Creature Commandos - General Discussion

[BetterButter]

Here’s the Full Cast of DC’s ‘Creatures Commandos’

Edited April 13, 2023 by BetterButter

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The Witcher Star Anya Chalotra Joins DCU With Creature Commandos

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First DC Universe Release Confirmed To Premiere This December

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[tv echo]

Creature Commandos: Release Date Set for Official Launch of James Gunn’s New DC Universe
By Matt Webb Mitovich, Rebecca Iannucci   September 5, 2024 
https://tvline.com/news/new-dc-universe-creature-commandos-release-date-tv-series-max-1235296153/ 

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Max announced on Thursday that its adult animated series Creature Commandos — which will be the first title to kick off the new DC Universe — will premiere on Thursday, Dec. 5. The first season spans seven episodes, with a new installment dropping weekly through Jan. 16.

What to expect from Yellowstone, 9-1-1, The Penguin and 74 other fall shows
By EW Staff   September 6, 2024 
https://ew.com/fall-tv-shows-2024-preview-8702841 

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Creature Commandos (Dec. 5, Max)

After more than a decade of James Gunn superhero stories, it’s clear that the man loves misfits. So even though the new co-head of DC Films is directing a big new Superman movie out next summer, before then he’s got a new animated show about a motley crew of monsters. “Creature Commandos is like Guardians of the Galaxy without the sentimentality,” Gunn says. After the events of the Suicide Squad movies, Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) has been barred from sending any more human criminals on hare-brained suicide missions. Her new loophole is to use non-human operatives like Frankenstein (David Harbour), the Bride (Indira Varma), Doctor Phosphorous (Alan Tudyk), Nina Mazursky (Zoe Chao), the Weasel and G.I. Robot (Sean Gunn). A violent adult animated series may seem like an odd way to kick off a new superhero franchise meant to rival the Marvel Cinematic Universe in scope and connectivity. But for Gunn, Creature Commandos is a perfect way to show off the full range of DC’s storytelling: “Superman is the true start of everything, it's a humongous epic. This is a way for people to just take a little nibble and see what it tastes like." —C.H.

Edited September 8, 2024 by tv echo

[AnimeMania]

Viola Davis as Amanda Waller, leader of A.R.G.U.S., creates a black ops team of monstrous creatures 

Frank Grillo as Rick Flag Sr., leader of the Creature Commandos 

Steve Agee as John Economos, an A.R.G.U.S. agent  

Alan Tudyk as Dr. Phosphorus, who gained his powers after being exposed to high levels of nuclear radiation.

David Harbour as Eric Frankenstein, well-spoken and intelligent, in unrequited love with The Bride of Frankenstein.

Zoë Chao as Nina Mazursky, a scientist who turned herself into an amphibian, she wears a helmet filled with water, but doesn't really need it since she can breathe without it on land or in the water.  

Sean Gunn as G.I. Robot, a robotic soldier created to fight in World War II

Sean Gunn as Weasel

Indira Varma as The Bride of Frankenstein. She has 2 arms on the TV Series, but she has 4 arms in the comic book.

Maria Bakalova as Princess Ilana Rostovic, an original character for TV Series.

Anya Chalotra as Circe, a power sorceress/goddess.
 

[tv echo]

From James Gunn's Threads account...

https://www.threads.net/@jamesgunn/post/C_06fB_S6Ou?hl=en

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10/19 at #NYCC! Join me, Frank Grillo, David Harbour, Zoe Chao, Sean Gunn, Dean Lorey and Steve Agee for the Creature Commandos panel and we’ll fill you in on all the details of our monster army and the seeds of the #DCU! @frankgrillo1 dkharbour @zchao @thejudgegunn @deanlorey @steveagee

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[tv echo]

David Harbour calls his arc as Frankenstein in DC's Creature Commandos arc an "anti rom-com"
Grant DeArmitt   Oct 19, 2024
https://www.thepopverse.com/tv-creature-commandos-david-harbour-max-frankenstein-bride-new-york-comic-con-nycc-2024 

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"I play Eric Frankenstein," Harbour began, "Who is Frankenstein's monster. [Creature Commandos] is a great take on the Frankenstein thing." The reason Creature Commandos is such a fascinating take on the lore, says Harbour, isn't just the character he plays, but his relationship with a different classic horror character.

"[The show] is so great because you get Frankenstein and you also get his Bride," Harbour said. He's talking about the Bride of Frankenstein, the giant-haired character made famous by Elsa Lanchester all the way back in 1935, and then written into DC Comics in 1986. She's one of the most well-known of the Universal Hoorror Monsters, but if you need a refresher, let the Frankenstein-obsessive himself explain it.

"Frankenstein is very lonely because he's the only created man. And women don't like him," Harbour told the Javits Center crowd. "He needs a bride because everyone should have a partner, so he creates one. Then, of course, it's not all it's chalked up to be. It's fantastic; in the midst of this like weird angry team of heroes, you also have an anti rom-com between a few monsters. 

Harbour didn't explain exactly what that "anti rom-com" would look like - is the opposite of meet cute a meet scare? That would fit - but we can extrapolate at the very least that it means the Frankenstein/Bride relationship will act as B-plot to Creature Commandos. We can't help but think of another grounded human relationship "in the midst of [a] weird angry team of heroes story," that is, Bloodsport and Ratcatcher in James Gunn's The Suicide Squad. There was nothing romantic about their relationship however, so if Creature Commandos was an "anti rom-com," is that movie an "anti buddy comedy?"

Edited October 19, 2024 by tv echo

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[tv echo]

Creature Commandos: Watch Trailer for Official Launch of James Gunn’s New DC Universe
By Matt Webb Mitovich, Rebecca Iannucci   October 19, 2024
https://tvline.com/news/new-dc-universe-creature-commandos-release-date-tv-series-max-1235296153/ 

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The first official entry in James Gunn and Peter Safran’s new DC Universe, Creature Commandos will premiere on Thursday, Dec. 5. The first season spans seven episodes, with a new installment dropping weekly through Jan. 16.

James Gunn Reveals the Surprising Actor Who He Cast First In the New DCU
By Richard Nebens   October 20, 2024
https://thedirect.com/article/james-gunn-dcu-actor-first-cast 

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During the panel for DC Studios' Creature Commandos at New York Comic-Con 2024, DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn confirmed the first actor he cast for a role in his new franchise.

Speaking to the fans in attendance, Gunn revealed that Maria Bakalova (who will play Princess Rostovic in Creature Commandos) earned that distinction. He "texted her because she speaks Bulgarian," which was needed for the role she eventually took while confirming he wrote her material:

"Maria, I wrote for. She was the first person ever cast in the DCU. So, I texted her because she speaks Bulgarian and we needed to have Princess Rostovic, and we needed to hire everybody from that country, and they needed to speak the same language, and we needed that to be what Maria spoke."

Bakalova also attended the NYCC panel, reflecting on playing Cosmo the Space Dog in Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 before joining Gunn's new DCU.
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"I got to work with James Gunn on 'Guardians of the Galaxy.' And I was so excited that this was happening because he's not only an incredibly talented writer, director, and leader, but also the nicest human being. So, when Guardians ended, I was like, 'Oh no, why am I getting here so late? I'm never going to see him again.' And then, one day, I got a message [from Gunn]. 'I'm writing something, thinking of you. She's going to be this femme fatale new princess, and it's going to be part of 'Creature Commandos.' Look out for it.' And I was like, 'What? Is it really going to happen?' And then it happened. It's an original character that he developed and I'm humbled and honored to play it. It's interesting."

Edited October 20, 2024 by tv echo

[tv echo]

Creature Commandos panel reveals production and show details
By Jackson Luken   October 20, 2024
https://batman-news.com/2024/10/20/creature-commandos-panel-reveals-production-and-show-details/ 

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Saturday at New York Comic Con, Executive Producer and show writer James Gunn was joined by the cast of Creature Commandos to talk about the show and their experiences making it. In attendance were Dean Lorey (Executive Producer), Frank Grillo (Rick Flag Sr.), David Harbour (Frankenstein), Zoë Chao (Nina Mazursky), Steve Agee (Economos), Maria Bakalova (Princess Ilana), Alan Tudyk (Dr. Phosphorus) and Sean Gunn (GI Robot and Weasel). The panel gave a new look into what it was like working on the show, and what fans can expect when it comes out later this year.
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According to Dean Lorey, Creature Commandos sets itself apart from other DC animated shows like Harley Quinn by being “grounded”, but with style. It’s an action show, first and foremost, but there is a dark drama that pervades the series. Gunn contrasted it with Guardians of the Galaxy by saying that while the Commandos are also a band of misfits, there’s not that same sentimentality. These are not good people, and fans should expect the show to get dark. He described one episode as “the saddest thing I’ve ever written”. There was apparently one thing in the show that was “too much” and they had to pull it back.
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However, it’s not all gloom and doom. In addition to being an explicitly adult show due to its drama and violence, it’s also explicit in other ways. As Sean Gunn put it: “It’s sexy; it’s an adult show.” At one point, Grillo argued with James Gunn over whether a sex scene Rick Flagg has with Princess Ilana should be considered X-rated or simply “a hard R.” Sean Gunn was disappointed that there were no romance scenes with Weasel, but promised that he still spent a lot of time in the studio making licking sounds. Zoë Chao was “gobsmacked” to learn just how many fans online were attracted to the fish-like Nina.

James Gunn explained how the cast was a mix of talent he’d worked with before and those he was blown away by during auditions. Maria Bakalova, who plays Princess Ilana Rostovic, was technically the first person cast for the DCU. Gunn loved working with her so much on Guardians of the Galaxy that he called her as soon as production began on Creature Commandos. The rest of the cast each outlined their characters’ basic premises and their excitement to be playing them. Notably, Indira Varma’s Bride of Frankenstein was singled out as having the most prominent protagonist role.

Edited October 20, 2024 by tv echo

[AnimeMania]

[tv echo]

James Gunn Talks ‘Creature Commandos’ and ‘Superman’: “David Corenswet Is Going to Freak Everyone Out”
BY BRIAN DAVIDS   DECEMBER 3, 2024
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-features/james-gunn-creature-commandos-superman-1236076004/ 

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James Gunn Talks Creature Commandos | DC
DC   Dec 5, 2024

 

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2024 in Review: The Year’s Funniest TV Shows — Who Are Our Comedy MVPs?
By Nick Caruso, Claire Franken, Vlada Gelman, Rebecca Iannucci, Charlie Mason, Matt Webb Mitovich, Dave Nemetz, Ryan Schwartz   December 15, 2024 
https://tvline.com/lists/funniest-tv-shows-2024/ 

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Creature Commandos
...
Like James Gunn’s previous super-fare, this Max animated series is a ruthlessly funny experience. It’s stuffed with liberally tossed barbs, rampant irreverence and quirky dynamics that, together, amount to a strong start for Gunn’s nascent DCU. David Harbour’s Frankenstein steals the whole damn show.

Comedy MVP: David Harbour’s Eric Frankenstein, who makes an undead incel marginally likable

Edited December 16, 2024 by tv echo

[BetterButter]

DC’s ‘Creature Commandos’ Renewed for Season 2

[tv echo]

Why Maria Bakalova was the first actor James Gunn recruited for his DC universe
The actress discusses the "Creature Commandos" finale and what it reveals about her character, Princess Ilana.
By Christian Holub   January 9, 2025 
https://ew.com/maria-bakalova-creature-commandos-finale-james-gunn-8772207 

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“Maria was the first person we ever offered a role in the DCU [to],” Gunn told Entertainment Weekly ahead of Creature Commandos’ launch. “She was the first person that we cast because I wrote the role for her, and we had to find out early because her native language is Bulgarian, so we needed to write all of the other characters to fit her language and we had to cast her right away.”

Bakalova had previously worked with Gunn on Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy films, where she voiced Cosmo the Space Dog.

“I remember I was on a plane, shortly after we wrapped Guardians Vol. 3, and I was just feeling bummed that it was the last installment of this franchise and I would probably never be able to work with these people again, especially James,” Bakalova tells EW. “But I got a message where he told me, I’m building this character for you, a femme fatale princess for this Creature Commandos show we’ll be doing at the DC Universe.’ I was like what, really? I was looking forward to reading the script, and it’s such a well-written script. It’s so layered with so much suspense that by the end you don’t really know which side you’re supposed to be on, and I loved that.”
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Although she initially seemed like a damsel in distress that the team had to save from the sorceress Circe (Anya Chalotra), Ilana revealed that she was the villain of Creature Commandos all along. She was manipulating the team of monsters into doing her dirty work, so that she could enact her master plan of wiping out superheroes and conquering the world. 

“Up until the last 10 minutes of the show, you are not for sure convinced that she really wants to dominate the world,” Bakalova says. “But she does! She wants control over everybody and to be the most powerful person in charge. It's interesting how you can manipulate people by making yourself look more innocent, more fragile, and maybe even more stupid. She wants to be underestimated. She wants to be seen as somebody who needs other people’s help, but she’s actually not that silly. She’s very smart. It’s a cool character.”
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“It’s such a great commentary on what it means to be a monster,” Bakalova says of Creature Commandos. “These characters are considered monsters, they are treated poorly, they are forbidden from the world and are locked in the heaviest prison. But James shows how we so often perceive people as one thing without knowing their story. It’s the same with Ilana. We see her as this innocent young lady who needs to be protected, but then she's probably the biggest monster of them all.”

Edited Friday at 12:51 PM by tv echo