Creature Commandos: If You Liked The Bride’s Origin, You Should Watch This Movie Next

The second episode of Creature Commandos focuses on The Bride (voiced by Indira Varma), the grumpy reanimated corpse slowly positioning herself as the team’s unofficial leader. As we peek at her past, we uncover that the Bride was the second experiment of Victor Frankenstein (voiced by Peter Serafinowicz), made by request of his monstrous son, Eric (voiced by David Harbour). The series cleverly mixes DC Comics canon with Mary Shelley’s seminal novel to create something unique that immediately stands apart from the many visions of the Frankenstein mythos in pop culture. However, The Bride’s backstory in Creature Commandos has some surprising similarities with Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things.

[RELATED: The Strange Origin Story of DC’s Creature Commandos]

WARNING: CREATURE COMMANDOS EPISODE 2 SPOILERS!

In Creature Commandos, Dr. Frankenstein stitches together multiple corpse pieces and brings The Bride to life as a new being. Since no one is born with knowledge, the Bride emerges as a child trapped in an adult’s body. Victor has to teach the Bride how to speak and create meaning, slowly understanding the world around her. That’s somewhat like what Lanthimos did with his award-winning movie Poor Things, which features a curious version of Frankenstein.

Poor Things Explores in Depth the Concept of a Learning Monster

In Poor Things, Emma Stone plays Bella Baxter, a woman in Victorian London brought back to life by the eccentric scientist Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe) through an experimental procedure where he transplants a fetus’s brain into an adult woman’s body. Like The Bride in Creature Commandos, Bella begins her new life with a child’s mind in a grown body, having to learn everything from scratch. 

As Bella’s intelligence rapidly develops, she breaks free from her confined existence, embarking on a grand journey across Europe with lawyer Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo). Through her experiences, she encounters philosophy, witnesses poverty, and develops a growing social consciousness that shapes her understanding of the world. The film masterfully explores themes of autonomy and self-discovery, challenging traditional Victorian-era constraints on women’s freedom. 

Furthermore, Bella’s development as a layered and complex person causes increasing frustration in the men around her, who prefer her in a more “pure” and controllable state. This aspect also resonates with The Bride’s story in Creature Commandos, as both characters struggle against others’ attempts to define and limit them.

Thanks to its unusual approach to the Frankenstein mythos, Poor Things has achieved remarkable commercial success for a genre movie, earning $117.6 million against a $35 million budget. In addition, critics have overwhelmingly praised the film, with a 93% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an impressive 8.5/10 average rating. Audiences were also impressed, with Poor Things earning an A- CinemaScore and 68% of viewers rated it as “excellent.”

The film’s journey began triumphantly at the Venice Film Festival, where it won the prestigious Golden Lion. This momentum carried through awards season with victories at the Golden Globes for Best Motion Picture and Best Actress in the Musical or Comedy categories, followed by five BAFTA wins. Finally, Poor Things dominated the 96th Academy Awards with eleven nominations spanning significant categories, including Best Picture, Best Director for Yorgos Lanthimos, and Best Actress for Emma Stone. By the end of the night, the movie emerged as the second most successful film of the ceremony, claiming four Academy Awards: Best Actress, Best Production Design, Best Makeup & Hairstyling, and Best Costume Design.

However you look at it, Poor Things is a cinematic achievement in itself. Still, for fans of Creature Commandos who appreciate The Bride’s complex journey of self-discovery, Lanthimos’ film offers an even richer exploration of similar themes through its bold artistic vision and powerful performances.

New episodes of Creature Commandos hit MAX every Thursday until January 9, 2025. Poor Things is currently streaming on Hulu.