Creature Commandos Just Set Up the Bride to Be a Cornerstone of the DCU

While Creature Commandos did an excellent job giving the entire main cast their opportunity to shine, The Bride (voiced by Indira Varma) has been the series’ main character from the start. That’s why the first flashback episode explores The Bride’s origins, the Pokolistan setting connects directly to her story, and her nemesis, Eric Frankenstein (voiced by David Harbour), serves as one of the first season’s main antagonists. The season finale of Creature Commandos further cements The Bride’s importance by establishing her as a cornerstone character for the entire DCU.

After The Bride kills Princess Ilana (voiced by Maria Bakalova) and prevents World War III, she’s rewarded with leadership of Task Force M. This marks a fitting conclusion for The Bride, as the first season helped her forge meaningful connections following a century of being on the run. The Bride not only learns how to work as part of a team but also steps up to lead other monsters, which feels like a natural conclusion to her character arc and gives fans satisfying closure. However, The Bride’s new position of power in Belle Reve also has significant implications for the DCU as a whole.

The Bride Is Now the Bridge to the DCU’s Prison System

The prison system has always played a vital role in the DC universe. However, it takes on even greater significance in the DCU, thanks to James Gunn’s interest in themes of justice, punishment, rehabilitation – and, above all else, the necessity of vigilantism in a world filled with supernatural threats. That’s at the core of The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker, which have both been made canon by Creature Commandos. 

So far, Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) has been the recurring character who ties all these different projects together. However, since she functions as a brutal villain with whom audiences can’t sympathize, it benefits the DCU to use another character as the reference point for the prison system.

With The Bride’s promotion at the end of Creature Commandos, audiences now have someone to cheer for when different projects explore the fate of supervillains in Belle Reve. Waller can maintain her recurring appearances as a looming threat willing to crush anyone who opposes U.S. interests. Meanwhile, The Bride can serve as a likable antihero who champions the monsters’ best interests, perhaps even standing in opposition to Waller at times.

Monsters Are a Big Part of the DCU

While The Bride ultimately saves the world from the future threat of Ilana and Grodd, it’s revenge that drives her to kill the princess. As The Bride puts it, Nina (voiced by Zoë Chao) was the best of Task Force M’s members and didn’t deserve to have her life ended as part of Ilana’s schemes. The Bride isn’t motivated by love for humanity – on the contrary; She doesn’t value human lives and believes the world mistreats those who are different from the average person as “monsters.”

The unfair treatment of monsters is a recurring theme in Creature Commandos, from Nina’s unjust incarceration to Weasel (voiced by Sean Gunn) being falsely branded a child-killer. It’s clear that Waller has been using Belle Reve to maintain her various suicide squads, willing to forge sentences to keep powerful creatures under her control. For Waller, the ends justify the means, and monsters are merely expendable resources to be used for protecting humans (at least American humans.) These actions have reinforced the “us vs. them” mentality now embedded in The Bride’s resurrected brain.

[RELATED: Creature Commandos Is Setting Up Frankenstein as DC’s Biggest Monster (and Not Just Physically)]

While Waller’s decision to put The Bride in charge of Belle Reve’s inhuman inmates makes strategic sense, it could ultimately backfire. If The Bride grows frustrated with the systemic mistreatment of her colleagues, she’ll have both the resources and moral influence to challenge Waller. It’s worth noting that the first chapter of Gunn’s ambitious DCU storyline is called “Gods and Monsters,” so as the de facto leader of said monsters, The Bride’s influence will likely extend beyond the animated boundaries of Creature Commandos.

Finally, The Bride’s centuries-old existence creates opportunities for connections with other DCU monsters across various projects. The season finale demonstrates this when The Bride alone recognizes Clayface (voiced by Alan Tudyk) on the castle’s security footage. Not even Waller knew of Clayface – Economos (Steve Agee) has to explain the villain’s shapeshifting abilities to her. This raises intriguing questions about when and how The Bride encountered Clayface. With Clayface set to receive his own DCU movie in 2026, The Bride (and actress Indira Varma) could be poised for a live-action debut, solidifying her role as the link to the monstrous corner of the DCU.

All episodes of Creature Commandos are currently available on MAX.