Why 'Creature Commandos' (and not Superman) kick off the new DC universe

The Marvel Cinematic Universe started with the likes of Iron Man, Thor and Captain America. The new DC universe begins with a Nazi-killing robot, an irradiated skeleton man and the bride of Frankenstein.

The Man of Steel might have seemed the conventional choice to kick off the rebooted comic book movie franchise, with David Corenswet donning the signature red cape in director James Gunn’s big-screen outing “Superman” (in theaters July 11). But Gunn, the co-CEO of DC Studios and the filmmaker who made pop culture fall in love with a talking raccoon and a tree in Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy,” is not a guy who's big on conventions (unless it’s Comic-Con).

Instead, the new DCU blooms with “Creature Commandos” (first two episodes now streaming on Max, then weekly on Thursdays), a hyper-violent, adult animated series with the motliest crew since Rocket and Groot got their band together: team leader Rick Flag Sr. (voiced by Frank Grillo), the Bride (Indira Varma), Dr. Phosphorus (Alan Tudyk), Nina Mazursky (Zoe Chao), Weasel (Sean Gunn) and G.I. Robot (Gunn).

“In the DC stories we are able to do anything we want, so there can be all sorts of genres, tones, feelings (and) methodologies involved,” Gunn explains. “What is continuous in the DCU is that we're inhabiting a world where metahumans and magic and anomalous science have existed for some amount of time. That is really the cohesive thing," he says. And "I'd like writers and directors to be able to take stories in completely different directions and tell them in different ways.”

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DC heroes and villains are cast to play in multiple mediums

The previous DC universe that originated in 2013 with Zack Snyder’s “Man of Steel” was extremely hit-and-miss for fans and critics alike for the next decade. Headed by Gunn and fellow co-CEO Peter Safran, this new DCU is being crafted to be more along the Marvel model, a connected universe with different personalities being introduced and meeting each other. The first round of projects beginning with "Creature Commandos" is called "Gods and Monsters," and they plan to release a pair of movies and Max series each year to build out this new world.

Gunn promises fans will see DCU characters appearing across many animation and live-action projects. Weasel, for example, first had a supporting role in “The Suicide Squad,” while Flag appears in “Superman” and the upcoming second season of Max's “Peacemaker.” Gunn had that bigger picture in mind when casting all of his new “Commandos” actors. “We auditioned a lot of really tall actresses for the Bride,” he says. “But, man, Indira came in and she was so good you're like, ‘Well, maybe we'll lose a few inches if we do the live-action portrayal of her.’ But it's worth it because she's perfect.”

The new DC honcho also has the same commitment to boosting misfits and obscure personalities from the comics, akin to the ethos he maintained through his popular Marvel “Guardians” films. “Superman” features characters that casual movie lovers will know, such as Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) and Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult), but introduces personalities like the Commandos that will appeal to a nerdier contingent: Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion), Mister Terrific (Edi Gathegi), Metamorpho (Anthony Carrigan) and Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced).

“A lot of us in the world feel like outsiders, whether the rest of the world perceives us that way or not," Gunn says. "So telling the stories of outsiders is important because people relate to it.”

‘Creature Commandos’ arises from the ashes of the old DCU

Some familiar faces will carry over to the new DC era. In “Creature Commandos,” which Gunn wrote and is set after the events of “The Suicide Squad” and “Peacemaker” Season 1, Amanda Waller (voiced by Viola Davis) is outlawed from using humans to run dangerous government missions in her Suicide Squad. So exit Task Force X, and enter Task Force M, because no one said she couldn’t use monsters.

The new team is sent to the fictional Eastern European land of Pokolistan to help Princess Ilana (Maria Bakalova) fend off an attack by villainous sorceress Circe (Anya Chalotra). But their first mission is complicated by betrayals, romances, a few twists and the chaos factor brought by the Bride’s patchwork ex, Eric Frankenstein (David Harbour).

The show “can be violent. It can be sexual. It can be all of those things, but I always think it has to come down to character and ultimately heart,” says executive producer Dean Lorey (“Harley Quinn”). The Bride is the main protagonist of the show, and fans may not be used to her and Frankenstein “having a point of view that's not just plot-driven but very emotional. That part I loved.”

James Gunn is enjoying youthful enthusiasm for his new playground

Like many superhero fans, Lorey can’t wait for Gunn’s take on Superman, and he’s “enormously heartened” to see the Man of Steel going in a more joyous, Christopher Reeve-style direction than a dour one. That movie, and director Craig Gillespie’s “Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow” (starring Milly Alcock, “House of the Dragons”) are part of the new DCU’s opening chapter alongside Max series “Commandos,” “Peacemaker” and the upcoming “Lanterns,” with Aaron Pierre and Kyle Chandler as Green Lantern space cops John Stewart and Hal Jordan.

“As we enter the world, we start to take our different protagonists from the different corners and travel along with them. Some are going to overjoy us, and some are going to disappoint us, and we don't know who is who,” Gunn says, explaining the "Gods and Monsters" branding on the opening new DC salvo.

Gunn grew up wanting to be a comic book writer, and while he loved Marvel and DC, it’s the latter’s characters that most inspired him. “I have that childlike enthusiasm today. It is the same creative impulse I had when I was 12.”

As he’s seen “Superman” cuts, “Supergirl” scripts and “Lanterns” designs come to fruition, “I need some wood to knock on, but everything has been just really going well,” Gunn says, thanks to a methodical approach. He won’t fast-track the Batman movie “The Brave and the Bold” simply because he’s DC’s most popular character, or make something “just because, oh, that fits into our slot in July of 2027 and we need that product out. We're just not going to do it."

Instead, he’s exercising self-control to reach the DCU’s ultimate goal: “Being able to move in a way that you're not working from a place of fear, but from a place of hope and wonder.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: James Gunn reboots the DC universe with 'Creature Commandos'