The “Creature Commandos” are nearly here.
While the animated series, written and executive produced by James Gunn, doesn’t debut on Max until Thursday, Dec. 5, a new trailer debuted as part of New York Comic Con, building off what we’ve previously seen in the first teaser trailer shown at San Diego’s Comic-Con International.
And you can watch the new, full trailer right now, below:
“Creature Commandos,” which serves as the official kick-off for Gunn and Peter Safran’s DC Studios and their DC Universe, “tracks a secret team of incarcerated monsters recruited for missions deemed too dangerous for humans. When all else fails… they’re your last, worst option” (according to the official synopsis).
This is set, somewhat confusingly, within the same universe as “Suicide Squad” and “The Suicide Squad” (which Gunn wrote and directed), with Viola Davis returning to voice Amanda Waller, who this time is recruiting even-freakier participants – thanks to Congress ruling that Waller can no longer recruit human participants for her off-the-books missions, following the events of “The Suicide Squad.”
So, she goes for non-humans — or at least those deemed different enough from regular humans to be ruled as such — introduced as residing in the “Non-Human Internment Division.” The team’s initial lineup as introduced in the new trailer features The Bride (Indira Varma), Dr. Phosphorus (Alan Tudyk), Weasel (Sean Gunn), Nina Mazursky (Zoe Chao) and G.I. Robot (also Sean Gunn), with human leader Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo).
Gunn shared his excitement for the animated show on social media, writing, “My pride in this project couldn’t be greater. A pleasure from start to finish with everyone involved. From DC Studios, here’s the full trailer for the beautiful, horrible and tragic #CreatureCommandos.”
The series’ cast also includes original character Princess Ilana (Maria Bakalova) and the villainous sorceress Circe (Anya Chalotra), as well as Eric Frankenstein (David Harbour) looking to join the fray at some point as a seeming ally and potential additional member for the team, as well as a returning Economos (Steve Agee).
Rick Flag Sr. arrives to replace Joel Kinnaman, who played Rick Flag Jr. in both “Suicide Squad” films… until a final run-in with John Cena’s Peacemaker. Economos, of course, is from James Gunn’s “The Suicide Squad” and appeared in the first season of “Peacemaker,” with Grillo’s Flag set to appear in the second season of “Peacemaker” and Gunn’s upcoming “Superman” film (out in the summer of 2025).
One of the guiding principles of this new DC Universe is that performers play characters across different media, with actors appearing in live-action projects and voicing those characters in animation and video games.
While the Suicide Squad is largely made up of supervillain criminals with an occasional somewhat grayer character in the mix, the Creature Commandos aren’t as centered around the bad guys, with the only fully traditionally villainous member being Alan Tudyk’s Dr. Phosphorus — though the trailer reveals that G.I. Robot isn’t afraid to get a little violent, especially when his programming leads him to believe someone could potentially be a Nazi. Weasel is also a returnee, having served as a Task Force X member in “The Suicide Squad.”
Gunn’s love of period music to drive his films also returns here, a la the “Guardians of the Galaxy” series, with the trailer featuring a remix of the 1965 cover by the Animals of “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood.” You can watch the band perform the song on “The Ed Sullivan Show” here:
“Creature Commandos” debuts on Max on Thursday, Dec. 5, with new episodes airing weekly through mid-January.