"Creature Commandos" Season One Talkback (Spoilers)

[Yojimbo]

Meet Task Force M.

A secret team of incarcerated monsters is recruited for missions too dangerous for humans. When all else fails, they're your last, worst option.

Episode 1 "The Collywobbles" - December 5, 2024

Amanda Waller assembles the Creature Commandos -- led by General Rick Flag Sr. -- and sends them to Pokolistan to protect Princess Ilana Rostovic.

Episode 2 "The Tourmaline Necklace" - December 5, 2024

As Ilana continues her pursuit of Flag, The Bride shows Nina where she was created -- and relives Frankenstein's rocky attempts to woo her.

Related Links:
-Creature Commandos Animated Series News & Discussion (Spoilers)
-The Suicide Squad Feature Talkback
-Peacemaker Season 1 Talkback
-Superman (2025 Movie) News & Discussion Thread
-Peacemaker News & Discussion Thread
-Waller News & Discussion Thread
-Suicide Squad Isekai Season One Talkback
-DC Showcase: Sgt. Rock Talkback
-Suicide Squad: Hell To Pay Talkback
-DC Nation: Creature Commandos #3 "Weak Link" Talkback
-DC Nation: Creature Commandos #2 "Lucky Day" Talkback
-DC Nation: Creature Commandos #1 "Trailer" Talkback
-Batman: The Brave and The Bold "Four Star Spectacular!" Talkback
-Batman: Assault on Arkham Talkback
-Justice League Unlimited "Task Force X" Talkback

External Links:
-Max page
-Original Trailer
-Original Teaser

Note: We appreciate and encourage discussion, but please keep your posts civil, relevant and insightful. And remember to keep the discussion on-topic!

 

[PicardMan]

Wow, nobody talked about this show? Granted, I know these aren't A+ list characters, but wow. That Bride of Frankenstein vs Circe fight was off the chain. I'm presuming we'll get focus episodes developing each individual teamate, but Bride of Frankenstein's backstory was a really interesting one, being created to sexually please Frankenstein's monster, but falling in love with Dr. Frankenstein himself. Don't know why this show isn't super talked about.

 

[-batmat-]

Watched the first two episodes last night. I liked it , but I'm cautious about it. Not really a big fan of "adult" series, that just means there's gonna be unnecessary sex, violence and more.

Some of the humor was pretty bad, specifically the princess' general or whatever, when he started quoting pop culture I thought that was really bad.

I enjoyed the second episode more, specially with the Bride's backstory (though again, the sex scene wasn't necessary)

Animation looks great, characters are mostly great, I'll keep watching and hopefully it will get better or grow more on me, just like Peacemaker did.

 

[PicardMan]

I do admit I'm here more for the action than the vulgar humor. The Harley Quinn cartoon is more of a standard off color humor series with a little bit of action sprinkled in. It seemed to belong more to Adult Swim comedy than Toonami despite season one of it airing on Toonami. Toonami plugged this series, and that's what led me to check it out.

 

[Medinnus]

I am finding the Bride strangely compelling.

 

[Frontier]

I do find it kind of amusing that the first officially released entry in James Gunn's new DCU...is basically just a cartoon version of The Suicide Squad and your typical James Gunn production where a group of misfits and rejects with severe personal problems and tragic backstories all get into crass, violent, and comedic situations all set to a bunch of rock music. Like, it's a formula that's been shown to work but it's also kind of predictable? At least the animation is really nice .

I'm happy they have a proper intro, but James Gunn putting himself into said intro...I dunno, isn't that a tad bit conceited ?

I wonder if Gunn partially regrets killing off Rick Flag jr. in TSS because now he has his dad, who was far less relevant in the comics, alive and basically taking over for his son in a role that will span the entire DCU. He even wears a yellow shirt too! But hey, at least Frank Grillo is being used well in a comic book universe .

I'm not really feeling the handling of Wonder Woman's lore so far. I mean, we're stepping into a universe where Batman and Superman have already been active for a while but Wonder Woman hasn't shown up yet and peoples' only contact with Amazon culture is Circe and thinking all Amazons are a bunch of bikini models. Not to mention the fact that Circe herself, who is the one major WW villain that she has yet to fight on film, was apparently first defeated by Superman (who is historically weak against magic) judging by her Metropolis PD mugshot and also booked and locked up like a common criminal. Not really feeling the respect for Wonder Woman's lore here .

The "Sons of Themyscira" are another thing. I feel like Circe can do so much better than a bunch of dudebro men's right activists who are in it for the promise of an island paradise of Amazon women. Like, she hasn't transformed anybody into an animal man! That's like Circe's whole thing .

I also find it ironic that they would make Circe an "Amazon Sorceress" which is probably meant to connect her closer to the Wonder Woman mythos (and give her an excuse to appear in Paradise Lost) when comic Circe has her own distinct backstory and would probably be insulted by being called an Amazon .

So no surprise Amanda Waller is basically still continuing with Task Force X...only if the government won't let her use criminals, she'll just use off the books, expendable, monsters instead. Task Force M! Or the Creature Commandos! But at least she's upgraded from bombs in the head to just shocking them into actually doing their job! Though it's nice of Flag to want to work with the team without wanting to hold that over their head .

It's definitely going to be a big deal when Flag sr. finds out why Flag Jr. REALLY died and who complicit Waller was. That she tried to respect him as a hero. Ugh .

Look, it's all your typical James Gunn dysfunctional team characters! The brooding, sardonic, and tough lady! The nice girl who doesn't feel like she belongs here! The autistic robot who really loves killing nazi's! The overly snarky one probably overcompensating for how tragic and painful he is! Not to mention the animal member .

It's always funny when you have the water member who is only really useful in water and we see here is easily taken out when you shoot her suit. It's like the Aquamn problem! Or the Ripjaws problem .

A Nazi-hunting robot and a fish girl who is the most human person on the team? It's a ship I can root for .

I feel like Pokolistan is meant to be "legally useable old school Russia" with the armored knights basically being their equivalent to the Rocket Reds .

I don't know how I'm supposed to feel about Rick Flag Sr. engaging in a sexual relationships with a princess old enough to be his daughter...then again, Flag Sr. is a silver fox so I can't fault Ilana on that front. Bonus points, his relationship with Rick Jr.'s mom is well over !

It's pretty on-brand that the first real fight is between the team itself as Flag and Dr. Phosphorous fight...and of course it was totally pointless .

They keep talking about all those kids Weasel killed, and they showed a glimpse of him prowling a preschool in the flashback, I feel like we're going to definitively see whether it really happened or not .

Interesting take on the Frankenstein mythos. On the one hand it seems like Victor had a better relationship with his "son" Eric, even though Eric was still temperamental and threatening Victor to reward him with what he felt he deserved or he ruined Victor's life. And, y'know, Victor couldn't leave well enough alone and created The Bride who rejected Eric but continued to grow closer to her "father." And, of course, it all went downhill from there .

Creature Commandos continues the honored DC Animation tradition of being not only super violent but also super horny. I mean, there are two, count them two sex-scenes in episode two and plenty of nudity both male and female. It's definitely not something you'd see in the MCU post-Disney. Don't think Marvel would give a close-up of Flag Sr.'s...massive flag .

You could focus on Eric eviscerating his creator for sleeping with his "bride," but you also have to consider that not only did Victor take advantage of his child, so there was a severe power imbalance in the relationship, but was also cheating on his own wife in the process. So he kind of had it coming .

I like Circe's design and Anya Chalotra sounds solid, but did we really need to see her get so beat up by the Bride in episode 2? I feel like Circe should be pretty above the Bride's weight class (unless we're assuming the Bride could take Wonder Woman in a fight). Like Circe should not have gotten that beaten and bloody before she finally used her magic properly and won the fight. Plus they already spoiled her defeat in the season preview. Are they turning Circe into a jobber ?

I'm not really sure where they're planning to take Frankenstein's character. Like he killed his creator and become a possessive stalker for the Bride hunting her across centuries because he won't take no for an answer and because he refuses to accept she won't be what he wants him to be and she has complicated feelings about him and after what he did to their creator...though it did seem like at times that even she didn't want to keep this fight between them going and actually felt...pity for Frankenstein? It's going to be a complicated dynamic .

I knew the momeny they made Nina the one who avoids swearing like a good girl that she'd eventually have a big curse moment. It always happens .

 

[-batmat-]

James Gunn putting himself into said intro...I dunno, isn't that a tad bit conceited ?

Yeah, I found that a bit weird too

 

[Yojimbo]

Episode 3 "Cheers to the Tin Man" - December 12, 2024

As the Creature Commandos attempt to save The Bride and Nina, GI Robot relives his glory days – and finally gets his wish.

 

[PicardMan]

This week's episode was GI Robot's episode and his death episode. There wasn't really to him except his directive to kill Nazis. Next episode will be Weasels. It looks like the violence is absolutely gratuitous to the point where the 2022 Suicide Squad movie looks like Barney in comparison. That's one thing that irks me about the adult action cartoon wave. Primal and Invincible seemed to have an artistic point to the carnage, but this seems to be doing it because it's cool. I think My Adventures with Superman was the more enjoyable cartoon because it didn't wallow into sadism.

 

[Yojimbo]

Episode 1 is free right now.

 

[Medinnus]

I am not impressed so far. Not impressed with the inculcation of the writer and his human mouthpiece being visually identical, not impressed with the excessive graphic inaccurate violence, not impressed with the one-trick pony characterizations. Amused by AT's portrayal of Dr. Phosphorus. Hopefully this will improve, but the careless nature of Gunn's work as presented here does not bode well for the Gunn-verse.

 

[-batmat-]

I liked episode 3! I thought GI Robot's story and focus was great, I liked his story throughout time. Also since he's a robot, he will probably get fixed or rebuilt at some point?

But I agree that the gratuitous violence just feels unwarranted and out of place. Simply not necessary.

 

[Medinnus]

But I agree that the gratuitous violence just feels unwarranted and out of place. Simply not necessary.

More - it breaks the flow of the narrative as much as a 4th-Wall aside. Not only not necessary, but it hurts the story.

 

[Frontier]

You can't do a WWII Nazi-killing robot without an appearance from good ol' Sgt. Rock and the classic version of Easy Company! They're good pals with someone who is as great at killing Nazi's as G.I. Robot! And Maury Sterling sounded pretty good as the Sarge .

If you want to find out what happened to Sgt. Rock and Easy Company after that flashback, watch the upcoming Sgt. Rock movie with Daniel Craig that seems like it might actually happen .

Well, at least they didn't put Nina in a situation where she couldn't breathe although she's still the member of the team contributing the least because she's literally only useful in water. So...expect her to stay that way until her focus episode .

Will Magnus! Interesting take on Magnus, I mean he's straight-up his classic comic self with the pipe and the green coat, and he's the only one who seems to respect that G.I. Robot is actually sentient. But he also seemed to only see G.I. Robot as a means of furthering his research into advancing robotics (which we know will result in the Metal Men). Beginning a trend of people who take G.I. Robot and use him but have no intention of really giving G.I. Robot what he wants. I'm only kind of bummed that they dated Magnus in his appearance here so he's probably not alive in the present-day .

I guess we needed to double down on how bad the Sons of Themyscira were by threatening the princess sexual assault...

I thought the knights were really cool up until they seemed pretty ineffectual against incel Sons of Themyscira. Like, they have these high-tech suits of armor and yet they couldn't steamroll through a bunch of dudes with normal ordinace and guns. Like, their helmets aren't bulletproof? It would have made more sense if they were struggling against an army of Circe's beast men but the show didn't go in that direction .

One minute you think you're getting a sweet story about G.I. Robot getting taken in by a WWII afficionado voiced by Michael Rooker...and then he gets taken to a Neo-Nazi meeting .

I know we're probably not expected to lose any sleep over G.I. Robot killing a bunch of Neo-Nazi's, though I feel like G.I. Robot mass-killing a bunch of soldiers is different from, say, killing a bunch of guys in a room most of whom weren't fighting back and quite a few of whom were just weak and feeble old men. I mean, some of them looked like they were going to pull out guns but otherwise they were just lambs to the slaughter. Then again they might've been planning to use G.I. Robot to do what he did to them to some minorities, so I guess it evens out. And G.I. Robot had to face justice for what he did anyways .

So in this DCU robots are viewed as sentient enough to face criminal charges and be tried as an indivdual. And look at his cellmates! Animal-Vegetable-Mineral-Man and Crimson Centipede .

G.I. Robot may get along with Friend Nina but it's clear he only really feels content and happy when he's killing "Nazi's" because it's the one thing he was not only designed to do but found a sense of camraderie with people over .

Honestly I'm not too worried about G.I. Robot because he's a robot so someone can probably rebuild him...though without a Will Magnus on-board I'm not sure who can in the immediate future. Though at least Magnus was true to his word in giving G.I. Robot some upgrades because I'm guessing the hover function was from him .

I guess I'm glad to see that Ilana isn't just aggressive in trying to get into Rick Flag Sr.'s pants, but can fight for her life as well. Though I got the sense that this is the first time she's ever killed someone .

I'm really gad that this show could use one of Wonder Woman's biggest villains, and one of the higher tier female villains in the DCU, only to then have her get eviscerated and beat up by a z-list Firestorm villain like Weasel. I mean, hey, Weasel is finally useful! But Circe barely puts up a fight and barely does anything while Weasel tears into her and when she finally gets him off she gets the Dr. Phosphorous hand to the face. They turned her into a straight-up jobber before she's even fought Wonder Woman .

So much for Circe being the main villain or, frankly, a big deal at all because she not only didn't even really need to fight the full team or get a big fight with them at all (other than the Bride) but she's stopped by episode 3 and is apparently not even the real threat. So they basically turned her into a villain-of-the-week. What fantastic use of Circe .

 

[Yojimbo]

It's okay so far but I'm not floored. The backstories were more interesting and compelling than the present day stuff. If we're seemingly getting a exposition dump next week which is essentially the halfway mark of the show... idk, I'm less and less interested in waiting for the answers and want them to get to the point already. The show hasn't really grabbed me yet. Maybe I should have waited and binged the whole thing. My main critique is this is basically starting to feel like the same story structure Gunn has been using on The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker so it feels redundant/old hat: here a dysfunctional black ops team, here's the mission, lot of people die, team basically bonds, here's the true mission, the team rallies, threat ended, the team sticks it to Waller somehow. I hope there's some great twist coming that diverges from the formula used in TSS and PM.

I'm happy they have a proper intro, but James Gunn putting himself into said intro...I dunno, isn't that a tad bit conceited ?

It was revealed in the IGN interview last month, around the 14 min mark, that was done without Gunn's knowing and presented to him. Gunn admits his ego was stroked and he could have nixed it.

I feel like Pokolistan is meant to be "legally useable old school Russia" with the armored knights basically being their equivalent to the Rocket Reds .

It is interesting in the comics Pokolistan was a part of the Czech Republic but in this show they're speaking Bulgarian. And just so happens Princess Ilana is voiced by Maria Bakalova, who is Bulgarian. It was also surprising they transplanted Victor Frankenstein to this country, too, whereas it's generally accepted he was in Bavaria in Germany. But basically, Pokolistan is still a Eastern European country.

They keep talking about all those kids Weasel killed, and they showed a glimpse of him prowling a preschool in the flashback, I feel like we're going to definitively see whether it really happened or not .

Got a feeling there's more to this story. i.e. Green Mile.

 

[Frontier]

It's okay so far but I'm not floored. The backstories were more interesting and compelling than the present day stuff. If we're seemingly getting a exposition dump next week which is essentially the halfway mark of the show... idk, I'm less and less interested in waiting for the answers and want them to get to the point already. The show hasn't really grabbed me yet. Maybe I should have waited and binged the whole thing. My main critique is this is basically starting to feel like the same story structure Gunn has been using on The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker so it feels redundant/old hat: here a dysfunctional black ops team, here's the mission, lot of people die, team basically bonds, here's the true mission, the team rallies, threat ended, the team sticks it to Waller somehow. I hope there's some great twist coming that diverges from the formula used in TSS and PM.

Even the flashbacks are pretty predictable "see this characters backstory to make you care about them, why they are the way they are and feel for how utterly traumatized they are!"

Also I feel like they're pretty much wasted Circe's debut in this universe and before we even get to see her fight Wonder Woman. She could just be exchanged for another DC Sorceress and the plot would basically be the same .

It was revealed in the IGN interview last month, around the 14 min mark, that was done without Gunn's knowing and presented to him. Gunn admits his ego was stroked and he could have nixed it.

Well, he didn't make it himself but he did go along with it .

It is interesting in the comics Pokolistan was a part of the Czech Republic but in this show they're speaking Bulgarian. And just so happens Princess Ilana is voiced by Maria Bakalova, who is Bulgarian. It was also surprising they transplanted Victor Frankenstein to this country, too, whereas it's generally accepted he was in Bavaria in Germany. But basically, Pokolistan is still a Eastern European country.

"As long as it sounds European" .

Got a feeling there's more to this story. i.e. Green Mile.

If the preview is any indication, the police probably shot the kids thinking he was trying to kill them when he was just dragging them out of the fire and pinned it all on him .

 

[Yojimbo]

Episode 4 "Chasing Squirrels" - December 19, 2024

The Creature Commandos return home to understand Circe's motivation, while Weasel reflects on the events that landed him in Belle Reve.

 

[Yojimbo]

Had a feeling we'd have a Green Mile situation with Weasel and he never killed those children. If anything, it was the school's "Groundskeeper Willie" who's to blame for not locking up the school and opening fire in a fatally dangerous combustible basement. Tragic stuff.

Glad certain things were brought up and questioned like is Weasel a human or not, has any sentience, etc. or even Waller, Economos, and Rick debating Amazon, clairvoyance, and the next move.

But Circe and Waller both are making the same stupid mistake. They concluded they have to kill Ilana when they should be focused on finding and eliminating Grodd.

Points for using super obscure characters like Elizabeth Bates.

 

[Frontier]

I wonder if it was deliberate that Ilana changed the subject to executing Circe the moment Flag Sr. brought up why Circe was targeting her...almost as if Ilana knew why. Is that also why she's coming on so strong to Flag? Has she been trying to seduce him to make sure he doesn't suspect him of anything ?

I appreciate Flag Sr. believes in due process! That makes him more moral than most .

Probably smart of Flag to take a break from romancing the princess who still eagerly wants to get into his pants...though the plot would've been very different if he'd at least gotten her direct number .

So I see the Freedom Project exists even for non-humanoid Supervillains (not that Weasel really is a Supervillain, but still) and I admire Elizabeth Bates' commitment to "John" even when she has such an uphill battle as his lawyer .

What about G.I. Robot? Are they going to rebuild him ?

Economos! Still nursing his injury from Peacemaker! Not that people will believe him about it .

I'm not sure I care for Gunn turning Frankenstein into an obsessive stalker in a one-sided love who is also a man-child prone to killing people he hired in fits of delusional rage. Like, that's the farthest thing from the comic version of the character I can think of .

"Inappropriately dressed" - hey now, Circe is rocking that leotard and thigh-high boots! It's like the only good thing about her portrayal in this show !

Has James Gunn read a lot of comics with Circe? Because she thrives on chaos and is utterly self-serving, so I don't see why she'd really care about what happened in the vision (I mean, they take out Wonder Woman for her! That's a win!) unless it directly pertained to her but they seem to be framing it like she's doing this because what happened in the vision is too much even for her like even she cares about the world or something...and then they try to paint her as some kind of discount Cassandra with her clairvoyance, but none of it really feels like Circe at all .

I guess it's rather realistic to have men make horny reactions to Themyscira, but it's also a little crass. I'm having bad flashbacks to Steve Trevor in the 2007 Wonder Woman animated movie .

I'm just going to assume that the reason people think Amazons kill anyone who shows up at Themyscira...is because no one has actually made it to Themyscira .

So obviously Ilana seems to team-up with GORILLA GRODD to conquer the world, but considering her knights were easily killed by the Sons of Themyscira...are they actually that big a threat? Or does she have some kind of means of upgrading them ?

There are actual experts in Amazon history and society in Wonder Woman lore, so instead of using them James Gunn instead picks...Isla McPherson from Gotham Academy who has never so much as uttered a word about Amazons (and I should know since I've read GA in its entirety). She didn't even have her Scottish accent! I'm guessing James Gunn hadn't read a lot of Wonder Woman comics when writing this show .

There it is! The vision of all the dead heroes that everyone's been talking about! We've got David Corenswet's Superman! Peacemaker! Post-Crisis Wonder Woman with the swimsuit and high-heeled boots! Rebirth Supergirl! Rebirth Starfire! Batman who is 99% cape because they probably don't have a finalized design for him either !

Ah, there's the modern Waller I know and loathe! Immediately jumping to assassinating a political leader without investigating or getting any context and immediately insulting anyone who doesn't go along with your plan .

Did Phosphorous leak that Flag Sr. and the princess were knocking boots? He's the only one who would've blabbed about it. So much for "bros" .

Why is Congorilla in prison? Why is Congorilla such a jerk? Why did they kill Congorilla ?

I'm getting the vibe Dr. Phosphorous acts so subdued and fakes being peppy because it's the only way to control his powers to any degree .

This week on tragic character backstories to add new light to a previously established character and make you realize how much more complex and sad they are: Weasel! They don't actually explain how he ended up a humanoid weasel-man, but we do see why he was accused of killing children which was a simple case of a creature befriending children and everything that could go wrong (kids getting into something they shouldn't, people misunderstanding, a creature doing what it could to save others even when no one else understood) went wrong .

Honestly a part of me does wonder whether it was safe for Weasel to be around those kids. Like, obviously he wasn't hostile and cared about them (especially the blonde girl) but the way he knocked that one girl down and chewed up the ball...I feel like he could have accidentally hurt one of them .

But is there any way to get the truth out? Weasel can't communicate and can barely function, even if he seems cognizant at times (but very rarely). I feel like the only way the truth would come out is to get Martian Manhunter to come in and read his mind but...I don't think Bates has him on speed dial .

Well, at least Frankenstein is genuinely a romantic even if he's kind of loony in thinking that not many people has seen Titanic and having a very skewed perspective of How Harry Met Sally. But at least he's sincere. I'm sure the buddy cop duo of him and Flag Sr. will go well and the Bride won't try to kill them both .

I notice Nina never actually said she hadn't killed anyone, only that she, pleasant and harmless as she appears, doesn't look like the type. But I have to imagine there's some reason Waller is aware she's more dangerous underwater...but then again, none of their mission so far has involved water in any way so why are they even sending her? The only useful thing she's done so far is find the Bride's necklace for her .

I guess Bride is a more ideal leader for the Commandos. I mean, besides being a monster herself she cares so little for humans and morality she'll do whatever is asked of her, no questions asked. Though the fact that she cares more about monsters than humans might be a problem down the road .

 

[Yojimbo]

I wonder if it was deliberate that Ilana changed the subject to executing Circe the moment Flag Sr. brought up why Circe was targeting her...almost as if Ilana knew why. Is that also why she's coming on so strong to Flag? Has she been trying to seduce him to make sure he doesn't suspect him of anything ?

Man, that would really bum me out if Ilana is just putting up a false front.

I appreciate Flag Sr. believes in due process! That makes him more moral than most .

It does allude to how A.R.G.U.S. would be run if he were the director...

I'm not sure I care for Gunn turning Frankenstein into an obsessive stalker in a one-sided love who is also a man-child prone to killing people he hired in fits of delusional rage. Like, that's the farthest thing from the comic version of the character I can think of .

Has James Gunn read a lot of comics with Circe? Because she thrives on chaos and is utterly self-serving, so I don't see why she'd really care about what happened in the vision (I mean, they take out Wonder Woman for her! That's a win!) unless it directly pertained to her but they seem to be framing it like she's doing this because what happened in the vision is too much even for her like even she cares about the world or something...and then they try to paint her as some kind of discount Cassandra with her clairvoyance, but none of it really feels like Circe at all .

Yeah, I'm not feeling this take on Eric or Circe. The latter comes off more like an Amazon that took on the name Circe rather than THE Circe.

I notice Nina never actually said she hadn't killed anyone, only that she, pleasant and harmless as she appears, doesn't look like the type. But I have to imagine there's some reason Waller is aware she's more dangerous underwater...but then again, none of their mission so far has involved water in any way so why are they even sending her? The only useful thing she's done so far is find the Bride's necklace for her .

Yeah, how she got taken to Belle Reve will probably be another gut punch of a flashback. But it doesn't look like she or her father are connected to creating Creature Commandos and instead just a loophole Waller cobbles together. So it'll be a new story for Nina.

I guess Bride is a more ideal leader for the Commandos. I mean, besides being a monster herself she cares so little for humans and morality she'll do whatever is asked of her, no questions asked. Though the fact that she cares more about monsters than humans might be a problem down the road .

Perhaps but she's not too objective when it comes to humans.