After more than a decade in the world of superheroes, James Gunn remains one of the most reliable barometers of quality. In a genre as overly-reliant on formula as superhero films, Gunn has carved a path for himself. Although others try to copy his blend of violence, humor, and well-timed needle drops, none succeed. Perhaps this is why DC picked him to co-head their latest attempt at a cinematic universe? Well, that and the fact that there aren’t many others willingly to anger the mob of indignant Zach Snyder fans.
Creature Commandos is technically the first official installment in Gunn’s new DC Universe, although it features plenty of callbacks to his other franchise works. The animated series follows a crew of monstrous misfits brought together, by force. Their mission is to protect the princess of a small country from a sorceress who wants her dead. In other words, it’s the plot of a superhero show.
There are other elements at play, but the series is seemingly uninterested in any overt form of world-building. Gunn peppers in Easter eggs to the larger universe but focuses the bulk of his attention on establishing the characters, content to leave background elements unanswered. This can come across as lazy in the wrong hands. Here it works at making this world more interesting and lived in. We don’t need to know why there’s a sorceress who wants to take over Wonder Woman’s island. We just need to know that it’s her goal.
Gunn’s style is on full display here and that obviously will be a deal-breaker for some. If you weren’t a fan of The Suicide Squad, odds are good you won’t care much for this either. Creature Commandos revel in the freedom that animation gives to get as gory as possible. Eyes pop out of skulls, entire bodies disintegrate into bloody mounds, it all runs together after a while.
The show runs on an obvious formula that becomes apparent around the third time we see a climatic fight scene set to a semi-obscure song. Every episode (outside of the first, which is focused on assembling the team) revolves around one of our titular creatures. We then jump between the present situation and that character’s past, using their backstory to explain their current actions. It’s possible this technique will get old in the episodes to come. So far, it succeeds largely because of strong writing and a string of great voice performances.
Creature Commandos often feels like Gunn getting in one last madcap burst of sex and violence before moving on to the work of building a superhero franchise machine. It seems unlikely that his Superman film will have the same level of viscera and maybe that’s the whole point of releasing this first. This show is its own thing. That’s what makes it work. If the goal of Gunn’s DCU is to attract creators who can bring their own styles to an increasingly homogenized genre, he’s laid out the perfect blueprint here.