The DCU’s Frankenstein Is Nothing Like the Troubled Monster We’ve Come to Expect

Heading into Creature Commandos, the first project from James Gunn and Peter Safran’s new DCU, there was a lot of hype around the monstrous characters that were set to be featured in the series. This was especially true of Frankenstein, after it was revealed early on that Stranger Things star David Harbour would be voicing the character (and hopefully playing him in live-action projects down the road). Now that the first two episodes of Creature Commandos have dropped, fans have finally gotten to know Harbour’s Frankenstein a little bit, and everyone is learning that this take on the character is not at all what we were expecting.

Many know the story of the original Frankenstein, which depicts Doctor Victor Frankenstein as the real horror, while the monster he creates is misunderstood by society. That’s not the case with the Creature Commandos Frankenstein at all. This guy is an actual monster, inside and out, and something of a stalker to boot.

The second episode of Creature Commandos features a lot of flashbacks to the origin story of the Bride, who was originally created to be Frankenstein’s spouse. Frankenstein basically begged his creator to make her. She didn’t love him, though, and fell for the Doctor instead. Frankenstein ended up brutally killing Victor, in what his twisted mind perceived to be a favor to the Bride. With Victor out of the way, they could actually be together. Of course, this didn’t go over well, and the Bride has wanted nothing to do with Frankenstein for centuries.

This hasn’t stopped Frankenstein, who has spent all of his time on Earth essentially stalking the Bride around the world, trying to get her back. And it’s made abundantly clear that there isn’t a thing Frankenstein won’t do to get her attention. His whole goal in life is to rekindle their love, and he will kill anyone who stands in the way of that mission.

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In addition to being a genuinely horrible guy, Frankenstein is also wildly funny in Creature Commandos, thanks in large part to Harbour’s performance. This gives the new DCU a fantastic villain right out of the gate, one that will hopefully be around for a while.

Ahead of the show’s debut, ComicBook.com spoke with Creature Commandos showrunner Dean Lorey, who admitted that he was as surprised by James Gunn’s take on Frankenstein as everybody else. He called the monster the “most villainous person in the series,” but also can’t get enough of him.

“I had no idea what David Harbour was going to do with this character, because it’s a little bit of a puzzle,” Lorey told us. “Kind of like G.I. Robot in the sense of it could be a lot of things. How Frankenstein-y do you go with it, you know? But he brings such an enormous charm to the character that you kind of forget that he’s terrible. He’s probably the most villainous person in the series. I mean, he’s a straight up stalker with the Bride.”

“I kept rereading the script and I was like, ‘Is this real? This is what he’s gonna do?’ It literally plays like a romantic comedy through some of it. And then you go, ‘Oh, geez.’” he added

Frankenstein’s role will continue to grow throughout the next five weeks, as Creature Commandos continues rolling out new episodes on Max. There’s a lot of story left to tell, and hopefully the show will set up an even bigger adventure for these characters in the future of the DCU.