📺 Creature Commandos (2024)
Based on comic
The Creature Commandos have lurched from the colorful pages of DC Comics to the animated screen in a landmark series that kicks off an entirely new shared universe. The original team was a wonderfully bizarre creation from the Bronze Age of Comics, first shambling into view in 1980's Weird War Tales #93, courtesy of writer J. M. DeMatteis and artist Pat Broderick. They were the ultimate outsiders: a World War II black ops unit composed of classic movie monsters, led by a stern human officer, fighting Nazi horrors with their own brand of supernatural chaos.
James Gunn's 2024 animated series for Max takes this obscure property and gives it a modern, irreverent spin while placing it front and center as the very first entry in the new DC Universe (DCU). The show acts as a spiritual successor to Gunn's previous work on The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker, focusing on Amanda Waller's latest scheme to use incarcerated monsters for dangerous black ops missions. The animation style, provided by Bobbypills and Studio IAM, brings a kinetic, adult-oriented energy that matches the series' mature themes and Gunn's signature blend of heart, humor, and ultra-violence.
While the original comics were firmly rooted in 1940s warfare, the series transplants the concept to the present day, featuring a new lineup of monstrous misfits. The voice cast is stacked with talent, including Frank Grillo as Rick Flag Sr., David Harbour as Eric Frankenstein, and Indira Varma as the Bride of Frankenstein. Notably, the series doesn't just adapt the comics—it actively weaves the Commandos into the larger tapestry of the DCU, with characters and storylines designed to have repercussions in future live-action films, making this animated show required viewing for the franchise's overarching narrative.
The Creature Commandos are a fictional military special forces unit appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Co-created by writer J. M. DeMatteis and artist Pat Broderick, the team made its debut in the pages of Weird War Tales #93 in November 1980. The concept was born from DeMatteis's desire to populate the anthology war comic with literal monsters, blending classic Universal horror archetypes with World War II military action.
The original team was assembled under a secret U.S. government project called Project M, led by the human Lieutenant Matthew Shrieve. The squad consisted of soldiers transformed into monstrous forms: Warren Griffith, a private who suffered from lycanthropy and was turned into a werewolf; Sergeant Vincent Velcro, who was given vampire-like traits; Private Elliot "Lucky" Taylor, a man rebuilt as a patchwork Frankenstein's monster; and Dr. Myrra Rhodes, a medusa-like gorgon. Together, they undertook suicide missions against Nazi Germany's own supernatural threats.
Over the decades, the Creature Commandos have been revived and reimagined in various DC Comics storylines. Later iterations expanded the roster and updated the setting, with modern versions of the team appearing in conflicts beyond World War II. The concept has endured as a cult favorite, representing DC's unique fusion of war comics, horror, and superhero team dynamics, and stands as a testament to the creative experimentation of the Bronze Age of Comics.
