Creature Commandos

The season finale of Creature Commandos is here, and so, I decided to binge through all 7 episodes at once rather than make any attempt at pacing myself. This is the beginning of ‘The New DCU’ under the direction of James Gunn, something that the show boldly advertises on its official poster, so for a comic-book movie fan like myself, this was must-watch television. Let’s just say, while I had absolutely no trouble binging all of this series in the one sitting, I was also left with many thoughts as the credits rolled, some good, and some bad.

Today, we’re talking all things Creature Commandos. I’m going to strive to keep this review spoiler-free, but I may allude to my feelings on certain storylines from the show, so if you want to go into the show completely blind, come back and read our thoughts after you’ve experienced it for yourself! With that being said, I’m chomping at the bit to talk about this show, so let’s get into it!

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The Review

Image by DC Studios

Creature Commandos is the first official project from DC Studios for James Gunn’s ‘New DCU’ – but not really because, continuity-wise, one can also consider 2021’s The Suicide Squad and the first season of James Gunn’s Peacemaker as existing in this universe. However, this is the official start of the DCU on paper, so let’s just roll with that. With that in mind, this is a very strange choice for the beginning of a new cinematic universe, especially with the upcoming Superman movie in the near-future. Superman would have felt like the perfect beginning point for a new DCU, a fresh start for a comic-book universe that was in desperate need of a hard reset. The decision to kick-start this universe with Creature Commandos is both excitingly unique, and potentially underwhelming – and unfortunately, only time, and the future development of the DCU, will be able to tell which one of these mindsets comes out on top for most fans.

In essence though, Creature Commandos is exactly the kind of show that should exist for lesser-known comic-book characters like these. The actual plot of this series, the current-day events that our heroes(?) are faced with are, in brutal honesty, fairly mundane. However, the show is elevated beyond this unremarkableness through the focus on character backstories, most, if not all, of which are executed to near perfection. In some ways, Creature Commandos feels like it would work better as an anthology series, diving into the background of each of the ‘Task Force M’ members individually, completely putting aside the stodgy Pokolistan plot that binds the show together. The show works as a rapid-fire look into the origin stories of all of these characters, which means that all of the exposition is out of the way for when these characters make the jump into future DCU projects. However, it feels very strange for a project of this nature to be the first entry in such a universe.

This brings to mind the question of casting, and the nature of these characters in the future of the DCU. The voice cast here is incredible. No one feels out-of-place, no one stands out as weak, and more than a handful of actors here give remarkably great performances. In particular, Indira Varma as The Bride and David Harbour as Eric Frankenstein give phenomenal performances, that cover all facets of their individual characters when necessary. As for the future of the DCU though, I do wonder if these characters will ever make the leap to live-action, or if some corners of the DCU will always exist in the animated medium. Viola Davis returns as Amanda Waller, which implies that actors like Varma and Harbour would be willing to reprise their roles on the big screen, but again, only time will tell.

Image by DC Studios

One thing is for sure though – you can feel that James Gunn is behind the wheel on this project in every single episode. One of Gunn’s greatest talents is taking relatively unknown characters, and skyrocketing them to a level of fandom that would have been previously unthinkable for them. How he elevated the Guardians of the Galaxy to one of Marvel’s premiere teams, how he made Ratcatcher one of the highlights of a stacked cast in The Suicide Squad – this ability to uplift obscure characters is on full display in Creature Commandos, as Gunn combines his unique, adult charm with relatively unsung source material to mould the DCU as he sees fit. Look at it this way – the writing here manages to make Weasel one of the most endearing characters in this series. If that doesn’t convince you of what I’m saying here, I don’t know what will.

In typical Gunn fashion, this show is also ridiculously gory, edgy, and overall, generally adult. Think the same level of graphic violence as Invincible, especially in the later episodes, when things really start to heat up on the action side of things. While I don’t want to link everything in this review to the future of the DCU, it does raise some concerns about it, so let’s address the elephant-in-the-room here. I personally have no objection to violent, graphic superhero content, but the level of gore and sex here does make me wonder what this says about the vibe of the DCU going forward. The Superman trailer looked like a move away from ‘edgy DC’, and leaned into the tropes that are more so associated with Marvel these days – hope, colour, life etc. This feels like a step in the complete opposite direction to that, which I worry will ultimately lead to a muddled sense of identity for this universe going forward. Sure, not every project needs to be the same, but some general sense of identity and direction would be reassuring.

On a side note, the police force in this show are portrayed in a very interesting way, which I think will also have consequences for the DCU going forward. The police in this series are laughable, ridiculously bad at their jobs, and at times, make decisions that feel genuinely fuelled by cruelty. I don’t want to give anything away here, but all I’ll say is, keep an eye on the decisions made by the police in this show, particularly during the character backstories. They make choices that feel uncharacteristically heinous. Sure, police are never exactly the most useful players in a superhero story, but here, they actually feel like a negative factor, actively working against public safety. I’ll be interested to see if this portrayal of the police is a consistent factor in the DCU going forward, or if Creature Commandos just chose to have its characters encounter the worst police officers ever in each of their backstories.

Image by DC Studios

Aside from the police though, the characters in this show are, for the most part, great additions to the DC team. Had this show gained more traction throughout its run, I’d imagine that The Bride would be one of the spearheads of this new generation of comic-book characters. This series doesn’t really have a main character so to speak, but if it did, it would be The Bride. Her dynamic with Eric Frankenstein is a joy to watch, as is any scene involving Frankenstein to be honest. Harbour’s performance is a comedic tour de force, and though he mostly acts separately to the main storyline of the series, he remains a standout character. Nina Mazursky and G.I. Robot are also great additions to the cast, but ultimately, feel underused in the grand scheme of things.

Other characters, however, feel a little underbaked for me. Far too many of them fall into the category of ‘I’m hard on the outside, but soft on the inside’ – even The Bride occasionally teeters on falling into this trope, but luckily avoids being swallowed by it completely. As strong as the backstories for these characters are, these are still 20-minute episodes at the end of the day. When so much runtime is spent looking back on how these characters were, far less time is spent on how they are today. A particular victim of this is Doctor Phosphorus, who I couldn’t really tell you anything about personality-wise, despite seeing him in action multiple times in the modern-day, and watching his whole backstory play out. This is also not the finest hour for Rick Flag Sr., who makes some…let’s say questionable decisions throughout the series. This is, ultimately, a character-driven show, and while most are complete assets to the show, some fall short of meeting its expectations.

Creature Commandos also falls victim to the modern-age practice of making every single villain an anti-hero. Luckily, some of the characters here live up to their villain status. However, some of them are completely non-evil, to the point that it’s genuinely mind-boggling they were even eligible to join ‘Task Force M’ in the first place. Despite the name of the series, Creature Commandos also rarely feels like a show about an actual team. Some of these characters have great dynamics with each other – I particularly enjoy all of the interactions between Nina and The Bride. However, I feel like some of the members of ‘Task Force M’ have genuinely never spoken to each other. They don’t gel together like a team, but this could be down to time constraints more than anything else.

Image by DC Studios

As far as style goes, this show is strong. The character designs are top-notch, and while the plot in Pokolistan is remarkably drab, the visuals are consistently stunning. The music choices on the other hand are…unique? The soundtrack is majorly inspired by the music of Venezuela and Romania, and while it certainly brings a distinct identity to the series, there are moments where these choices work, and some where they really undermine the events unfolding on the screen. The opening is also a delight to watch, despite the bad taste in my mouth that James Gunn’s self-insert leaves. I have no qualms with the man shouting himself out via an animated cameo, but he genuinely feels like the one that stays on the screen the longest, as opposed to the other characters that fly by at the speed of sound.

So, ultimately the show is incredibly strong in terms of its voice work, style, animation, and character-focused storytelling. In many ways, it feels like the 2024 Suicide Squad Isekai anime that released, which if you read my review, you’ll know I wasn’t too fond of. However, Creature Commandos is elevated past the level of Suicide Squad Isekai thanks to the incredible use of backstories to propel the episodes forward. The show has some emotionally-charged moments that truly caught me off-guard, but the central plot of the series does let this hard work down a little bit. While I’m excited for the future of these characters in the DCU, I have no desire to revisit any of the political dynamics explored in the Pokolistan storyline.

Overall, Creature Commandos is a stylish, highly-bingeable good time, but it feels like a far cry from the grand opening to a new universe that it actually is on paper. It feels, instead, more like a show of compiled backstories, that would have served its purpose best had it been released in around a year’s time, when the DCU was already in motion. However, it is still a very strong, unique outing, and has all the benefits of a usual Gunn project, ultimately boding well for the universe under his direction going forward. With that being said, I need them to change that DC Studios logo – it made me laugh every single time I saw it. Please do not roll that in front of an actual movie. Please.

See also: The Most Anticipated Movies of 2025

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Where to Watch Creature Commandos?

Image by DC Studios

You can watch all 7 episodes of Creature Commandos on HBO Max. The season is also available on Amazon Prime Video in select regions. If you’re in the UK, we’d expect to see Creature Commandos air on Sky and NOW TV in the near-future, as has previously been the case with Max originals. However, if you can’t wait to check the series out, check out our guide on how to watch HBO Max in the UK. The New DCU has officially begun!

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