Creature Commandos Co-Creator JM DeMatteis Responds to DC Universe Announcement

Legendary comic book writer J.M. DeMatteis, who co-created the Creature Commandos with Pat Broderick in 1980, was recently musing on social media about the big-screen prospects for the characters. While he didn’t quite nail the prediction — today, James Gunn and Peter Safran announced that DC was launching an animated series based on the characters — they could still make their way to the big screen. Gunn said that they were casting actors who could move back and forth between the two formats intentionally — and with a Swamp Thing movie in development, it would not be shocking to see Frankenstein and company stomping their way into the live-action DC Universe.

DeMatteis, maybe inspired by Marvel’s Werewolf By Night, had suggested that the characters would make for a good, if gimmicky, live-action movie. Complete with black and white photography, of course. 

“The Creature Commandos were born at the very beginning of my career, one of the first series (along with I…Vampire) I ever created in comics,” DeMatteis told ComicBook.com. “To have them step into the spotlight all these years later is a genuine delight.I raise a glass to artist Pat Broderick and our late, great editor Len Wein and look forward to seeing what James Gunn & Company do with the team.”

You can see his tweet below.

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The upcoming TV 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.

“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.”

DeMatteis and Broderick’s Creature Commandos 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.