James Gunn Reveals Major Casting Update on His Next DC Project

One of the first projects of the new DC Universe is about to reach a major milestone. According to DC Studios boss James Gunn, Creature Commandos has almost found its entire cast. In a recent string of interactions with fans, the filmmaker confirmed the animated series was close to completing its casting process, with it set to begin production soon.

Responding to an inquiry on Twitter, Gunn updated the fans on the series by saying, “Starting production; almost done casting.”

Starting production; almost done casting.

— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) February 24, 2023

What is Creature Commandos going to be about?

Though we know no details outside of a character roster, Gunn’s DC Studios colleague Peter Safran has teased a massive plot. According to Safran, the story is so larger, it would have been too expensive to tell in live-action. “And in terms of animation, sometimes it’s a fun way to introduce characters or introduce stories that would frankly be too expensive to be done in live-action,” Safran told members of the press gathered at DC Studios HQ last month

The expansive story takes place over seven episodes, with Gunn estimating a live-action version of the series with the current story would cost the studio between $35 million to $40 million per episode. Multiplying those numbers across seven episodes mean a live-action Creature Commandos would cost DC Studios between $245 million to $280 million, on-pace with superhero blockbusters from rival studios such as Marvel.

Who are the Creature Commandos?

Created by Jeff Lemire and Ibraim Roberson, Nina Mazursky was a scientist for S.H.A.D.E. whose life and marriage fell apart after losing her young daughter to a terminal illness. She created the Creature Commandos, and at first ended up squaring off against The Atom. That first generation of creatures was unstable, and had to be imprisoned in a microscopic prison called The Zoo, but Nina created a second generation of Creature Commandos, which turned out to be the heroes she fights alongside now. Including herself in the experiment, she was transformed into an amphibious genius in a special suit.

What other characters would you like to see pop up in subsequent seasons of the animated series? Let us know your thoughts either in the comments section or by hitting our writer @AdamBarnhardt up on Twitter to chat all things MCU!