Creature Commandos Episode 1
"The Collywobbles"
Writer: James Gunn
Director: Matt Peters
Cast: Viola Davis, Frank Grillo, Indira Varma, Alan Tudyk, Sean Gunn, Zoë Chao, Maria Bakalova
The first sign of the new DC TV/film regime is the new title card for DC Studios. It's the classic shield-logo Superman from his Golden Age appearances, animated to break the chains holding him through the power of his own super strength. It's a symbol of respect to all that came before the Gunn/Safran administration and honestly, it feels good. It's a nod back to the days before "grim and gritty," and while this animated series isn't for all ages, it's a welcome sign that it's not all going to be hard-R-rated like Peacemaker. Creature Commandos, though, is not for kids.
The big trouble that's rearing its head at the start of the show is the invasion of the Eastern European nation of Pokolistan by perennial Wonder Woman villain Circe (Anya Chalotra). She's leading an army of the worst kinds of weak men called the Sons of Themyscira to remove the monarchy from power, promising them the Amazons' island nation of Themyscira as a reward. Why is this a reward? All women, better waterfalls. Catnip to weak men.
At Belle Reve prison, Amanda Waller (Viola Davis; The Suicide Squad, How To Get Away With Murder) briefs Rick Flagg Sr. (Frank Grillo; Captain America: The Winter Soldier, The Purge franchise) on the situation before introducing him to the team. See, since The Suicide Squad ended badly, Waller isn't allowed to use humans for her Task Force X experiments, so she's formed Task Force M — for MONSTERS!!!!
Non-humans don't fall under the same rules as humans, so she's assembled The Bride (Indira Varma; Game of Thrones, Obi-Wan Kenobi), more or less the classic Bride of Frankenstein; Dr. Phosphorus (Alan Tudyk; Firefly, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story), an irradiated scientist who's just a glowing skeleton; Weasel (Sean Gunn; Guardians of the Galaxy, The Suicide Squad), a feral rat-like thing that was revealed as a survivor of The Suicide Squad film; G.I. Robot (also Sean Gunn), a relic from WWII who only talks about how many Nazis he's killed and how much he'd rather be killing Nazis; and Nina Mazursky (Zoë Chao; The Afterparty, Party Down), a shy Abe Sapien-like fish person and "the smartest and most reasonable of the bunch," as Waller says. This is the dream team to stop Circe.
Fun facts: The Bride is shown reading a copy of Young Love, a comic that DC Comics ran from 1963 to 1967. Also, while the credits show the monsters who make up the squad, it also includes an animated James Gunn at his writing desk.
To the gorgeous strains of Gogol Bordello, the team flies to Pokolistan and gets a lift to the enormous palace where they meet Princess Ilana Rostovic (Maria Bakalova; Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3). On the way, Weasel pees on Dr. Phosphorus and G.I. Robot talks about how he'd like to kill Nazis soon. Once inside the palace they get a good rundown of portraits of a seriously inbred line of royalty ("Looks like the gene pool is aboveground and inflatable," says The Bride).
A gorgeous Princess Rostovic welcomes the team, but her guard pulls guns on them after they fail to bow correctly to the princess. Tension! But it's easily defused — it's a gag. The Pokolistani military has a great sense of humor, backing it up by saying to Flagg and Dr. Phosphorus, "We pull pranks like Jamie Kennedy Experiment! We do Super Bowl Shuffle! WHASSSUP? I have to ask you, skeleton guy, WHERE'S THE BEEF? Clara Peller!" It leads to an outdoor party, where The Bride is bored, Nina bonds (sort of) with G.I. Robot over wanting to kill Nazis, Dr. Phosphorus leads the troops in a line dance, and Weasel drags an accordion player off with his teeth. Flagg discusses Pokolistan with the Princess, and gives us some backstory.
He was married young and had his son, Rick Flagg, who we saw played by Joel Kinnaman in the two Suicide Squad films, at age 18. His wife's no longer in the picture, and his son died after following in his dad's footsteps.
Oh, and his middle name is "Bill." Not William, Bill.
As the night winds down Princess Rostovic invites Flagg inside to see something, which ends up being her naked royal body, but Flagg gracefully bows out, kind of embarrassing Princess Rostovic. It probably weighs on him a bit, as he can't get to sleep, which means he's awake when Dr. Phosphorus breaks into his room to steal the cell phone that triggers Amanda Waller's famous "zap them if they get out of line" punishment system. The fight betwen Phosphorus and Flagg is huge, with Phosphorus torching the bed, the curtains … and the wooden floor, which collapses into the kitchen. It's the kind of fight that Gunn wishes he could replicate in real life, but it's just so over the top. I don't think it's possible.
While Flagg and Phosphorus battle (and eventually make up when Flagg says he's not the kind of guy to zap his team with electricity), The Bride and Nina quietly leave the royal palace under cover of darkness. They catch a cab to the castle where The Bride was born, and we get a brief scene of her creation via electricity. Their approach to the castle is not unnoticed though; a woman in a shack across the street watches them and uses her own cell phone (with Zac Efron home screen) to call Frankenstein's Monster, played by Stranger Things's David Harbour, who is hanging out with women in bikinis on a fancy yacht.
It looks like he's going to get involved…
The first two episodes of Creature Commandos are now available to stream on Max
