By Sean Mott
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Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for the Creature Commandos Season 1 finale.
James Gunn’s Creature Commandos has been a tremendous success — from its Rotten Tomatoes score to its Season 2 renewal, the future of DC is looking bright. Each episode of Creature Commandos has featured a backstory for one of Task Force M’s members intertwined with the ongoing plot centered around the mission in Pokolistan. One of Gunn’s trademarks has been the ability to make audiences fall in love with his characters, no matter how off-the-wall they might be. It’s hard to forget that he made the entire world fall in love with a living tree that could only speak his name and a talking raccoon. But with his first official project in his new DCU, Gunn has showcased how dark this universe can be.
'Creature Commandos' Sets a Violent Tone for the DCU
While we have seen James Gunn showcase a ton of bloody violence in The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker Season 1, Creature Commandos turns the violence up to 11. Episode 2 of the series, "The Tourmaline Necklace," features the backstory for The Bride (Indira Varma), as her creation was intended for the sole purpose of being the soulmate to Eric Frankenstein (David Harbor). Instead, The Bride falls in love with her creator, Dr. Victor Frankenstein (Peter Serafinowicz), an act that gets him literally torn in half by Frankenstein — with the brutal results shown on full display for the audience. Episode 6, “Priyatel Skelet,” proves the horrific origin of Dr. Phosphorus (Alan Tudyk) is one that will melt your face off, just as Phosphorus does to any opposition in his way. That's not to mention an apocalyptic vision that realizes a future where DC's biggest heroes — Wonder Woman, Batman, and the Man of Steel himself, Superman, all dead at the hands of Gorilla Grodd and Princess Ilana Rostovic (Maria Bakalova), including Superman being nailed to a cross like Jesus — vicious imagery that sets the tone for this universe.
There are no cut-away shots of the mayhem either, ensuring the series shows every gory detail. The gruesome nature of Creature Commandos feels like a welcome breath of fresh air to the genre, although series like Invincible and DC's own Harley Quinn are fantastic adult-themed animated projects, Creature Commandos is the launching point of a brand-new universe. One that delivered on the promise Gunn stated when promoting the series — whatever rating is needed to tell the best possible version of the story will be the rating the project is given. While the Marvel Cinematic Universe just started dipping its toes in R-Rated content with last year's and the upcoming Daredevil: Born Again series, the DCU is displaying its versatility from the jump.
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Tragic Backstories are the Foundation of 'Creature Commandos'
Creature Commandos is not only full of dismemberment, murder, crucifixion, and aggressive stalking that spans decades — it's main plot device has been spotlighting each member of the team's twisted and catastrophic origins. Exploring the backstory of G.I. Robot (Sean Gunn) in Episode 3, "Cheers To The Tinman," the series portrays a surprising parallel to what soldiers in real life face — finding purpose outside of war. G.I. Robot is reduced to merely a piece of metal that is mostly left for dust when he is no longer of use. Still, his urge for companionship unveils a beautiful layer of humanity hidden under the metal exterior of this Nazi-killing machine. Episode 4, "Chasing Squirrels," proved that Weasel (also voiced by Sean Gunn) is no monster at all, just a misunderstood being who was the victim of circumstance. The finale saved the saddest backstory for last, the origin of Nina Mazursky (Zoë Chao) in, "A Very Funny Monster." Her struggles to fit in with the human world finally end as she finds a new family with Task Force M, only to have her killed at the hands of Princess Ilana while Nina attempts to assassinate her and save the world.
James Gunn's willingness to tell dark and violent stories within his new DCU universe creates a massive counterpart to the mostly family-friendly MCU he used to contribute to. He has also proved that no character is equipped with plot armor, as he's killed off Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman), Polka-Dot Man (David Dastmalchian), Clemson Murn (Chukwudi Iwuji), and now Nina Mazursky in Creature Commandos, who all were central characters in their projects respectively. This level of stakes creates a high level of attachment to this universe, especially when storytelling is the priority for the DCU rather than forcing connectivity. Creature Commandos is a great display of the variety audiences are in store for the future of this franchise, especially with Superman and Peacemaker Season 2 right around the corner to look forward to.
The first season of Creature Commandos is available to stream on Max.

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Creature Commandos
TV-MA
In "Creature Commandos," Amanda Waller assembles a covert team of monstrous operatives, including a werewolf, vampire, and gorgon, to undertake high-risk missions deemed too perilous for human agents.
- Release Date
- December 5, 2024
- Cast
- Indira Varma, Sean Gunn, Alan Tudyk, Zoe Chao, David Harbour, Frank Grillo, Peter Serafinowicz, Jake Tapper, Tony Cavalero, Viola Davis, Maria Bakalova, Anya Chalotra, Flula Borg, Michael Rooker, Robbie Daymond, Keith Ferguson, Piotr Michael, Derek Phillips, Maury Sterling, Paul Ben-Victor, Joe Zieja, Steve Agee, Stephanie Beatriz, Linda Cardellini, Keston John
- Main Genre
- Animation
- Seasons
- 1
- Creator(s)
- James Gunn