The hierarchy of power in the DC universe is about to change with a new DC cinematic universe. But rather than start with a Justice League movie, a Superman movie, or even a Green Lantern TV show, the first project from James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DC Studios is an adult animated series based on a 1980 team of monsters that are virtually as unknown as Rocket Raccoon and Groot were before “Guardians of the Galaxy.” And yet, “Creature Commandos” will set the stage for a new “Superman” movie, a new Justice League team, and a new DC canon. And Gunn has been working on it since before he was tapped to co-lead DC Studios.
“I think the move to the new canon made James look more carefully at some of the background characters and other details that he’d have to ensure could nicely dovetail with where he was going,” said “Creature Commandos” showrunner Dean Lorey.
“Creature Commandos,” much like Gunn’s first DC feature film, “The Suicide Squad,” follows a team of misfits tasked by Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) with preventing an international incident. Only this time the team is comprised of actual monsters — The Bride of Frankenstein (Indira Varma), Eric Frankenstein (David Harbour), Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo, who will reprise the role in “Peacemaker” Season 2), Weasel (voiced by Sean Gunn), G.I. Robot (Sean Gunn again), the walking radioactive skeleton Dr. Phosphorus (Alan Tudyk), and the “Creature of the Black Lagoon”-like Nina Mazursky Zoe Chao). In other words, not your typical DC heroes.
Even with the freedom inherent in animation, the biggest challenge in making “Creature Commandos” was ensuring the characters could work in this medium while also able to make the jump to live-action if needed — Gunn has talked a lot about synergy across the DC Universe, like having the same actors play the same character across animation and live-action — and also not go beyond what a TV budget allows. “We needed a balance in terms of how crazy we could go with the designs because it’s animation, but also not make it too crazy because we actually want to get this done, and also we knew there’s a chance this could potentially move on to other projects,” said supervising producer Rick Morales.
It’s not just the “Creature Commandos” characters that could potentially make it to live-action, it’s also that the live-action characters that could appear in the animated show. We know characters like Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman will be part of the DC Universe, but what about other, lesser-known characters? More importantly, we’ve only had an official first look at Superman, and no one else. This meant that whenever “Creature Commandos” made a reference to the larger universe, it ran the risk of potentially contradicting whatever a future title does, down to its look.
“This was probably one of the heaviest points of back and forth between us and James [Gunn],” said Morales. “We didn’t know where certain characters were at in terms of pre-designs. We were lucky enough to have them share with us some concept art and pre-designs of what they were doing, but that was limited.”
When it came time to populate the world of “Creature Commandos,” the answer was in the comics. For characters that were not actively being worked for other projects in the DC Universe, Gunn simply suggested the animators take cues from the original comic books, suggesting specific runs for each character that captured a particular look or depiction that fit this new universe. And when everything else fails, just keep it vague. “For some of the cameos, we kept them in silhouettes, obscured and darkly lit,” Morales added. “So if that’s not exactly what you end up seeing in live-action, it was just darkly lit here!”
Though “Creature Commandos” shares some DNA with “Harley Quinn,” particularly in how it highlights lesser-known DC characters, its humor, and its violence, the key difference (other than the shows’ canonical status) is the drama and emotion of “Creature Commandos.” Sure, there is a lot of heart in “Harley Quinn,” and it takes the big moments seriously, but “Creature Commandos” is much more focused on the deaths and the drama of the characters. Like the way the animated show explores more about Weasel, who we first met in “The Suicide Squad.” It’s a heartfelt episode that showcases Gunn’s love for animals, and a great taste of the tone of this show.
More importantly, compared to “Harley Quinn,” the deaths in “Creature Commandos” are not played for laughs or shock; they hit hard. As Lorey explained, unlike “Guardians of the Galaxy” or “The Suicide Squad,” the characters here are not fundamentally good people, and they aren’t sentimental. Instead, “death isn’t for a greater purpose, it sometimes happens for no reason,” Lorey said. “It’s sudden and it hurts, which is emblematic of what James Gunn loves to do in mixing action, humor, and heart.”
The first two episodes of “Creature Commandos” premiere on Max December 5. The following five episodes will premiere every Thursday through the January 9 finale.