‘Creature Commandos’ Trailer: First Look At James Gunn’s DC Adult Animated Series
Max released the official trailer for James Gunn‘s Creature Commandos, the first title kicking off the new DC Universe, on Saturday at New York Comic Con.
The seven-episode adult animated series, written and executive produced by Gunn and based on DC characters, tracks a secret team of incarcerated monsters recruited for missions deemed too dangerous for humans. When all else fails… they’re your last, worst option.
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The trailer opens with the monsters being let out of a prison especially for their kind to tackle an “international incident,” according to their human boss, Amanda Waller (voiced by Viola Davis). In rapid succession, we’re introduced to the team: The Bride (Indira Varma), Frankenstein (David Harbour), Dr. Phosphorus (Alan Tudyk), Weasel (Sean Gunn), Nina Mazursky (Zo? Chao), G.I. Robot (also Gunn) and their put-upon handler in the field, Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo).
“I know you aren’t all enthusiastic about this mission,” Flag deadpans. But based on the high degree of splatter in the trailer, the creatures hit their stride.
“We’re so hyperbolically violent,” Mazurksy laments. “We need therapy.”
James Gunn said that as a fan of the Commandos comic characters as well as the tale of Frankenstein, and monsters in general, he started writing a script for Creature Commandos without a deal in place for the project — “and then I happened to get hired as the head of DC,” he said.
Gunn also teased the idea that Creature Commandos could someday migrate to live-action, and so he cast voice actors who could also play the characters outside of the audio booth.
One of seven Creature Commandos voice actors at Saturday’s panel, Harbour — also known for playing Hellboy — said, “I love the character of Frankenstein. It’s just sort of in my wheelhouse that if you have a large person who sort of has the inner workings of a tantrum-y 4-year-old, you’re going to want to get David Harbour.”
Gunn said that while Creature Commandos episodes reference other characters and other DC storylines, he wants the show to be legible right away to anyone, whether or not they’re already immersed in the DC Universe.
“We don’t want anybody coming to Creature Commandos and going, oh, you have to watch The Suicide Squad to understand what happened to Creature Commandos. Oh, you have to watch Peacemaker,” Gunn explained. “We want people to be able to come into this totally blind and they’re totally excited by it. So there’s nothing that isn’t explained in the show itself.”
Gunn also ticked through the various DC Studios projects underway, including the second season of Peacemaker with John Cena, his forthcoming Superman movie, the Supergirl movie that starts filming in London in January, and the Green Lantern series Lanterns.
Asked by panel moderator Josh Horowitz if he brought a Superman trailer, Gunn said there’s no trailer yet: “I have some stuff on my phone.”
Creature Commandos is set to premiere Thursday, Dec. 5 on Max, followed by one episode weekly through Jan. 16.
The cast includes Steve Agee as Economos, Maria Bakalova as Princess Ilana and Anya Chalotra as Circe. The show is produced by DC Studios and Warner Bros. Animation. Peter Safran, Dean Lorey, and Sam Register also executive produce. Rick Morales serves as a supervising producer.
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