James Gunn’s new DC Universe has started with a bang in Creature Commandos, a show all about the monsters of DC being forced to do the US government’s dirty work.
The show follows The Bride of Frankenstein, Frankenstein’s monster and many other strange monsters from all over DC’s Universe all put together into a team that is forced to stop a looming world war.
It’s a simple concept for a show that falls in line with what James Gunn does best – creating stories about odd characters coming together to face an almost unstoppable threat. It’s very similar to Gunn’s Suicide Squad and even his work on Guardians of the Galaxy.
New universe, old characters
Image credit: DC Studios
Creature Commandos is the beginning of James Gunn’s long-anticipated DC Universe. The universe is set to officially kick off with this year’s Superman, but Gunn confirmed Creature Commandos is a taster for what’s to come in the future.
Being yet another adult-animated superhero show, Creature Commandos sets itself apart by being all about monsters. It explores each team member’s tragic story throughout the season. Due to each episode functioning as an origin story for each monster, the main plot mostly gets sidelined.
The origin stories are the best part of each episode, with every character getting their time to shine. The highlights are Dr Phosphorus’ and Weasel’s stories.
What prevents Creature Commandos from being another perfect animated superhero show is its disjointed storytelling and weak main plot. Watching week to week is great fun but the run-up to the show’s conclusion is rushed and falls far shorter than it should.
There’s a lot of talent in Creature Commandos with Alan Tudyk (Firefly, Moana) delivering a stellar performance as Dr Phosphorus and David Harbour (Black Widow, Stranger Things) acting his heart out as the maniacal Frankenstein’s Monster.
Monsters to some, angels to others
Image credit: DC Studios
Creature Commandos has a very unique animation style that imitates the comic books it’s based on. The characters have very cartoonish proportions and exaggerated forms that make each monster wholly unique and easy to tell apart.
Fight scenes are clearly given a lot of the budget. This is very clear in the fight between Dr Phosphorus and Rick Flag Sr early in the show.
Certain scenes can look a bit cheap for a show of its budget, but the quality never dips too far. Clear care is given to each scene especially those exploring how each monster came to be where they are.
A second season has been green-lit with no date in sight yet. The end of the show teased a couple more iconic monsters joining the squad in the second season.
Gunn has a lot of shows and films in production over at DC Studios with his focus for the next few years being ‘Gods and Monsters’.
Creature Commandos is an easy bite-sized show that leaves a lot to be desired, but it successfully delivers with its icon-worthy cast and engaging action sequences.
Featured image credit: DC Studios
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