Creature Commandos First Impressions: A Refreshing DC Revival

Earlier today, DC Studios dropped the first two episodes of James Gunn’s adult animated series, Creature Commandos. The series, which acts as Gunn’s first official foray into the DC Universe under his guiding hand, had a lot of high hopes riding on leaving a good first impression. As with most things Gunn, Creature Commandos does the impossible by making you care about a group of weirdos fighting to save the world with all the ultraviolence, snark, and heart that only an animated show can deliver.

Creature Commandos, akin to Gunn’s rendition of The Suicide Squad, sees Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) directing a task force comprised of obscure B- and C-list monsters and oddities from the DC Universe to undertake perilous missions she deems unsuitable for ragtag metahumans. The aforementioned team, led by Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo), includes Frankenstein’s Bride (Indira Varma), Nazi-killing enthusiast GI Robot (Sean Gunn), the reliably off-putting Weasel (also Sean Gunn), walking nuclear hazard Doctor Phosphorus (Alan Tudyk), and the aquatic scientist Dr. Nina Mazursky (Zoe Chao).

In typical Suicide Squad fashion, the commandos must contend with an all-powerful Amazon named Circe (Anya Chalotra) and the Bride’s undead stalker, Eric (David Harbour); protect a foreign princess (Maria Balakova); overcome their own mountains of emotional baggage; and save the world. All, naturally, with the threat of having the bombs in their heads explode forcing them to stay on the straight and narrow.

From the jump, Creature Commandos is chock-full of the gory ultraviolence of Invincible and the stylistic visual flair of X-Men ’97. As the old adage goes, this isn’t your dad’s DC show. Goons get unceremoniously blown up, riddled with bullets and evaporated like they waltzed into a Mortal Kombat stage by mistake whenever they cross paths with the Commandos. Undoubtedly, the most crucial element of the animated series is its utilization of Gunn’s most potent asset: captivating writing.

Not only does the show pack a lot of information, sleek action, and side-splitting comedy into its 22-minute premiere episodes, Creature Commandos also carries on Gunn’s penchant for endearing viewers to previously unknown, imperfect heroes. This talent continues to evolve beyond becoming a one-trick fluke, as evident in Gunn’s creations like The Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy and Peacemaker. Gunn’s knack for crafting deeply human dialogue in absurd superhuman scenarios is captivating to watch, be it through the Commandos butting heads while settling into their odd-couple camaradarie, cracking wise over each other’s insecurities, or in witnessing their tragic backstories interplay throughout an episode.

While comedy is subjective, unlike other contemporary comic book projects like Deadpool & Wolverine, Creature Commando‘s snappy humor is sharp by comparison. Rather than being steeped in tongue-in-cheek meta-referential quips, every barb and non sequitur comes off as organic. If the remaining five episodes of Creature Commandos maintain the show’s winning first impression, DC Studios will officially have gotten its mojo back.

New episodes of Creature Commandos release every Thursday on Max.

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