Creature Commandos Preview Shows Some Downsides To James Gunn's DC Universe [Annecy]

The hierarchy of power in the DC universe is about to change, again. DC Studios co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran are hitting the big reset button — Warner Bros.' second favorite button after the delete button. While we wait for "Superman" to kick in a new era of live-action DC heroes, the new universe is actually starting this year, not on the big screen, but on TV with "Creature Commandos," based on the comic book team of the same introduced in "Weird War Tales" in 1980 by J. M. DeMatteis and Pat Broderick. The original comic was set in World War II, following a team of weird superhuman monsters in pulpy stories.

The "Creature Commandos" TV show will be set in the new DC universe, directly after "The Suicide Squad" and "Peacemaker." The original team had a Universal Classic Monsters lineup that included a werewolf, a vampire, Frankenstein's monster, and a gorgon. This new ragtag group of monsters includes Weasel (last seen in Gunn's "Suicide Squad"), Eric Frankenstein (no monster, just Frankenstein), the Bride (a vampire), Nina Mazursky (a "Creature from the Black Lagoon" type monster), G.I. Robot, and Doctor Phosphorus (a fiery radiated skeleton). They are led by Rick Flag Sr.

At the Annecy Animation Film Festival, audiences got a chance to preview the development of the series, the evolution of character designs and backgrounds, as well as a couple of short animatics. As interesting and fun as the show looks, however, the panel focused on how this show fits the larger plan for Gunn's universe and the vertical integration of DC Universe through a tremendously boring video message by Gunn about connecting all aspects of DC, which felt less like a festival panel and more like an earnings call.

The good news is that "Creature Commandos" looks a lot of fun, and like a classic James Gunn story. You have a lovable group of ugly idiots, wacky and bloody adventures, and a huge amount of heart underneath. The footage shown included a stylish fight between Phosphorus and Flag Sr. that showcased the prowess of French animation studio Bobbypills, with the radioactive burning skeleton full of emotion (which he has zero ability to express physically), as well as elaborate fight choreography. The other short scene shown involved Mazursky and the Nazi-killing enthusiast G.I. Robot who can only talk about his burning desire to annihilate Nazis — promising more of the irreverent humor that James Gunn excels at.

Gunn's pitch deck for "Creature Commandos" (dated 2022) included references to Universal Classic Monsters and the incredible manga series "Golgo 13" as influences, a tone described as "dark, humorous, but never goofy and unsentimental" and the story as an "adult-themed show with political storylines." Much like "Peacemaker," "Creature Commandos" will go in an unusual direction with its theme song: the pitch deck named iconic Venezuelan song "Moliendo Café."

The creatures look unique and memorable. Yves Balack, who helmed the animated series "Captain Laserhawk," and works as supervising director here, talked through elements of the design process — like wanting The Bride to have four arms, before deciding not to torture the animators ("We're stupid, but not that stupid" said Warner Bros. Animation VP Peter Girardi). Dr. Phosphorus was a struggle, because the team couldn't decide if they wanted the skeleton to morph and change to express things, but they ultimately decided that his blank expression was part of the character, with everyone else being forced to interpret his intentions.

While the show itself has the makings of an entertaining James Gunn joint, the excitement of this preview was somewhat diminished by the very clear limitations set by Gunn's mandate for streamlining and having a single continuity across the DC universe. As we predicted, voice casts in these new DC animated projects are being dominated by celebrities, with "Creature Commandos" including the likes of Frank Grillo, David Harbour, Viola Davis, and Indira Varma. Even the character designs are forced to be practical and simple enough to translate to live-action, limiting creativity. 

There was a palpable disappointment in both the audience and the panelists who worked on the show while discussing the background art. The team recalled re-designing the Belle Reve prison that houses DC's monsters and villains for the show, showing a beautiful gothic locale on top of a hill, a very comic book-y place ... until James Gunn called and said no, they had to match the Belle Reve seen in "The Suicide Squad." The next slide in the presentation showed a dull, boring building you could mistake for an office.

Granted, there are other locales that look fantastic, like Frankenstein's mansion being a creepy gothic palace. Still, the focus on making it all part of a cohesive story — one that works within the constraints of live-action — seems counterintuitive to the very idea of making a TV show in animation. Sure, it's cool that Rick Flag Sr. looks a lot like Frank Grillo, and that David Harbour is playing Frankenstein in a movie (apparently some if not all of these characters have ties to the upcoming "Superman") but is it worth it if we lose the discovery of, say, the next Kevin Conroy?