Creature Commandos (TV Series)

''Creature Commandos'' is an upcoming American adult animated television series based on DC Comics featuring the team Creature Commandos. Produced by DC Studios and Warner Bros. Animation, it will be the first television series in the DC Universe (DCU). It focuses on a black ops team of monsters assembled by Amanda Waller. All seven episodes were written by James Gunn.

Frank Grillo stars as Rick Flag Sr. in the series, alongside Maria Bakalova, Indira Varma, Zoë Chao, Alan Tudyk, David Harbour, Sean Gunn, and Steve Agee. After Gunn and Peter Safran became co-CEOs of DC Studios in October 2022, Gunn began writing a new DCU television series that was revealed to be ''Creature Commandos'' in January 2023. Production on the series had begun by then and casting was underway. The cast was announced that April.

''Creature Commandos'' will be released on the streaming service Max in 2024. It will be part of the DCU's Chapter One: Gods and Monsters.

Premise

Amanda Waller assembles a black ops team of monsters called the Creature Commandos.

Cast and characters

* Frank Grillo as Rick Flag Sr.: the leader of the Creature Commandos and the father of Suicide Squad leader Rick Flag Jr.
* Maria Bakalova as Princess Ilana Rostovic
* Indira Varma as the Bride of Frankenstein: a member of the Creature Commandos
* Zoë Chao as Nina Mazursky: a member of the Creature Commandos and an amphibious scientist
* Alan Tudyk as Doctor Phosphorus: a member of the Creature Commandos who is permanently radioactive
* David Harbour as Eric Frankenstein: a member of the Creature Commandos and the Bride's ostensible love interest
* Sean Gunn as:
** G.I. Robot, a member of the Creature Commandos and a military android whose purpose is to kill Nazis
** Weasel, a member of the Creature Commandos and a member of the Suicide Squad. Gunn reprises the role from '' The Suicide Squad'' (2021)
* Steve Agee as John Economos: an A.R.G.U.S. agent who is an aide to Amanda Waller. Agee reprises his role from ''The Suicide Squad'' and ''Peacemaker'' (2022–present)

Additionally, Viola Davis reprises her role as Amanda Waller from prior DC media.

Production

Background

James Gunn was hired in October 2018 to write and direct '' The Suicide Squad'' (2021), a standalone sequel to the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) film '' Suicide Squad'' (2016) which retained some cast members but otherwise told its own story. He worked with producer Peter Safran, who also produced the DCEU films '' Aquaman'' (2018) and ''Shazam!'' (2019). They later expanded ''The Suicide Squad'' into a spin-off television series, ''Peacemaker'' (2022–present), for the streaming service HBO Max. Discovery, Inc. and Warner Bros.' parent company WarnerMedia merged in April 2022 to become Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), led by president and CEO David Zaslav. The new company was expected to restructure DC Entertainment and Zaslav began searching for an equivalent to Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige to lead the new subsidiary. Gunn and Safran were announced as the co-chairs and co-CEOs of the newly formed DC Studios at the end of October 2022. A week after starting their new roles, the pair had begun developing an eight-to-ten-year plan for a new DC Universe (DCU) that would be a " soft reboot" of the DCEU. Gunn and Safran said some cast members would return from ''The Suicide Squad'' and ''Peacemaker'' in the DCU, and a "rough memory" of the events of those projects would remain.

Development

Gunn revealed that he was in the middle of writing a new DCU television series in January 2023. On January 31, Gunn and Safran unveiled the first projects from their DCU slate, which begins with Chapter One: Gods and Monsters. The first project in the slate was ''Creature Commandos'', an animated series for HBO Max based on a black ops team of the same name featuring various monsters from DC Comics. Gunn had already written the seven episodes and the series had started production. It was expected to be released as an "aperitif" for the DCU before the film '' Superman: Legacy'', which was scheduled for release on July 11, 2025. Warner Bros. Animation co-produces the series.

Writing

Created for ''Weird War Tales'' #93 (1980) by J. M. DeMatteis and Pat Broderick, the Creature Commandos were originally a team of monsters fighting Nazis during World War II. The series depicts a modern version of the team being assembled by Amanda Waller, and consists of the characters Rick Flag Sr., Nina Mazursky, Doctor Phosphorus, Eric Frankenstein, the Bride of Frankenstein, G.I. Robot, and Weasel. Gunn said the Bride of Frankenstein was the lead character of the series. Waller, Weasel, and Flag's son Rick Flag Jr. previously appeared in ''The Suicide Squad''. Weasel actor Sean Gunn said the character's backstory would be explored in the series.

Casting and voice recording

Gunn and Safran said Viola Davis would reprise her role as Amanda Waller from ''The Suicide Squad'' and ''Peacemaker'' in the DCU, and she was confirmed to be voicing the character in ''Creature Commandos'' with the series' announcement. Further casting was underway by then, with Gunn and Safran intending to hire actors who could voice the characters in the series and also portray them in live-action DCU projects; as such, actors performed on-camera auditions for the series, instead of voice-over as is common in animation. Casting was almost complete by late February 2023. In April, the cast was announced, with Frank Grillo as Flag, Maria Bakalova as Princess Ilana Rostovic (an original character created for the series), Zoë Chao as Mazursky, Alan Tudyk as Doctor Phosphorus, David Harbour as Frankenstein, Indira Varma as the Bride of Frankenstein, Sean Gunn as G.I. Robot in addition to returning as Weasel from ''The Suicide Squad'', and Steve Agee reprising his role as John Economos from ''The Suicide Squad'' and ''Peacemaker''. James Gunn said Harbour was his first choice for Frankenstein, and that by then, some of the actors were already planned for live-action appearances, with Grillo cast across all DCU media. Voice recording began by May 2023.

Animation

Production on the series was underway by the end of January 2023. Gunn said animation was a way to "tell stories that are gigantic" without spending $50 million per episode. Animation studio Bobbypills works on animation for the series.

Release

''Creature Commandos'' is scheduled to be released in 2024, on the streaming service Max, the successor to HBO Max. It will be part of the DCU's Chapter One: Gods and Monsters.

References

External links

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{{Authority control

2020s American animated television series
2020s American television series

American action television series
American adult animated action television series
American adult animated superhero television series
American superhero television series
Animated action television series
Animated television series about monsters
Animated television shows based on DC Comics
English-language television shows
Fiction about government
Max (streaming service) original programming
Television series by Warner Bros. Animation
Television series created by James Gunn
Television shows based on DC Comics
Upcoming animated television series