Monday, July 15, 2024

Coming Attractions: James Gunn brings the Creature Commandos back to TV

 44 years ago, J. M. DeMatteis introduced The Creature Commandos as a World War II super-team in the pages of Weird War Tales (1st series). When the book was cancelled a couple of years later, the Commandos went into limbo before DC began tinkering with the concept.

Later this year, Warner Bros. Animation, under the aegis of James Gunn, will launch a 7 episode Creature Commandos series, airing on Max. Set in the present, and following the events of season 1 of the live-action Peacemaker, Gunn has the Commandos now under the command on the ground of Rick Flag, Sr. (Frank Grillo), whose son was associated with the Suicide Squad. Flag, though, like his son, answers to Amanda Waller (Viola Davis, one of three actors reprising from "The Suicide Squad").

Now, meet the 2024-5 Commandos:


Image courtesy Warner Bros. Discovery.

Weasel (Sean Gunn, James' brother) is a holdover from "The Suicide Squad". Judging from the above design, it appears the artists turned Weasel into a mutated version of Bill the Cat from Bloom County. The Wikipedia page claims Weasel has been compared to the Tazmanian Devil of Looney Tunes fame, but doesn't come close.

Dr. Phosphorus (Alan Tudyk, Resident Evil, Harley Quinn) was for many years a minor foe of The Batman, but hasn't been seen much in recent times.

The GI Robot (vocal effects by Sean Gunn) was actually a rotating backup feature with the Commandos in the pages of Weird War Tales in the 80's.

Eric Frankenstein (David Harbour, Stranger Things) is a modern day reboot of the 70's DC version of the Frankenstein monster, and had sprung from the pen of writer Grant Morrison.

The Bride (Indira Varma) is Eric's companion. After a sort.

Nina Mazursky (Zoe Chao) is an amphibious scientist. Think the Creature from the Black Lagoon with a Ph.D.

Princess Ilana Rostovic (Maria Bakalova) appears to be a new character.

John Economos (Steve Agee) was Waller's right hand man dating back to the 1980's Suicide Squad, and, as with Waller & Weasel, is the last carryover from "The Suicide Squad".

More recent collections of the Commandos, not their WWII exploits, should prep you for the show.

Stay tooned.

No comments: