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James Gunn's Creature Commandos is rolling on, and the animated series marks the start of DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn's cinematic DC Universe. As you might expect, there are some Easter eggs and references to the wider DCU in just about every episode, and we've got a breakdown of all the stuff you might have missed right here.
But be warned - we're getting into major spoilers for Creature Commandos episodes 1-4 below, so turn back now if you want to stay unspoiled.
Still with us? Here we go...
In the premiere of Creature Commandos, titled 'The Collywobbles,' Amanda Waller introduces Rick Flag Sr. to his new team – Task Force M – which is designed to circumvent new regulations placed on Waller's operations that prevent her from sending "human convicts" into the field by only enlisting beings who have been deemed "monsters" in their Non-Human Internment Ward.
This leads to the formation of the Creature Commandos, comprised of The Bride, Weasel, GI Robot, Dr. Phosphorus, and Nina Mazursky, who are immediately dispatched to the nation of Pokolistan to safeguard its princess from the villainous Circe, who wishes to conquer the nation and turn it into her own personal Themiscyra, since she was exiled from the actual Amazon island.
In the second episode, titled 'The Tourmaline necklace,' the Bride takes Nina with her back to the castle where she was created by Victor Frankenstein as a, well, bride for his first creation, Eric Frankenstein. But the Bride fell in love with Victor instead, and Eric killed him in retribution. Since then, the Bride and Eric have had a rivalry that has spanned hundreds of years, in which he pursues her affections and she tries to kill him.
But they're ambushed at the castle by Circe and her soldiers, the Sons of Themiscyra, who beat them mercilessly and leave them for dead, as the rest of the Creature Commandos speed to their rescue. The episode ends on a cliffhanger, with Nina and the Bride's survival unclear.
Creature Commandos episode 3, 'Cheers to the Tin Man,' digs into GI Robot's history as an experimental creation of the US Army during WWII with a lust for killing Nazis that extends into the present day. Alongside this delve into GI Robot's backstory, Flag and the rest of Task Force M rush to rescue the injured Bride and Nina, only to realize the whole thing wound up being an excuse by Circe to draw them away from the castle so she could launch a surprise attack on the princess.
Creature Commandos episode 4, 'Chasing Squirrels,' digs into Weasel's tragic backstory, while also establishing that Princess Ilana may in fact be a threat to world peace. As Task Force M is dispatched back to Pokolistan to take her down, Rick Flag encounters Eric Frankenstein, who is determined to win over the Bride.
Episode 1 - 'The Collywobbles'
- In comics, the Sons of Themiscyra are a group of soldiers composed entirely of male babies who were born on – and then exiled from – the all-women island of Themiscyra. Here they're just losers.
- Pokolistan is a small, fictional European nation in the DC Universe which, in comics, had secret backdoor dealings with Lex Luthor when he was president.
- Circe is one of Wonder Woman's arch-enemies, with her roots as a mythical sorceress who turns Odysseus' men into animals in The Odyssey.
- This is Rick Flag Sr., whose son died in The Suicide Squad.
- Amanda Waller's daughter exposed her in the finale of Peacemaker season one.
- The Bride is reading an issue of Young Love, a DC romance comic that ran from the '40s to the '70s.
- Project Starfish was, of course, the mission undertaken by Task Force X in The Suicide Squad.
- Get used to hearing Gogol Bordello. They've got multiple songs in this episode and the next.
- Trademark James Gunn "team all walking in a line" shot.
- Princess Ilana Rostovic and her soldiers are new creations for Creature Commandos. However, she does bear a strange resemblance to the DC character Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld, and her warriors are known as "Amethyst Guards". Coincidence?
- He said the name of the episode!
- We salute you, Zac Effron.
Episode 2 - The Tourmaline Necklace
- As you can guess, this is Dr. Victor Frankenstein.
- Again – she said the name of the episode!
- That's Gogol Bordello on stage.
- Not a lot of Easter eggs this episode – but we'll be back for episode 3!
Episode 3: Cheers to the Tin Man
- These soldiers are Sgt. Rock and Easy Company, DC's most famous war hero character and his men. Daniel Craig is in talks to make a Sgt. Rock movie with Challengers director Luca Guadagnino, but it's actor Maury Sterling who voices him here.
- The scientist who studies (and upgrades) GI Robot is Doc Magnus (voiced by Alan Tudyk), an expert in artificial intelligence from comics who is also the creator of the superhero robots known as the Metal Men. Their symbols can even be seen drawn on his chalkboard when he mentions "the next wave of automatons." Seems like the seed of a future DC Studios project if ever there was one.
- It's very funny that the Sons of Themiscyra logo says "SofT".
- GI Robot's new "owner" is voiced by frequent James Gunn collaborator Michael Rooker.
- I'll be honest, I'm not sure which movie they're watching.
- Hub City is the comic book home of the original incarnation of the enigmatic vigilante known as the Question, Vic Sage, who was originally created by Spider-Man's co-creator Steve Ditko.
- This all too appropriate needle drop is Coin-Operated Boy, courtesy of Boston-based group the Dresden Dolls. Dresden is of course a city in Germany that was the cultural center of the so-called Weimar Republic era of the country's history, which then became a site of formative early Nazi uprisings and continued violence throughout WWII.
- Your eyes aren't deceiving you - that's Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man from Doom Patrol in the cell they're passing.
- RIP GI Robot. Cheers to the Tin Man indeed.
- Well that's a heck of a cliffhanger. We'll be back for episode 4!
Episode 4: Chasing Squirrels
- Elizabeth 'Betty' Bates is a '40s pulp comic heroine who, way back then, was a gun toting vigilante lawyer.
- This big gorilla is Grodd, an arch-enemy of the Flash.
- Heroes seen on skewers include Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Judo Master, Vigilante, Supergirl, Hawkgirl, Booster Gold, Robin, Peacemaker, Metamorpho, Starfire, and Green Lantern Guy Gardner.
- The shot of Superman's torn cape is an homage to The Death and Return of Superman.
- Isla MacPherson is from the comic Gotham Academy.
- Monster villains seen here include Chemo, Egg-Foo, Bug-Eyed Bandit, She-Bat, Great White Shark, Warren Griffith the werewolf, and of course, Congorilla who is beaten to a pulp by the Bride.
New episodes of Creature Commandos will premiere Thursdays on Max through early January.
