*This article contains spoilers for DC Studios’ Creature Commandos.*
CONTENT WARNING: Creature Commandos contains violence, gore, nudity, and implications of sex.
Creature Commandos, the debut release in James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DCU, concluded on Jan. 9. Written by James Gunn and directed by Sam Liu and Matt Peters, Creature Commandos follows a ragtag crew of non-human criminals assembled on a mission to protect Princess Ilana Rostovic of Pokolistan from a potential assassination. With an astounding 95% on Rotten Tomatoes and a solid 7.8/10 on IMDB (as of Jan. 23) Creature Commandos starts off Gunn and Safran’s DCU on the right foot.
If you’re familiar with James Gunn, then Creature Commandos is right up your alley. Between his work on the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy and 2021’s The Suicide Squad, it’s safe to say that Gunn knows his way around a pack of oddball characters and knows how to make them beloved household names. But my question is: Was Creature Commandos the best project to kick-off the DCU? Gunn has made it pretty clear that he’s in no rush to shove in Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman immediately and that everyone will get the spotlight when the time comes. But the Creature Commandos (the group) is in a very odd position where they occupy a very similar space in the DC universe as the Suicide Squad (the group), just with pretty deep cut characters. The Suicide Squad featured Harley Quinn very prominently. Other characters, such as King Shark and Peacemaker, have become increasingly popular due to their presence in recent superhero media; King Shark was featured in the 2019 series Harley Quinn and Peacemaker received his own, self-titled series, Peacemaker. But what about Creature Commandos? Its most well known character is Weasel (Sean Gunn), having last appeared very briefly in the aforementioned The Suicide Squad. The rest of the commandos are pretty obscure and likely weren’t known to your average viewer before the release of Creature Commandos.
Creature Commandos felt a bit rushed. Not because it wasn’t thoroughly thought out but rather because it had to be confined to seven episodes. This is a trend that is plaguing all of television that airs straight to streaming services, not just Creature Commandos. Other critically acclaimed shows that aired on streaming services, like The Bear, Severance, and Squid Game are made up of seasons ranging from eight to ten episodes. Creature Commandos probably would have been more successful as either a 2 1/2 hour-long movie, or a longer series to give us more time to feel connected to these characters before some of their unfortunate demises. For the three main cast members who died during the show, their respective episodes cut back and forth between their tragic backstories and the event that would lead to their deaths. Those moments that were supposed to be heart-wrenching would’ve felt a lot more emotional if we had gotten more time to feel attached to the characters.
So what’s next? James Gunn confirmed himself on Dec. 23, 2024 that the show was greenlit for a second season. The season one finale showed its audience who would be joining the commandos, as The Bride (Indira Varma) walks into commandos’ lounge and sees her team’s new recruits: a vampire–Nosferata, a mummy–Khalis, and a man-eating monster–King Shark (Diedrich Bader). additionally, G.I. Robot (Sean Gunn) returns in a new, larger body following his destruction in episode three.
Overall, I’d give Creature Commandos a 7/10. James Gunn delivered on making a fun, action-packed, entertaining experience. It had a lot of memorable and iconic moments (mostly thanks to David Harbour’s portrayal of Frankenstein) and I personally got invested in the characters. I just wish I got to see more of them. I hope that season two and whatever the commandos’ future holds can help them rise to become fan-favorites and household names.
