The trailer opens with the monsters being released from a prison just for their kind to deal with an "international incident", according to their human boss, Amanda Waller (voiced by Viola Davis). We are quickly introduced to the team: The Bride (Indira Varma), Frankenstein (David Harbour), Dr. Phosphorus (Alan Tudyk), Weasel (Sean Gunn), Nina Mazursky (Zoë Chao), G.I. Robot (also Gunn) and their field poser, 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 shared the idea that Creature Commandos could one day migrate to live-action, so he cast voice actors who could 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 references other characters and other DC storylines in episodes, the series is immediately readable by anyone, whether they are already immersed in the DC Universe or not.
“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 gave an overview of the various DC Studios projects in the pipeline, including the second season of Peacemaker (2022) starring John Cena, his upcoming Superman movie, the Supergirl movie starting filming in London in January and the Green Lanterns Series Lanterns.
When asked by panel moderator Josh Horowitz if he had brought along a Superman trailer, Gunn said there isn't one yet: "I have some stuff on my phone."
Creature Commandos premieres Thursday, December 5 on HBO Max, followed by episodes weekly through January 16.
The cast also includes Steve Agee as Economos, Maria Bakalova as Princess Ilana and Anya Chalotra as Circe. The series is produced by DC Studios and Warner Bros. Animation. Peter Safran, Dean Lorey and Sam Register also produce. Rick Morales is the supervising producer.
