DC’s Creature Commandos Gets Release Window

Creature Commandos, the animated series that marks the start of James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DC Universe, is coming this December. That puts it out around six months before Gunn’s Superman makes its way to theaters, with more details about Creature Commandos coming later this week when the series has its panel at the Annecy Animation Festival. Creature Commandos, which was completely written by Gunn, will be stocked with actors who can perform both in animation and live-action, so that any future appearances by the Creature Commandos will have consistency in the tone and performances. 

The series will center on a team led by Rick Flag’s father, and including Nina Mazursky, Dr. Phosphorus, Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, G.I. Robot, and Weasel. It seems as though this will give background as to how Weasel came to be in the possession of Amanda Waller at the start of The Suicide Squad (although exactly how much of The Suicide Squad is canon is still not clear).

“Creature Commandos is based on the great team from DC,” Gunn explained. “What we’re doing with the DCU is, we are having animation tied directly into live action. Television, movies, and games all intertwine within the same universe. We’re going to cast actors that are going to be able to play the characters in this as well as in other things, some of which we’ve already cast. I’ve written all seven episodes of the show, and it’s in production. So that’s the first thing, and I love it.”

As a team, the concept of the Creature Commandos might seem like it goes way back, but not as far as you might think. The team was created by J.M. DeMatteis and Pat Broderick, and first appeared in 1980’s Weird War Tales #93. They have only appeared in a few different iterations, but since 2011’s Flashpoint, have appeared in a few different big crossover stories and even had a batch of animated shorts on Cartoon Network’s DC Nation block in 2014.

Creature Commandos stars Sean Gunn as Weasel, Frank Grillo as Rick Flag Sr., Maria Bakalova as Princess Ilana Rostovic, Indira Varma as The Bride, Zoe Chao as Nina Mazursky, Alan Tudyk as Dr. Phosphorus, David Harbour as Eric Frankenstein, Sean Gunn as G.I. Robot, and Steve Agee (Peacemaker) reprising his role as John Economos.