Superman is The First DCU Movie, But the Franchise’s Real Beginning is The Wrong Project

After James Gunn and Peter Safran took over DC a couple of years ago to form DC Studios, the new DC Universe (DCU) will finally begin this December with Creature Commandos. The project is an animated series that will launch on Max in December, setting itself apart from other shared universes. In 2008, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) began with Iron Man while Man of Steel hit theaters in 2013 and kickstarted the DC Extended Universe (DCEU), even if that initially wasn’t the original vision.

Unlike the MCU and DCEU, the DCU will begin with animated and live-action projects right from the jump. DC Studios plans on weaving in video games in the future as well. DC Studios has revealed plenty of other planned projects in the pipeline. There is much at stake with Warner Bros. Discovery’s current financial situation and following up on the controversial DCEU. The new DCU needs to make a splash, and Creature Commandos might not be the right project for that.

Creature Commandos Has Ties to the DCEU

The DCU will recast most of its characters, including members of the DCU, but there are still elements from the DCEU that will carry over. Gunn previously said that the canon of the DCU won’t begin until Creature Commandos, yet some characters from past DCEU projects will still play a role. Creature Commandos will feature Viola Davis as Amanda Waller ahead of her planned live-action series. Weasel and John Economos from The Suicide Squad will also participate in the Creature Commandos animated series.

Other characters like John Cena and the Peacemaker cast will also be part of the new universe. The DCU must do a lot to revive the superhero brand and communicate to audiences that it is a reboot. Creature Commandos being the first project out of the gate of the DCU, yet still having ties to the DCEU won’t allow the project to stand apart as a relaunch for the DC franchise. It could lead to a messy start for the DCU, which isn’t ideal since it’s coming off of the DCEU.

Superman Is the Perfect Project To Start With

Superman will be the first film from DC Studios, and Gunn, who wrote and directed the feature. Unlike Creature Commandos, Superman will feature a new cast without ties to the DCEU. David Corenswet will play Superman in the upcoming feature alongside other notable actors, such as Rachel Brosnahan’s Lois Lane and Nicholas Hoult’s Lex Luthor.

Making Superman the first DCU project also works more than Creature Commandos because it’s a big-budget film that will have more of a spotlight on it than the animated Creature Commandos. Superman is the second project, and it doesn’t put any less pressure on it to succeed. It also has everything a studio could want in a universe launcher, with a major director handling one of the most iconic superheroes. Putting out Superman first makes a bigger and bolder statement because the character has yet to reach the heights of the Christopher Reeve version in modern times.

Creature Commandos Is an Obscure Property

Wonder Tales #93 in 1980 featured the first appearance of the Creature Commandos in the comics. J. M. DeMatteis and Pat Broderick created the characters for DC Comics.

Gunn wrote the Creature Commandos series, which will feature the more obscure characters from DC like G.I. Robot, Eric Frankenstein, Weasel, Doctor Phosphorus, The Bride, Nina Mazursky, Princess Ilana Rostovic, and Rick Flag Sr. Gunn might be notorious for successfully bringing unknown comic book properties like the Guardians of the Galaxy to the big screen, but the MCU didn’t start its universe that way.

Sure, Iron Man wasn’t the top-tier character he has become today. He wasn’t on the level of obscurity as the Creature Commandos either. Creature Commandos will also have a more adult rating, so it won’t be as accessible to audiences when it debuts on Max. Creature Commandos may be able to shine and deliver a good first project for the DCU. However, it might not be enough to uplift the DC brand from the jump and give it the positive momentum it needs for the reboot.

Another issue Creature Commandos may run into relates to when it’s coming out. The year’s final months have no shortage of new DC projects and they all have nothing to do with each other. Batman: Caped Crusader, Superman & Lois, and Joker: Folie à Deux are all in separate universes. HBO’s The Penguin series will also release around the same time and ties into The Batman Epic Crime Saga, not the DCU. Just after all these projects are released, Creature Commandos will arrive in December, and many will likely watch it without any idea that it will occur in a rebooted universe because it’s not as obvious that it does.

DC is still dealing with the aftermath of the previous regime but that will end this year, and Creature Commandos might still be a bit too close to the past despite its DCU status. Instead, DC Studios should’ve waited a little longer to roll out the DCU to distance itself from the previous era.Superman will hit theaters several months after the old DC projects make their way to theaters, far more time to get audiences ready for a reboot. Creature Commandos coming out before the end of the year feels a little rushed and could benefit from a spring release compared to where it rests currently.

The DCU has the chance to give fans the shared superhero universe they’ve dreamed of. DC has certainly achieved past success, but as a whole, the brand has been seen as inferior to Marvel for years because of how successful it has been at building a cinematic universe. DC Studios’ plans are a bit more ambitious to start and that’s warranted since audiences are familiar with the shared universe concept now. Nonetheless, Creature Commandos’ starting the DCU feels a bit small compared to what the franchise looks to accomplish.

Meanwhile, Superman has more eyes on it and feels worthy of being a film that launches a new universe as high-profile as the DCU. Perhaps Gunn and Safran want to begin with a different approach since so many other shared universes have failed with a major film released first. Creature Commandos appears to be another radical project from Gunn and has plenty of potential to deliver a quality story that fans will enjoy. But if Creature Commandos succeeds, it’s not as much of a win for the DC brand compared to if Superman succeeds, and beginning with an entry on the scale of a film first would get the reboot off to a strong start in needs.