David Harbour Teases His Creature Commandos Role Going Beyond the Animated Series

With ten movies and Max-exclusive shows already announced, James Gunn and Peter Safran's DC Universe is off to a compelling start. That initial slate will include Creature Commandos, an animated series about the titular group from DC's comics. Earlier this year, the cast of Creature Commandos was confirmed, with David Harbour leading the charge as Eric Frankenstein. Harbour, who has also appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Red Guardian, sounds very excited by the long-term possibilities of his role. In a recent interview on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Harbour teased the Creature Commandos project, and also confirmed that he will be reprising his Frankenstein role at some point in live-action.

"it's a very interesting take on Frankenstein, because one of the great things about Frankenstein is he was sort of raised to be this erudite model of a man, and he still has this weird inhuman rage and confusion within him," Harbour teased. "So it was a great character to play. It's very funny. And James is just such an incredible guy. I've always wanted to work for him, and I suppose in terms of building this universe there's a lot of opportunity for these characters to be all sorts of different iterations. There might be a live thing, there might be a cartoon, there might be whatever. 

"Some version of Eric Frankenstein. Less beard, maybe," Harbour said of a live-action portrayal. "You think about what he's done with that Guardians thing, what he does with character, what he does with different action sequences. It's just exciting to be a part of that thing, with someone starting this thing and someone with such a creative brain. Yeah, it's great. And the recording — we did a bunch of them and it was funny as hell. We were dying in the room. I'm normally pretty serious. I don't really mess, and we were dying. It's outrageous. I can't wait for you to see it."

Who Are DC's Creature Commandos?

Initially created by J.M. DeMatteis and Pat Broderick in Weird War Tales #93, the Creature Commandos are a crop of human-monster hybrids who carry out military actions for the government. The roster of the television adaptation will include Eric Frankenstein (Harbour), Bride of Frankenstein (Indira Varma), Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo), Dr. Nina Mazursky (Zoë Chao), Doctor Phosphorus (Alan Tudyk), G.I. Robot (Sean Gunn), and Weasel (Sean Gunn). The series will also star Maria Bakalova as Princess Ilana Rostovic, Viola Davis as Amanda Waller, and Steve Agee as John Economos.

"Creature Commandos is based on the great team from DC," Gunn explained at the slate event. "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."

What Is on the DC Universe Slate?

As Gunn and Safran revealed, the initial DC Studios slate for "Gods and Monsters" will include movies for Superman: Legacy, The Brave and the Bold, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, Swamp Thing, and The Authority. In addition to Creature Commandos, it will include the live-action HBO Max television shows Waller, Booster Gold, Lanterns, and Paradise Lost.

Are you excited to see David Harbour star in DC's Creature Commandos? Where else do you hope he appears in the DCU? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!