Creature Commandos star Maria Bakalova talks playing evil for the first time and that dramatic finale reveal: "I've never played the villain before"

Warning: spoilers for Creature Commandos episode 7 below!

Creature Commandos star Maria Bakalova discusses how she's never played a villain before being cast as an original character in James Gunn's first DCU project, portraying Princess Ilana in Creature Commandos.

"I knew from the beginning that James was writing something original, an original character that was going to be blended with the creatures of that universe. I knew that she was gonna be this femme-fatale princess. That's all I knew. And then I got to read it, and I was like, 'oh, okay, so she’s the villain'," Bakalova tells GamesRadar+.

The actor plays Princess Ilana Rostovic, the heir to the throne of a country called Pokolistan. Gunn reportedly created the original character, who does not come from any comic books, with Bakalova in mind. Pokolistan is loosely based on Bulgaria, where Bakalova is from.

In the series, the Creature Commandos are tasked with keeping the princess safe - though Rick Flag Sr. gets a little too involved and the two strike up a romance that just ends up being a distraction from the task at hand. After six twist-y and turn-y episodes, the finale reveals that Ilana was the true villain all along.

"She’s manipulative because, even when you watch the show throughout, like, the last 20, 30 minutes, you're still completely convinced that she is the real one. She's the real one. And then in the last 5, 10 minutes, you actually realize that, okay, we did see her with Clayface, we did see her basically creating this whole backstory. And it's like, why? Why did she have to do that?"

Bakalova continues: "But it's always more exciting, I feel like. Maybe not more, but just at least as equally exciting for actors to portray villains because, you know, in the beginning, maybe they were just normal people, people that seem very fine. Then something changed their approach to life. And I can only imagine what she's been through and how she got to that point, but it's pretty cool that she's the villain. I've never played the villain before, in any movie. I’ve always been pretty much a survivor."

Circe, who decides to wreak havoc on Pokolistan, claims to do so because Ilana is planning to start WWIII. Because of this, the team is then tasked to kill Ilana. When Amanda Waller brings in expert Aisla MacPherson to confirm Circe's visions, we later learn that Clayface was posing as Aisla all along - and that she's actually dead.

Waller, believing that Circe was working with Clayface to set them up, then calls off the kill. But a quick look at security footage reveals that it was Ilana and Clayface in cahoots together after all. Ilana also kills Nina Mazursky, one of the most beloved members of the Creature Commandos with one of the saddest backstories.

"With animation, you're completely in the hands of the team behind you. So you can do so much by building how the character feels in that moment based on the way [the team] feels," Bakalova added.

It's worth noting that the animated series is canon to the DCU, and that the animated characters could go on to appear in live-action projects. "And it's a really interesting career. It's really interesting acting to do in general, and especially with this one when she is such a complex character, she's manipulative."

Creature Commandos is now streaming in its entirety on Max. For more, check out our Creature Commandos review, our Creature Commandos ending explained, and our Creature Commandos post-credits explained. You can also check out our guide to Creature Commandos season 2 for everything we know so far.