[Editor’s Note: This article contains spoilers for the finale of “Creature Commandos”]
The DC Universe is right here. Whereas we look forward to Superman to fly onto the large display once more, it’s the grownup animated collection “Creature Commandos” that serves as our first introduction to this new model of the DC world led by James Gunn. And it is vitally a lot James Gunn‘s world. “Creature Commandos” is actually “The Suicide Squad” however with monsters.
All through the primary season, the Max animated collection explored the tragic origin story of every member of its titular crew, whereas additionally following their investigation of a menace on the fictional nation of Pokolistan and their protection of its princess, Ilana Rostovic (Maria Bakalova), from an assassination plot by the Amazonian sorceress Circe (Anya Chalotra). Midway by way of the season, nonetheless, issues modified. After capturing Circe, the crew was despatched again to Pokolistan to assassinate the princess as an alternative. The mission change was spurred on by the legendary sorceress displaying A.R.G.U.S. director Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) a imaginative and prescient of the long run by which each DC hero was brutally killed by Rostovic’s forces — some even impaled and crucified. To stop this from taking place, the princess needed to die.
The season finale paid off the reality of that imaginative and prescient and the true villain of the season — however not earlier than a tragic dying. Like each episode of “Creature Commandos,” the finale centered on one member of the crew, displaying us how they grew to become who they’re. This time, the highlight was on Nina Mazursky (Zoë Chao), born together with her lungs exterior of her physique. Her dad devoted his life to doing something he may to make sure she would survive; and “something” turned out to incorporate mutating her DNA such that she grew to become a Gill-man/mermaid hybrid who breathes underwater.
Like Gunn’s different superhero tasks, “Creature Commandos” isn’t just extraordinarily sympathetic to its monsters, but additionally to her father, portrayed as a genuinely loving man. Not like the opposite members of the Commandos, Nina just isn’t created by a mad scientist, she doesn’t unintentionally trigger anybody’s dying, or do something incorrect besides look completely different. Out of all our heroes, she is the least resentful, hateful, and likewise the least deadly. She was by no means even accused of homicide and over the course of the season, she doesn’t actually kill folks — a minimum of not like The Bride (Indira Varma).
So, in fact, it’s Nina who dies whereas making an attempt to assassinate the princess. It looks as if Ilana’s morning swim could be the right alternative to take her out (Nina is the perfect one underwater, in spite of everything), however simply as Nina is about to stab the princess, a regretful Weasel (Sean Gunn) warns Illana as a result of she was sort to him as soon as. So Nina will get stabbed and killed as an alternative. Whereas the palace guards congratulate and pet Weasel and deal with him as a hero for saving the nation, Nina’s dying is pointless and in useless. The Bride, the one one who received near Nina all through the season, tried serving to her settle for her actuality as a monster, all seemingly for naught.
Solely crew chief Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo) refused to imagine the imaginative and prescient of the long run and tried to disprove it to avoid wasting the princess (who he had fallen for), with the second half of the season spending quite a lot of time on this investigation. Certainly, “Creature Commandos” gave Flag some extent when he found that the professor who made Waller imagine in Circe’s imaginative and prescient was truly Clayface (Alan Tudyk) in disguise, seemingly proving that Princess Ilana was harmless. If this had been true, then Nina’s dying could be much more pointless — Waller even tried to name it off proper earlier than it occurred.
Seems, that was however a crimson herring. Within the finale, The Bride acknowledges Clayface standing subsequent to the princess on the safety tape of the fort and deduces that Circe was proper. Princess Ilana knew Circe was proper, she tried convincing the Commandos to kill the sorceress after they captured her, and when that failed she despatched Clayface to disprove the sorceress. The one downside with this plan was that Clayface arrived too late to maintain Waller from believing Circe. We don’t know precisely when Clayface changed the school professor that led Waller to imagine in visions of doom, and it appears it was solely by coincidence that Rick Flag Sr. incorrectly deduced that the princess was harmless.
Nonetheless, The Bride does work out that Princess Ilana is strictly the menace to the world that Circe made her out to be, and shoots her within the head. Besides she doesn’t kill the princess to avoid wasting the world, however out of revenge for Ilana murdering the one good friend The Bride had and the one member of the crew with precise kindness in her coronary heart.
After making a immediate escape in a foreign country earlier than anybody notices the useless monarch, we’re again at Belle Reve jail the place The Bride is launched to her new crew and her new headquarters. The surviving members of the Creature Commandos are right here — together with GI Robotic (Sean Gunn), who has an excellent greater and stronger robotic physique, and a brand new addition, King Shark (Steve Agee). With Season 2 already greenlit, it appears that is the brand new face of the Creature Commandos, with King Shark changing Nina as the brand new aquatic member of the crew, and Rick Flag Sr. nowhere to be seen after being left half-dead on the hospital following his combat with Clayface.
Then there’s Eric Frankenstein (David Harbour), who practically ruined the crew’s infiltration of the royal palace in his everlasting pursuit of his bride. He’s seen in a post-credits scene again in his mansion with the outdated lady from the primary episode, making an attempt to persuade himself that The Bride solely tried to kill him out of affection.
Although the references to the bigger DC Universe appear to have been simply that — references — the finale does two issues. It additional cements James Gunn’s “The Suidice Squad” and its place within the new DC Universe by reintroducing King Shark and making him a part of the crew, and it appears to be establishing Eric Frankenstein as an annoying aspect character that can pop up each every now and then till finally Waller realizes his usefulness and assigns him to the squad. One factor is obvious, although, the DC Universe goes to be a spot for gods and monsters.