Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for ‘Creature Commandos.’
Creature Commandoshas begun and with itJames GunnandPeter Safran’s DC Universe. But while the franchise is still in its infancy,the two-episode premiere of its first television series has already delivered an assortment of Easter eggs and referencesto other DC Comics-based properties as well as other media for fans to enjoy. Here’s what to look out for.
AlthoughCreature Commandosis the first project officially set in the DCU,as Gunn has repeatedly explained, most of the events of his prior DC adaptations, the filmThe Suicide Squadand spin-off television seriesPeacemaker(possibly along with aspects of other productions likeBlue Beetle) will be canonical to the new franchise.Creature Commandosimmediately makes this plain, as its premisebuilds upon the stories and world-building ofThe Suicide SquadandPeacemaker. Congress has forbidden Amanda Waller’s (Viola Davis) Task Force X from using incarcerated humans as covert operatives for its so-called Suicide Squad after Waller’s daughter, Leota Adebayo (Danielle Brooks) publicly exposed the group for doing so at the end ofPeacemaker’s first season.
To sidestep this limitation, Waller assigns General Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo) to lead the newly formed “Task Force M,” also known as the titular Creature Commandos, which includes only prisoners who are technically not human. Waller also references the death of Flag’s son, Rick Jr. (Joel Kinnaman), which occurred inThe Suicide Squadalthough, true to manipulative form, she may have omitted her own culpability in killing the younger Flag.Creature Commando Weasel’s (Sean Gunn)brief involvement in a mission shown in the film is also mentioned.
James Gunn Cameos in His New DC Show
Another especially obvious Easter egg is awordless cameo from James Gunn himself.Creature Commandoshas a type of title sequence that has become increasingly rare on modern television, with the main cast members all being credited alongside images of the characters they voice. After this roll call, an illustration of Gunn in the same art style as the series is shown in the process of writing what is presumably the show itself. This isn’t the first time Gunn has appeared onscreen in a DC production, as he previously voiced a fictionalized version of himself in the third season of the Max seriesHarley Quinn.
Themyscira Is Exposed in the DCU
The premiere holds off on referencing any more well-known DC superheroes directly, but it does begin to establish the mythology related to Justice League mainstay Diana Prince/Wonder Woman. The Creature Commandos’ mission is to provide additional security to Ilana Rostovic (Maria Bakalova), princess of the fictional nation of Pokolistan (itself part of the DC Comics universe), which is under siege bya militia working for Circe(Anya Chalotra), a sorceress who claims to be the rightful heir to the mythological island kingdom of Themyscira, which is Diana’s birthplace.Like many characters featured in Wonder Woman comics, Circe is based on a figure of the same name from Greek mythology, and her inclusion in the series suggests that the Greek pantheon will be an important part of the wider DCU lore.
Themyscira’s existence being public knowledge is a noticeable shift from the prior DC Extended Universe franchise, in which only Diana herself (played byGal Gadot) was a public figure, with the island remaining secret. The militia is dubbed the Sons of Themyscira. A group with the same name exists in DC Comics, literally made up of men descended from the island’s Amazon inhabitants but exiled because of their gender. So far, the series instead portrays the Sons simply as sexist human men who resent the island only being inhabited by women. This could lay the groundwork for adaptations of various comic book storylines in which the Amazons have clashed with other nations. One of the DC Universe’s upcoming projects is another television series,Paradise Lost, which is a prequel that will focus on Themysciran history, supposedly taking place before Diana’s birth.
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‘Creature Commandos’ Draws From the Original ‘Frankenstein’
One of the Creature Commandos is The Bride of Frankenstein (Indira Varma), referred to simply as “The Bride,” with her infamous spouse (who, in this iteration, she detests) also set for what looks to be a more antagonistic role in the series, voiced byDavid Harbour. Although both Frankenstein’s monster and his related mythology, including The Bride, have been integrated into the wider DC Comics canon for decades, Gunn has emphasized thattheCreature Commandosversion of the former, who is given the first name Eric, is more directly inspired by the original iteration of the character introduced in Mary Shelley’s famed 1818 novelFrankenstein. Most DC Comics versions of Frankenstein are anti-heroes at worst, but Eric is portrayed in a much more sinister light, attempting to force the Bride into a romantic relationship for centuries, even though she constantly, often violently, refuses.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Gunn described Eric as “basically a sociopath and a stalker.” The Bride is understandably jaded by Eric’s behavior towards her and her similarly inappropriate relationship with their human creator, Victor Frankenstein (Peter Serafinowicz), which leads to a darkly comedic reference to an unexpected DC comic. When Waller initially shows the Commandos to Flag in Belle Reve Penitentiary, The Bride is shown reading a magazine titledYoung Love, before becoming visibly annoyed at some of the content and ripping it apart. DC has sporadically published a comic series titledYoung Love(which was originally produced for Crestwood/Prize) since 1963.
Ultrabunny Ties the DCU Together
For a lengthy portion ofThe Suicide Squad, Rick Jr. is forced to wear a bright yellow T-shirt. While this was likely meant partially to make him appear similar to many of his iconic comic book designs,the shirt in the film also features the titular character from a fictional cartoon called Ultrabunny. The first season ofPeacemakeralso contained references to Ultrabunny. The second episode ofCreature Commandosends with a montage of Eric and The Bride’s violent altercations over the centuries. In a portion of the sequence set in 1991, Eric wears what appears to be a gray-colored version of the same shirt Rick Jr. wore.When a fan noted this to Gunn on Threads, the latter explained that“Ultrabunny is one of the more famous cartoon characters in the world of the DCU.”
Zoinks, Is That Shaggy?
The Bride vs. Frankenstein montage also has an even briefer reference to a real-life cartoon franchise. As the sequence draws to a close, several shots from different settings showing The Bride and Eric running towards one another preparing to punch each other are shown in quick succession. In one of these shots, the pair are dressed like and fighting amongst a group of hippies.One of the hippies’ loose-fitting green T-shirt and unkempt blonde hair make him look virtually identical to Shaggy, the fan-favorite stoner character who is featured in a lead role in most Scooby-Doo cartoons and related media. The Scooby-Doo franchise is also owned by DC parent company Warner Brothers. Discovery and has consequently been included in crossovers with DC characters numerous times before, starting back in the early 1970s, when Batman and Robin appeared inThe New Scooby-Doo Movies. James Gunn also has a notable connection to Scooby-Doo, having written a pair of live-action film adaptations of the series in the early 2000s. Although these films received largely negative reviews, they do have their supporters, andMatthew Lillard’s performance as Shaggy was praised, leading the actor to continue portraying the character through voice-over in future animated projects.
There are some additional, minor pop culture references throughout the episodes, such as a picture of actorZac Efronused as a character’s cell phone wallpaper, but these are the ones with the most obvious significance to either DC history or behind-the-scenes details ofCreature Commandos’ production. As the series unfolds its weekly release, happy Easter egg hunting!
New episodes ofCreature Commandospremiere Thursdays on Max in the U.S. The first two episodes are available to stream now.
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Creature Commandos
In “Creature Commandos,” Amanda Waller assembles a covert team of monstrous operatives, including a werewolf, vampire, and gorgon, to undertake high-risk missions deemed too perilous for human agents.
