Creature Commandos (TV series)


Creature Commandos is an American adult animated superhero television series created by James Gunn for the streaming service HBO Max. Based on the eponymous team from DC Comics, it is produced by DC Studios and Warner Bros. Animation as the first television series and the first installment in the DC Universe. The series focuses on a black ops team of monsters assembled by Amanda Waller. All seven episodes of the first season were written by Gunn, with Dean Lorey serving as showrunner and Yves "Balak" Bigerel as supervising director.
The series features an ensemble cast including Indira Varma, Sean Gunn, Alan Tudyk, Zoë Chao, David Harbour, and Frank Grillo. After James Gunn and Peter Safran became co-CEOs of DC Studios in October 2022, they announced Creature Commandos in January 2023. Production on the series had begun by then and casting was underway. The cast was announced that April. Bobbypills and Studio IAM provided animation for the series.
Creature Commandos premiered on the streaming service Max on December 5, 2024, with its first two episodes. The series received positive reviews from critics, who praised the voice acting, Gunn's writing, and emotional weight. It is the first entry in the DCU's Chapter One: Gods and Monsters. In December 2024, the series was renewed for a second season.

Premise

After the events of the first season of Peacemaker, Amanda Waller assembles a black ops team of monsters led by General Rick Flag Sr.

Cast and characters

Main

  • Indira Varma as the Bride:
A member turned leader of Task Force M and a homunculus created from various female corpses' body parts to serve as a companion to Eric Frankenstein. Creator James Gunn felt Varma's performance adds a "whole other dimension" to the character, being incredible alongside David Harbour's Eric.
  • Sean Gunn as
  • * G.I. Robot: A member of Task Force M and the World War II infantry unit Easy Company and a military android whose purpose is to kill Nazis. James Gunn said there was a "sweet, mechanic innocence" to the character that he did not see until Sean's performance. Early designs for the character were similar to a trash can and robots from the 1950s science fiction before the "friendlier, wide-eyed" final design was settled on.
  • * "John Doe" / Weasel: An anthropomorphic, rodent-like member of Task Force M and the Suicide Squad, who was compared to the Tasmanian Devil from Looney Tunes. Gunn said Weasel's backstory would be explored in the series, which showrunner Dean Lorey described as "heartbreaking, touching and emotional" in ways that would surprise the audience.
  • Alan Tudyk as
  • * Alex Sartorius / Doctor Phosphorus: A member of Task Force M and a scientist turned crime lord who is a metahuman with radioactive powers. The Kirby Krackle effect was incorporated into the character's flaming skin.
  • * Will Magnus: A scientist specializing in robotics who studied G.I. Robot during the 1960s. Tudyk based his performance on director Mike Nichols.
  • * Clayface: A shapeshifting criminal whose body is made of clay. Tudyk reprises his role from the Harley Quinn animated series, where he voiced a different version of the character.
  • Zoë Chao as Nina Mazursky: A member of Task Force M and a mutant with aquatic features who is only able to breathe underwater and is forced to wear a containment suit on land.
  • David Harbour as Eric Frankenstein:
A homunculus and the Bride's "very colorful" intended love interest turned stalker who killed their creator and the Bride's lover Victor in a jealous rage centuries earlier. By taking more inspiration from Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein instead of his "lumbering and grunting" portrayal in adaptations such as the 1931 film, Gunn found Eric to be well-spoken and intellectual while still being driven by his rage, anger, inability to be truly human and not being loved by the one he loves.
  • Frank Grillo as Rick Flag Sr.:
A United States Army General and the first leader of Task Force M. Grillo describes Flag Sr. as having more gravitas and competence than his son, Suicide Squad leader Rick Flag Jr., who was killed in the DC Extended Universe film The Suicide Squad.

Recurring

The heiress to the throne of Pokolistan. Bakalova was the first person cast in the DCU, with Gunn developing Ilana with her and her knowledge of Bulgarian in mind.
  • * An unnamed old woman who watches over Frankenstein's Castle at Eric's request.
  • Anya Chalotra as Circe: A rogue Amazonian sorceress who seeks to become ruler of her homeland Themyscira.
  • Viola Davis as Amanda Waller: The director of A.R.G.U.S. who assembles Task Force M.
  • Julian Kostov as
  • * Alexi: The Amethyst Knight Captain who serves Ilana until he is killed by Doctor Phosphorus.
  • * Sergei: The second Amethyst Knight Captain, who replaces Alexi following his death.
  • Steve Agee as John Economos: An A.R.G.U.S. agent and aide to Waller who is currently recuperating from an injury.
  • Stephanie Beatriz as Aisla MacPherson: A professor who specializes in studying Themyscira.

    Guest

  • Peter Serafinowicz as Victor Frankenstein: A 19th century scientist, the creator of Eric and the Bride, and the latter's lover who was killed by Eric out of jealousy.
  • Michael Rooker as Sam Fitzgibbon: A military antique collector and member of a neo-Nazi group who, despite their friendship, was killed by G.I. in the 1990s.
  • Maury Sterling as Sgt. Franklin Rock: The leader of the Easy Company.
  • Paul Ben-Victor as Bulldozer: A member of the Easy Company.
  • Robbie Daymond as Little Sure Shot: A member of the Easy Company.
  • Linda Cardellini as Elizabeth Bates: Weasel's lawyer.
  • Jason Konopisos as Congorilla: A talking, yellow-furred gorilla and a Belle Reve inmate who is killed by the Bride for bullying Nina.
  • Shohreh Aghdashloo as Madam Gyurov: The madam of the Can-Can Brothel in Pokolistan that the Bride and Nina hide out with.
  • Benjamin Byron Davis as Rupert Thorne: A Gotham City mob boss who is responsible for Doctor Phosphorus' transformation.
  • Parisa Fakhri as Parvin Sartorius: Doctor Phosphorus' late wife who was killed by Rupert Thorne's men.
  • Luke Cook as Paddy Craic: An electrokinetic metahuman in Pokolistan who encounters the Bride at the Can-Can Brothel.
  • Russ Bain as Brian Craic: An electrokinetic metahuman in Pokolistan and brother of Paddy Craic who encounters the Bride at the Can-Can Brothel.
  • Gregg Henry as Edward Mazursky: A scientist from Star City and Nina's late father.
  • Joy Osmanski as Lily Mazursky: Nina's mother and Edward's wife.
  • Diedrich Bader as Nanaue / King Shark:
A shark-human hybrid, Belle Reve inmate, and member of the Suicide Squad and the second iteration of Task Force M. The character was previously voiced by Sylvester Stallone in The Suicide Squad.
Additionally, several DC Comics characters make non-speaking cameo appearances in the series, including:

Production

Background

was hired in October 2018 to write and direct The Suicide Squad, a standalone sequel to the DC Extended Universe film Suicide Squad which retained some cast members but otherwise told its own story. He worked with producer Peter Safran, who also produced the DCEU films Aquaman and Shazam!. They later expanded The Suicide Squad into a spin-off television series, Peacemaker, for the streaming service HBO Max. Discovery, Inc. and Warner Bros.' parent company WarnerMedia merged in April 2022 to become Warner Bros. Discovery, led by president and CEO David Zaslav. The new company was expected to restructure DC Entertainment and Zaslav began searching for an equivalent to Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige to lead the new subsidiary. Gunn and Safran were announced as the co-chairs and co-CEOs of the newly formed DC Studios at the end of October 2022. A week after starting their new roles, the pair had begun developing an eight-to-ten-year plan for a new DC Universe that would be a "soft reboot" of the DCEU. Gunn and Safran said some cast members would return from The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker in the DCU, and a "rough memory" of the events of those projects would remain.

Development

Gunn discussed making an animated series for Max, the successor to HBO Max, after the success of Peacemaker. As Max was asking him for another show but knowing committing to one was a "big deal", Gunn was unsure on what to do, so he started playing off with ideas and came up with the show's concept as spec scripts, finishing them within a few weeks prior to his promotion. He wrote the seven-episode series without a deal, based on the Creature Commandos team of monsters from DC Comics. After he was hired to lead DC Studios, Gunn greenlit the project. On January 31, 2023, Gunn and Safran unveiled the first projects from their DCU slate, which begins with Chapter One: Gods and Monsters. The first project was Creature Commandos, which was expected to be released as an "aperitif" for the DCU before the film Superman, with some characters from the series appearing in that film. Creature Commandos wasn't meant to be the franchise's "right entry point", but was chosen to be due to being already written. Gunn said the series was integral to their vision for the DCU, establishing the fact that characters would be treated consistently across different mediums moving forward. Warner Bros. Animation co-produced the series. Executive producers include DC Studios' Gunn and Safran, Warner Bros. Animation's Sam Register, and Dean Lorey. Lorey served as showrunner for the series, with Yves "Balak" Bigerel as supervising director and Warner Bros. Animation's Rick Morales as supervising producer. Gunn hired Lorey as showrunner due to his commitments to the DCU. Describing his involvement in the production, Gunn said the team took his scripts and made an "innately good" series that he suggested some improvements for.
Lorey and Gunn had discussed a potential second season by November 2024, but Lorey said it depended on Gunn having time to write more scripts. Gunn said he wanted Lorey and others who worked on the first season to return, even if the story continued in a different format, such as a Creature Commandos film rather than a second season. Ahead of the first season's finale, it was announced that Max had greenlit a second season in December 2024. Production for the second season had begun by June 2025. Gunn said the following month that the season would be written by a writers' room rather than by himself, adding in January 2026 that it would take place after the events of the second season of Peacemaker.