James Gunn's Superman Movie Will Include The Creature Commandos, And I'm Wracking My Brain About How They'll Fit Into The Story
Although James Gunn’s Superman movie is the first theatrical feature film set on the DC Universe Chapter One slate, it’s not kicking off this shared universe. That honor belongs to Creature Commandos, the animated series that people with a Max subscription will be able to watch by the end of this year. But even with half a year to go until that show’s arrival on the 2024 TV schedule, but we already know what’s next for them after that premiere. It’s been announced that the Creature Commandos will appear in Superman, and now I’mw racking my brain about how they’ll fit into the upcoming DC movie’s story.
The New Information About Creature Commandos
First off, the news about the Creature Commandos’ presence in Superman, which is set on the 2025 movies schedule, came from the Annecy International Animation Film Festival (via Nexus Point News). However, it wasn’t clarified if at the team members will appear in the movie or just a few of them. Either way, this is the second live-action project where a Creature Commandos character will appear after the animated series, as Frank Grillo will reprise Rick Flag Sr. in Peacemaker Season 2.
Additionally, James Gunn, who also co-runs DC Studios with Peter Safran, appeared in a video message presented at the Festival (via THR), and he shared how Creature Commandos will build off the events of Peacemaker Season 1:
The new series picks up directly after our Peacemaker season one finale, which leaves Waller with her hands tied operationally, meaning that she’s no longer able to get away with putting human lives on the line to carry out her clandestine morally questionable missions. Instead, she recruits a ragtag band of misfits, not unlike the Suicide Squad and Peacemaker.
Grillo’s Creature Commandos castmates include Viola Davis as Amanda Waller (who’s also getting her own TV series), Steve Agee as John Economos, David Harbour as Eric Frankenstein, Maria Bakalova as Princess Ilana Rostovic, Indira Varma as the Bride of Frankenstein, Zo? Chao as Nina Mazursky, Alan Tudyk as Doctor Phosphorus and Sean Gunn as both G.I. Robot and Weasel (Gunn will also play Maxwell Lord in the DCU). James Gunn created the series and wrote all the episodes.
How Will The Creature Commandos Fit Into Superman?
Again, we don’t know how many Creature Commandos characters will appear in the Superman cast, but they’re joining a movie that will also officially feature Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner (one of the Green Lanterns), Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl, Edi Gathegi as Mister Terrific and Anthony Carrigan as Metamorpho, and Milly Alcock will possibly debut as Supergirl before the 2026 release of Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow. In other words, this movie will be jam-packed with superheroes, though James Gunn has assured fans that the focus will be firmly planted on David Corenswet’s version of the Man of Steel and Rachel Brosnahan’s Lois Lane.
Still, I’m particularly intrigued by the Creature Commandos’ inclusion. Will they join Guy, Hawkgirl, Mister Terrific and Metamorpho in helping Superman fight some threat that Nicholas Hoult’s Lex Luthor is tied to. If that’s the case, my bet is it being The Authority. Remember, María Gabriela de Faría is playing Angela Spica, a.k.a. The Engineer, a member of that team in the comics, indicating that perhaps The Authority will be featured in Superman as antagonists before getting the spotlight in their own movie. Kal-El/Clark Kent is strong, but when multiple superhuman are gunning for him, it doesn’t hurt to bring in backup.
Conversely, maybe the Creature Commandos don’t play a role in Superman’s main story and will instead appear in some kind of end-credits tag. While it stands that this flick, like all the other past Superman movies, will have audiences turning out in droves, general moviegoers will likely be unaware that Gunn’s reboot is part of a larger shared universe. If the inclusion of those other four superheroes isn’t enough of a tipoff, throwing in the Creature Commandos at the end would ideally clue them in and point them in the direction of the team’s animated series.
We’ll learn how the Creature Commandos fit into the Superman picture when the tentpole release flies into theaters on July 11, 2025. Meanwhile, though not set in the DCU, the next DC movie, Joker: Folie à Deux, comes out on October 4.
