Creature Commandos: Every DCU Character & Franchise Referenced in Episode 3

Creature Commandos Episode 3 pulls the rug out from under the audience’s feet and shows that no one is safe in the DCU’s first series. In addition, while the members of Task Force M fight Circe (voiced by Anya Chalotra) in the present, Episode 3 also explores the history of GI Robot (voiced by Sean Gunn). Created as the perfect Nazi-killing machine, GI Robot had to find his place in a world that was no longer at war – a challenging task that eventually led him to Belle Reve prison. Along the way, GI Robot met several key DC Comics heroes and villains, teasing a handful of characters that inhabit James Gunn’s DCU.

Sgt. Rock and the Easy Company

During World War II, GI Robot fought side-by-side with the Easy Company. Under the leadership of Sgt. Rock, the Easy Company helped DC Comics to explore the events of the Great War in the main continuity, showing how the U.S. soldiers helped defeat Nazis and the occasional supernatural threat, such as zombies. 

The appearance of the Easy Company in Creature Commandos is timely, given that Luca Guadagnino is reportedly developing a Sgt. Rock movie for DC Studios. If the movie does see the light of day, GI Robot will likely cameo in live-action for the production, giving fans a recognizable metal face to help introduce the obscure war characters.

The members of the Easy Company who get lines during this sequence are Sgt Rock (voiced by Maury Sterling), Little Sure Shot (voiced by Robbie Daymond), and Bulldozer (voiced by Paul Ben-Victor). Later in the episode, GI Robot also confirms the identity of some other members of the Easy Company, namedropping Wildman, Canary, and Four-Eyes.

[Related: James Gunn Reveals DCU’s Most Popular Cartoon Character (Blink and You’ll Miss Him)]

William Magnus & The Metal Men

After the Army decides it no longer needs GI Robot, the robotic soldier is gifted to roboticist William Magnus (voiced by Alan Tudyk). In DC Comics, William is the creator of the Metal Men, a superteam composed entirely of artificial heroes. In the DCU, William uses GI Robot to deepen his knowledge of artificial intelligence, meaning that the metallic soldier is inspiring the good doctor to create his Metal Men.

We even Will’s early designs for a Metal Man during the scene in his laboratory. In the blueprints, it’s possible to identify the symbol for the six metals the doctor gifts with sentience and superpowers: Gold, Iron, Mercury, Lead, Tin, and Platinum – the latter also known as “Tina.” In the comic books, the Metal Men have shapeshifting powers to various degrees, and each team member has a unique personality that echoes the specific chemical properties of the metal they are based on.

There’s no official word of a Metal Men project in the DCU, right now. However, since Gunn wants to tell stories set in different decades, this team could fill the 1960s gap in the timeline, since William Magnus is working on GI Robot about 20 years after the end of World War II.

Belle Reve’s Obscure DC Villain Inmates

After GI Robot accidentally participates in a meeting of the National Socialist Club of Hub City, he has the moral obligation to kill every Nazi in the place. Sadly, he still gets punished for second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. GI Robot is sent to Belle Reve, where he later becomes part of Task Force M. More interestingly, though, is when GI Robot is first greeted in prison by some deep-cut DC villains.

While GI Robot is being paraded in Belle Reve’s corridor, we get a good look at the DCU version of the Crimson Centipede and Animal-Vegetal-Mineral Man. The other two inmates in this scene are most likely versions of Shaggy Man and The Fisherman. What’s curious is that all these villains made their comic book debit between 1964 and 1967. So, since GI Robot spent years, and maybe decades, in Belle Reve, these villains probably represent the kind of threats that plagued the world long before Superman first appeared in Metropolis.

Just for a quick overlook, Crimson Centipede is a Wonder Woman rogue. Created by Ares, he’s a formidable fighter who can induce anyone into a bloodlusting frenzy. The Animal-Vegetal-Mineral Man is a Doom Patrol enemy capable of turning any individual part of his body into anything animal, vegetable, or mineral. Shaggy Man is an uncontrollable force of destruction who doesn’t need to eat, drink, or sleep and first served as a Justice League foe. Finally, the Fisherman is an Aquaman villain who was first thought to be a high-tech pirate before it was revealed he was being controlled by an interdimensional parasite willing to conquer Earth.

New episodes of Creature Commandos hit MAX every Thursday until January 9, 2025.