivating first entry of the new DCU, featuring beautifully crafted animation, layered tragic characters, incredible gory action, and a compelling narrative full of brilliant twists and shocking levels of heart. It works as its own awesome standalone story while also serving as a promising start for DC’s revival and is clearly in capable and passionate hands.
The series has numerous elements that I think many people will love but its greatest strength is the characters that drive the narrative. We have a unique ensemble all voiced by cast members that beautifully bring these characters to life, through their incredible performances as well as the writing they are given, which makes them all extremely investing in various ways. Most of the characters have tragic and sympathetic origins but some of them are far from being pure saints, especially when some of them have chosen to abandon any humanity they may have been capable of and instead chose to embrace their identities as monstrous villains.
Leading the team is Rick Flag Sr, voiced by Frank Grillo, who has the same values and honorable conduct as his son who was killed in the events of The Suicide Squad, but he has a much more acidic sense of humor and is ready to get his hands in the dirt to do what he thinks is right no matter the cost. As the only human on the team, he is one of the most moral and sane individuals in the group but is also the most susceptible to being emotionally compromised, unlike most of the Commandos. He also proves himself to be a badass, showing that he can physically handle various meta-humans he encounters in this series even with no superpowers. Frank Grillo delivers an awesome voice performance and an impressive introduction to this character who is confirmed to make future appearances in the DCU this year with Superman and Peacemaker Season 2, and I am honestly looking forward to seeing more of him.
The first amongst the monsters is The Bride, voiced by Indira Varma, who is basically the DC universe adaptation of Bride of Frankenstein from comics with origins inspired by tragic elements of the original character from Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel Frankenstein and the 1935 film Bride of Frankenstein. In this world, the Bride is an elegant femme fatale who is capable of crushing your heart with her charm or with her bare hands and she ended up being an unexpected favorite of mine from the start of the season all the way to the end. She is cynical and immoral when it comes to humanity, always assuming the worst due to what she’s been through, but at the same time she is capable of enormous empathy as we see in her relationship with fellow commando Nina Marzusky.
Indira Varma is magnificent in her performance as the Bride, perfectly capturing the character’s cynical nature and delivering great amounts of humor and emotion with her voice, even with such a mean-spirited individual.
The next member of the Commandos is the humorously sweet and instantly lovable GI Robot, voiced by Sean Gunn, who is a robot originally programmed to kill Nazis for the US government in World War II. He is initially presented as a rather simple and comedic character who just wanted to make friends and kill Nazis, but there is a lot more to him under his metal surface that gets to be explored in a perfectly written political origin story with cutting commentary on war veterans as well as the intersection between present-day and historical extremism. He is a literal product of war who seeks purpose and is completely unable to adjust to life after the War he was made for, resulting in him being abandoned and forgotten about just like so many real-life veterans.
Sean Gunn really surprised me with how he brought this character to life so beautifully, even with a monotone voice, making for a very compelling character that many are guaranteed to love and shout “Cheers to the Tin Man!”.
The next commando on the list is the Weasel, also voiced by Sean Gunn, who is a returning face of the past having miraculously survived the events of The Suicide Squad. For someone who started out as a joke character in The Suicide Squad, it’s surprising how much depth the Weasel gets in this series as we learn the shocking truth of how he ended up in Belle Reve. Like many, we assumed the worst of this creature with his creepy design and the fact that he allegedly killed several children, but it turns out that isn’t entirely the case. Weasel ends up having one of the most heartbreaking stories of the team in a highly relevant origin with themes of dehumanization and tragic misperception that had me getting very emotional and for me on par with the emotional and tragic origin of Rocket from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3. I’m really glad this character was brought back in the new DCU and given such an upgrade in development, making him one of my favorite characters on the team.
My other favorite member of the team who also happens to be the most well-crafted character of the series is Doctor Phosphorus, voiced by national treasure Alan Tudyk in one of his best voice performances in his career. He is a full-on sociopath with a severe lack of empathy, dark humor, and a very deadly power, but he also has a very traumatic backstory that put him on the path to insanity. The permanent skeletal smile and hilarious sarcastic personality are all a mask to hide a broken man who has lost everything and is more than willing to take out his rage and pain upon the world. But while you have a truly tragic insight into his origins, it doesn’t excuse Phosphorus for being a true monster capable of the greatest atrocities to get what he wants, all because of one bad day.
Alan Tudyk truly gave his all to this performance, making us feel a mix of emotions with this character from horror to humor to sympathy to shock. On top of all that I think Phosphorus has one of the best animated designs and powers for a comic book character I’ve seen in recent years.
The final commando is Nina Marzusky, voiced by Zöe Chao, who is the most human and heartfelt member of a team of monsters. Some people may compare her to Ratcatcher 2 from The Suicide Squad but she manages to be much more than that as well as have a very different story direction in comparison. Nina is a glimmer of hope in a world covered in shadows and despite everything she has endured in her own life she is able to see the good in anyone, even in those who claim to have abandoned their humanity or kindness, like the Bride. She is a truly lovable character through and through and it is all thanks to brilliant writing and a wonderful performance by Zöe Chao.
The other main creature who isn’t a member of the Commandos but plays a large part in the season is Eric Frankenstein, voiced by David Harbour, who is a truly fascinating and beyond f**ked up villainous character that this series presents in a unique fashion. The Frankenstein’s monster is portrayed in most media as a sympathetic creature who is misunderstood by everyone but he is not that in this series. Instead, he is a terrifying and insane narcissist who doesn’t have any concept of morality and reacts like a homicidal child to everything, especially anything in regard to his Bride whom he has been stalking for centuries. If he can’t take you with him he kills you, if you take his girl he kills you, if you reject him he kills you, if he rejects you he kills you! His go-to reaction for every unwanted emotion is to kill whatever attachment is causing him to feel, making him a psychopath who is taken to the absolute extreme.
He’s a terrible person but at the same time he’s also an investing giant of a character that has a blend of outrageous, authentic dialogue and moments you can’t help but love and laugh at. He is a good illustration that “English is a means of communication and not a measure of intellect” since he is so articulate and vast in his speech yet he is more often than not devoid of logic. He is the best love-to-hate character of this series who is written tremendously and voiced perfectly by David Harbour, who continues to show impressive range as an actor in recent years.
This series also features a great supporting cast of characters, all with their own personal motives and unique personalities that get time to shine even if it’s in small doses. First among them is Amanda Waller, reprised by Viola Davis, who is up to her usual activity of protecting the US Government and its interests by any means necessary but this time we get to see a completely new side of her come out as she shows brief moments of rare humanity throughout this series. We are so used to her being a cold-hearted person who is unfazed by even the most dangerous of villains in the DC universe that seeing her be actually vulnerable for once was a welcome surprise and shows that there is much more to her, much like her comic counterpart. I hope we can see more of this new side of her explored in her own upcoming series later on.
We also get two new characters introduced and they are Circe, a rogue Amazonian sorceress, and Princess Ilana Rostovic, the heiress to the throne of the fictional country of Pokolistan. Circe, voiced by Anya Chalotra, is a popular villain in Wonder Woman comics who is initially presented as the main threat of the season, but it is soon revealed that things are not quite what they seem with her in terms of her goals leading to surprising twists.
Her role in the story may not be as large as some would have wanted but her actions are what kick off the events of the plot and have you questioning who the real villains are, making for an even more investing narrative that isn’t as simple as black and white. She is established as a potentially powerful magic user who has much to learn and clearly has a much larger future ahead of her beyond this series that I look forward to seeing explored, especially when getting a really great actress to play her.
Ilana Rostovic, voiced by Maria Bakalova, is an original character created for this show and is quite an interesting yet unpredictable character who had me on edge throughout the season. On the surface, she appears to be a strong-willed princess who wants to be a just ruler of her country, but it’s clear from the get-go that something is off about her. Throughout the series, you constantly are made to question her true motives and true colors based on her actions, leading viewers to be unsure of her as a person yet be fully invested in learning her secrets. Maria Bakalova did a spectacular job voicing this character and giving her so much mystery without ever making it obvious whether she is good or evil.
There are also some special guests and appearances that are pulled straight from DC comics and are littered throughout the series but all play a part in the narrative, adding a great amount of world-building to the DCU without throwing the series out of focus.
This series mostly serves as a standalone story, taking place within the new DCU with its own unique tone and style, but it also gives us a taste of the kind of character exploration and world-building we will come to expect in this cinematic universe going forward. The canon of this world is explained and established simply as early as episode 1, clearing up any confusion that people may have about what is being carried over from the old DCEU in small doses and what is thankfully being scrapped and left behind.
The aesthetic of the world presented visually as well as narratively is unique, with the contextual and historical dynamics of an expansive DCU being felt through the characters and places we visit. This series also knows how to really take advantage of its R-rating, using it for both comedic purposes and impactful narrative purposes. It features ultra-bloody violence, unhinged dark humor, unfiltered swearing, and graphic sequences of all kinds, but none of these elements are there just to shock without a purpose. It all plays a part in the story and its characters feeling very well placed and tied together.
The narrative develops the characters and leads the main plot with great care and fun twists, making these previously unknown monsters gain our immediate interest and investment within a short amount of time, which is very impressive given that most of the old DCEU films couldn’t accomplish that even with their longer runtimes. The series does partly feel like a spiritual sequel to The Suicide Squad since it continues off some of the story threads of it as well as shares a similar setting at the start, but I will honestly say this series explores its characters further, throws in better twists in direction for them, and tackles more complex and interesting themes in comparison.
The season wraps up in an amazing yet shockingly heartbreaking episode that ends things on a rather dark yet satisfying note. It is surprisingly one of the most measured episodes of the season, at least in terms of action, and much more charged with pure tension as the entire journey of these characters and the true nature of their mission reach their dramatic peak here along with crazy twists. The bittersweet ending is very cohesive with what the series has presented so far in its mix of emotions; it concluded all of the story arcs for the characters in this season very well while also leaving some open for the DCU to follow, and it immediately leaves you hungry for more by giving us a taste of what’s to come in the second season.
The technical elements of this series are stellar across the board as it all makes it look and feel like a comic book come to life, from the gorgeous animation to the brilliant editing to the 70s-like aesthetic that gives it character.
The animation is beautifully crafted in every frame, full of stunning visuals, fluid movement, and unique designs that enhance all other elements of the series and their impact on viewers, from the characters, the narrative, and even the action. The action is created with such fierce passion and choreography as early as the first episode and then it continues to escalate in savagely creative ways as the series progresses. This series is not for the faint of heart when it comes to its ultra-gory action.
And then of course there is the music, which includes an excellent score by composers Kevin Kiner and Clint Mansell and an awesome hand-picked collection of songs by James Gunn himself that offer some truly amazing needle drops and of course are incredibly fitting for the tone of this series. Kiner’s work in music over the years never gets enough appreciation especially when it manages to elevate the emotional impact of so many scenes like it does in the series. This handpicked soundtrack for this series features a variety of songs from Gogol Bordello, an American punk rock band whose music and sound are inspired by Romani and Ukrainian music mixed with punk and dub. I never knew anything about this band until hearing their songs in this series but it turns out they are a big deal and I can definitely see why given how exotic and fun their music is. Their songs may be initially bizarre upon hearing it but they are honestly all awesome and feel incredibly fitting for this crazy series that takes place in a location that feels like a melting pot of various European cultures including Bulgarian, Romani, and Ukrainian culture.
This series really lived up to my expectations but also vastly exceeded them, making for an immensely solid appetizer for the new DCU as well as a phenomenal standalone series that feels new and refreshing even in a heavy era of comic book media. I can’t wait to see what more this series has to offer in its second season and I am eager to one day see some of the characters make their live-action debuts. I’m going to give Creature Commandos Season 1 an A+ = 100.
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