Creature Commandos Review: The DC Universe Begins In The Most James Gunn Way

The Max animated series "Creature Commandos" is the first installment in the new DC Universe reboot from James Gunn and Peter Safran. It is also the second streaming series, following "Peacemaker," spun off from Gunn's 2021 "The Suicide Squad" movie, which was technically a sequel to David Ayer's 2016 "Suicide Squad" and part of the previous DC Extended Universe. So it appears that at least some of the events of "The Suicide Squad" (but not "Suicide Squad") and most of "Peacemaker" Season 1 from the DCEU are canon in the DCU, except for the parts that referenced the Justice League, who are all being recast and reimagined in the DCU. Don't think too hard about it.

After the events of "The Suicide Squad," Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) can no longer force human criminals into special ops missions, so she's using non-human monsters instead. Some of these monsters probably shouldn't be considered "non-human" — radioactive skeleton Dr. Phosphorus (Alan Tudyk) and gilled woman Nina Mazursky (Zoë Chao) were born human before they acquired their mutations — but nobody expects Waller to do things above board anyway. They're joined by the Nazi-killing G.I. Robot (Sean Gunn), "The Suicide Squad" survivor Weasel (also Sean Gunn), and The Bride (Indira Varma) of "Frankenstein" fame. Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo) is the Creature Commandos' human supervisor.

So this is another quirky antihero team-up story operating in much the same vein as "The Suicide Squad," which was itself a more violent R-rated spin on what James Gunn was already doing in his "Guardians of the Galaxy" movies, while sometimes working in some of the more topical satire that distinguished Gunn's "Peacemaker" series. Basically, "Creature Commandos" is the most James Gunn cartoon to have ever James Gunn-ed. This is mostly a good thing — Gunn knows how to keep this material entertainingly twisted while still treating his silly characters with emotional sincerity. The only major downside is that the show is doing almost nothing new, and even its attempts at surprising twists you can mostly see coming a mile away because we've seen this schtick before.

"Creature Commandos" begins with news of the sorceress Circe (Anya Chalotra) recruiting an army of Men's Rights Activist types, calling themselves "The Sons of Themyscira" and demanding the Amazon's all-women island be opened up to men. It's a funny set-up that will anger the right people and shows James Gunn's cleverness in adapting comics material ("The Sons of Themyscira" were something very different in a much-maligned story arc from DC's New 52 era). The Commandos' first mission is to protect Princess Illana Rostovic (Maria Bakalova) in the Eastern European nation of Pokolistan from Circe's attacks.

But while they incite the plot, Circe and The Sons are neither the main nor the most interesting antagonists of "Creature Commandos." The main one is a spoiler, though a spoiler so obvious from the beginning that late series attempts to fake ambiguity about what we already know end up being more annoying than convincing. The most interesting one is Eric Frankenstein (David Harbour), the original monster who after centuries of pursuit still can't get it through his bolted head that The Bride will never want to marry him. Similar to what John Cena pulled off with Peacemaker, Harbour's performance makes this dangerous and deluded figure entertaining and perversely sympathetic without losing sight of how pathetic he is.

After the first episode establishes the premise, the following six episodes of "Creature Commandos" follow an "Orange Is the New Black"-style format of alternating between the ongoing story and flashbacks providing backstories for each of the characters. All these backstories are compelling, with the G.I. Robot story being the most fun and the Nina Mazursky story the most emotionally intense, though you can argue whether giving a tragic backstory to Weasel borders on self-parody.

Visually, "Creature Commandos" is a match for the high if not exceptional quality we've come to expect from Warner Bros. Animation's DC cartoons. The designs have clear anime influence without being as in your face about it as "Teen Titans" or "My Adventures With Superman," the colors are vivid and appealing, and the fight scenes are choreographed and animated well. Musically, the soundtrack goes heavy on Gogol Bordello, befitting the Eastern European setting and punky energy, though other artists and genres also make their way into James Gunn's latest fun mixtape.

Fans looking for clues as to the future of the DCU will find some potential Easter eggs relating to bigger-name superheroes, but will leave with many more questions about what the rest of the cinematic universe will look and feel like. "Creature Commandos" feels like a solid preview of the tone of the TV-MA "Peacemaker" Season 2-slash-"Waller" segment of the DCU, largely because it's completely in line with "The Suicide Squad" and "Peacemaker" Season 1 segment of the DCEU. But there's no way Gunn's "Superman" movie will be a tonal match for "Creature Commandos" — not when some uncomfortable scenes here border on the edge of Gunn's "Super."

"Superman" will be the real test for how much the DCU can make a cultural impact. "Creature Commandos" is, in comparison, the sort of show Gunn could write in his sleep. This adult cartoon monster mash is an enjoyable time, but it doesn't quite rank as James Gunn's best work, and could have used an extra spark to stand out more from what its creator has done before.

"Creature Commandos" premieres on Max on December 5.