Creature Commandos Season 1 Review: A Chaotically Entertaining Monster-Fest

It’s been a hectic time for DC Comics when it comes to narrative connectivity in films and television. Though Matt Reeves’ The Penguin gave fans an exciting conspiracy to unravel, his Batman universe remains isolated.

With that fact, in addition to the DCEU concluding, fans have been desperate to have a cinematic connected universe again. Fortunately, James Gunn and company deliver on that satiation with Creature Commandos, the starting project of the DCU.

While it’s an odd choice to begin the DCU with, Creature Commandos wants a smooth transition between what fans know so far. Given its ties to Gunn’s other works, like Peacemaker, it tries to be as straightforward as possible.

Sure, it retrains the “isms” of his directorial style. Yet, every episode has its own charm and gravitas to make this a fun watch overall!

For one, Creature Commandos closely embodies the meta humor that Harley Quinn had. For example, there’s an on-going bit about Frankenstein essentially gaslighting himself in a way that almost utilizes a third-person perspective.

Though it’s not as politically inclined as that show, this series still likes to poke fun at pop culture things. However, it still retains a sense of seriousness in order to keep its main cast grounded in realism.

Each member of this boisterous band of oddities feels like they combine elements from both the Guardians of the Galaxy and Suicide Squad movies. Sure, that’s made clear since Gunn helmed both film series, yet each Commando stands out from these other characters.

As an example, Dr. Phosphorous’s calm, yet snarky, personality pulls from the collectedness of El Diablo while bearing Captain Boomerang’s unpredictability. Moreover, Nina Mazurdsky’s empathetic character is lifted from the Guardians’ Mantis in addition to having morals like the Squad’s Katana.

As for characters like G. I. Robot and Weasel, both played by Sean Gunn, it’s easy to assume they’re the comic reliefs. However, Creature Commandos surprisingly gives them needed depth in their own episodes. These two character-centric episodes are surprisingly heartbreaking as both G. I. Robot and Weasel are cursed to face society’s blind eyes.

The chemistry that the Commandos slowly build-up is intriguing, to say the least. It’s obvious that Gunn has mastered tinkering with the “ragtag bunch of misfits” trope, yet all of it is still genuinely entertaining. This especially feels so with G. I. Robot and Nina, who are able to relate to each other closely.

Of course, it’s totally platonic, but their shared struggle about being accepted sets up a nice motivation for the two to share on this mission. In fact, Gunn’s thematic message of finding a community continues being prevalent here.

In addition, it adds on important themes, like understanding one’s nature and empowerment through that. This is especially in the case of the Bride, whose self-focused personality was forged by some harrowing circumstances in “The Tourmaline Necklace”.

Creature Commandos‘s overarching mission focuses on the group protecting Princess Ilana, initially a young rube. However, as time goes on, Ilana becomes extremely sexual towards Rick Flag Sr., who’s confidently pessimistic as you can get.

While it can off-put some viewers as a jokey bit, the realization of it being intentional becomes really clear. It’s all an intricate puzzle reminiscent of the mystery like 2016’s Suicide Squad‘s plot surrounding the Enchantress. Everything is not what it seems!

There are a ton of challenges for the Commandos to face, from the omnipresent Amanda Waller to the sorceress Circe. With Circe’s involvement, you’d think that, in some way, Wonder Woman might get involved. However, Creature Commandos remains completely isolated, world-building-wise.

Although, there are some references, both visually and in dialogue, that reference things to come in the DCU. Fortunately, those references never become the main focus as every Commando gets to shine equally here.

Due to the isolated storytelling of Creature Commandos, it may seem like the stakes feel low. Given the somewhat short runtimes of each episode, there’s this cautiousness to balance past and present events with world and character building. As such, the present tension doesn’t feel as intense as it could be until the last few episodes.

Fortunately, Creature Commandos really works where it does, especially in its animation. Some fight scenes take on this Harley Quinn-esque style and blend it with the DC Animated Movie Universe designs of the early 2010s. They may not be as bloody or gory, yet they’re still all creatively animated and pack a punch nonetheless.

As a whole, Creature Commandos is unabashedly fun, if messy like its titular team. It not only serves as a good starting point to the DCU, but it also proves James Gunn’s mastery of character-driven storytelling.

Though it certainly feels like a one-off series, I have high hopes that Gunn’s newest team to tackle has more adventures like this in the future.

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Creature Commandos begins streaming on Max on Thursday, December 5. New episodes release weekly.

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