Welcome back stinkers! San Diego is currently running right now, and it is like Christmas for us sweaty nerds! Later today we have Marvel’s Hall H panel, that’ll be filled with announcements! So, stay tuned for a recap on that tomorrow. Anyways, today we are talking about DC! The new DCU is under way, with Superman filming, and others that are hard at work behind the scenes. However, we’re not going to have to wait that long to get a taste of the DCU, because we just got our first Creature Commandos Teaser.
Creature Commando Teaser Thoughts
Now the DCU is going to debut at the end of the year in December, with Creature Commandos. This is going to be our first 100% cannon project. I say that because things like Peacemaker Season 1 and The Suicide Squad are going to have some things that would be considered loose cannon. Now I love this trailer! It looks like it’s going to be a fun time, with great characters! I also love the animation! It reminds of the Tomorrow-Verse style, but it’s a lot smoother. I have a ton of belief in this project! All of the episodes were written by James Gunn, and he is a really good writer. After The Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy, and The Suicide Squad, I think he’s going to be just fine with Creature Commandos.
Now I’ve seen some people complaining that James Gunn can only do misfit ensemble movies. I am going to have to disagree. Yes, this is his third ensemble full of misfits, but you shouldn’t be complaining about that. He did an amazing job with the Guardians, and a great job with The Suicide Squad. The Creature Commandos are in good hands. It’s not like all James Gunn does are these ensembles anyways. He’s literally cooking a Superman movie, that I think is going to be awesome!
Rick Flag Sr.
So, we start the Creature Commandos teaser off with our introduction to Rick Flag Sr, father of Rick Flag Jr. Rick Flag Sr. is being portrayed by Frank Grillo. Now as of now, he is just about the staple of DC’s Gods and Monsters. He’s going to debut in Creature Commandos, then we see that he’s in Superman because of the set photos, and we know he’s going to be in Peacemaker Season 2. This makes me believe that Rick Flag Sr. is going to be a staple character of the DCU, at least in Gods and Monsters. If done well, I think that this could be a character that we could get connected to in the DCU, and in some sort of finale we can see him killed off in some way.
In The Suicide Squad, in a series of event Rick Flag Jr. is killed by Peacemaker. Peacemaker Season 2 is currently in production, and it will be the return of John Cena, but just a bit different. James Gunn has also taken to social media to announce that Frank Grillo will reprise his role of Rick Flag Sr. In Creature Commandos we are going to see Flag take the role of Task Force M’s leader. I think that we’re going to see hints of Flag Sr. dealing with the death of his son, and we will see that story play out in Peacemaker Season 2. The DCU is looking like it’s going to have amazing connectivity, and I think we can see Creature Commandos set up Peacemaker Season 2.
The Bride
We start the trailer off with Waller introducing Rick Flag Sr. to Task Force M. Viola Davis is reprising her role as Amanda Waller in Creature Commandos along with the rest of the DCU. She’s even getting her own limited series. We are then introduced to who I believe is the main character of the show, The Bride. Indira Varma is voicing the Bride of Frankenstein. Now in the comics, her backstory is that she and Frankenstein tried to create their own son with S.H.A.D.E technology. In then kind of backfires on them, and their son was unstable and violent. It forced Frankenstein to kill him, but the Bride never really forgave him.
Now I don’t think that the whole backstory is going to copy over into this show. I however think that there will be that awkward tension between Frankenstein and The Bride. Then I think that maybe later in the season, or maybe in another season, we can explore their backstory. They can intrigue us in with this awkward relationship, and later give a more emotional flashback. With James Gunn’s amazing writing, I think that we are really going to care for these characters. Whether if it’s in this season, or if it’s in another.
Dr. Phosphorus
The Bride is also joined by Dr. Phosphorus in the prison. Dr. Phosphorus is voiced by Alan Tudyk, originally a Batman villain. Now, I don’t think that we are going to get many references to his Gotham origin, let alone Batman. However, I can see them teasing it. Maybe they tease at his Gotham origin. That’s when by the end of this season, or show, or maybe somewhere else, we see him face to face with Batman. I think we are going to see that somewhere else, not in the show. If anything, it will be teased here.
Speaking of DC interconnectivity, that could be a way you can connect into Batman. We already know that there’s plans for a Batman: The Brave and the Bold movie. If it’s looking to differentiate itself from Matt Reeve’s Batman, I can see them bringing back Dr. Phosphorus in Brave and the Bold. Based off of the trailer, it’s looking like he will be another lead of the show/team.
Weasel
Now Weasel is a bit of an interesting character. We see him leap for Flag along with the Bride, and Phosphorus. Aside from Amanda Waller, Weasel is going to be the other character that is returning. James Gunn’s brother, Sean Gunn, is reprising his role of Weasel. Weasel was originally introduced in The Suicide Squad, which we already know will be loose cannon to the DCU. Speaking on his origin, Weasel was a part of Task Force X, but was then believed to be dead as he seemingly drowned in The Suicide Squad. With that movie being, loose cannon, I think that won’t be something that carries over into the DCU.
At the beginning of the teaser, we are reminded that congress shut down the Task Force X program. Amanda Waller originally gets exposed by her daughter in the end of Peacemaker. I think that it will be in her own limited series that we see Waller deal with those consequences. However, Waller found a loophole and is using monsters for her program. That’s where the name Task Force M comes from. “M for monster”.
G.I. Robot
Wait! We aren’t done with Sean Gunn yet. Sean Gunn isn’t only returning as Weasel, but he is voicing G.I. Robot. Now I know there has been some complaints about James Gunn casting his brother in a lot of things. I personally don’t mind it. It’s not like we’re going to be seeing his face everywhere. Even when these characters transition into live action, Sean Gunn is only going to be voicing them. The only physical performance that Sean Gunn currently has for the DCU is Maxwell Lord. It hasn’t been confirmed where we’re going to see Lord first. However, with the Superman set photos, there was hints at Lordtech.
So, speaking on the character himself. G.I. Robot was made during World War II to fight Nazis. It is as simple as that. I do want to mention that the Creature Commandos was originally put together to fight in the war. However, times have changed and they’re in a new era. I still think it’s great that they’re keeping G.I. Robot’s Nazi fighting origin.
Nina Mazursky
So, Nina Mazursky might just be the most interesting one. In the comics Nina was a scientist that so happened to work at S.H.A.D.E. After losing her daughter to a terminal illness. Followed by a divorce, Nina was driven to make the first generation of Creature Commandos. They however became a dangerous threat, because of the incapability of handling their emotions. That’s when Nina pleads with Dr. Ray Palmer in having them imprisoned in a micro prison, the Zoo. Nina then went on to learn from her mistakes and created a second generation of Creature Commandos. She included fully formed human beings that were capable of transformations. However, she was driven into experimenting with herself, turning her into an amphibian woman, joining the Commandos.
Now I really don’t know how much of her origin is going to carry over into the show. I don’t think she created all members of Creature Commandos, but maybe a few. I think that maybe later on in the season/show, we learn that someone like Weasel was created by Mazursky. With the Frankensteins having S.H.A.D.E. origins, maybe they were created by Mazursky as well. I think that it is a given that she experiments on herself, and that she turns herself into the amphibian creature we know her as.
Frankenstein
Now, this might just be my favorite character out of the group. Frankenstein is voiced by David Harbour, and this casting might just be perfect! In past interviews, Harbour hasn’t talked about this show very lightly. What would you expect? However, I believe him when he says that this show is funny as hell. Frank Grillo has also gone on to say the something. I don’t know why, but I have a feeling that Frankenstein is going to be the funniest character of the show. Don’t you worry, James Gunn is an amazing writer!
In the comics, Frankenstein had just about the same origins as any other Frankenstein tale. He was put together with stolen body parts, and kept in a lab, being tortured for months. However, the one thing that is different is that Frankenstein has the blood of the alien king, Mr. Melmoth. I think that Frankenstein is going to have a similar origin. However, given the time that we’re in, I think he’s going to be created in the same S.H.A.D.E. labs. That’s maybe when he meets The Bride, and that when the two’s origins come into play. Circling back to what could be that awkward tension between them.
Circe and Princess Ilana Rostovic
Now two other characters that I wanted to mention is Circe and Princess Ilana Rostovic. Ilana Rostovic is an original character made for the show, and she is being played by Maria Bakalova. From the looks of the few shots, we got in the trailer. I think that this season is going to include one main mission. I think that Task Force M’s first mission together is going to do with Princess Rostovic, because it looks like they’re spending a lot of time at her castle. The other character that I wanted to mention is Circe. It’s this shot above that I believe is the character. We already know that Circe is being played by Anya Chalotra. From the looks of it, I think she might be the villain of Creature Commandos Season 1.
Circe is also a character that has ties with Wonder Woman and the Amazons. Keeping up with that idea of amazing interconnectivity, I think that the inclusion of Circe could very easily tie into Paradise Lost. Paradise Lost was a show announced a while ago that focuses on the Amazons of Themyscira. I think that Circe is going to maybe tie into Paradise Lost, where Anya Chalotra can reprise her role. Who knows? Maybe Paradise Lost could set up a Wonder Woman project.
An Overarching Story
From what I can tell, James Gunn likes to do things in trilogies. I know so far, he’s only done one complete trilogy with the Guardians of the Galaxy, but just hear me out. Gunn is currently working on Superman, and a little bit of Peacemaker Season 2. I think that Gunn has an envisioned trilogy for Superman that will tell one overarching story. What’s stopping him from using that same process with the likes of Peacemaker and Creature Commandos? For Peacemaker, I can see Gunn doing 4 seasons since the first one takes place in the DCEU and is only loose cannon. I then think that James Gunn might want to start a bit of a new story with Peacemaker in Season 2. That new story could just be with Rick Flag Sr. dealing with the death of his son.
For Creature Commandos I can very much see them doing 3 seasons. If this show is a success, they’re probably going to want to do even more. With James Gunn taking the wheel behind Commandos, I think he has an envisioned story for them as well. I think we could just see the other seasons pop up somewhere in the chapter.
Creature Commandos Teaser Analysis Wrap Up
That is going to do it for my Creature Commandos teaser analysis and thoughts! I think James Gunn is going to be cooking with this show! From the sounds of it, it might be a hilarious show, and from the looks of it, it might just be an action-packed show. Folks, we are in great hands. I know it seems like James Gunn’s DCU is a bit weird, but I think when we get into it, it’s going to get good.
Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to catch up on some TV news! The DCU’s debut it right around the corner, and it’ll be here before you know it. Stay tuned tomorrow for my Marvel SDCC Hall H panel recap, as well as my Twisters review. You can find all of this at The Big Stinker Blog, along with more breakdowns, reviews, and coverage on TV, movies, gaming, and everything you love. So, until next time stinkers! Bye bye.