Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Creature Commandos episodes 1 & 2TheDCUhas officially begun withCreature Commandos, an animatedSuicide Squadspin-off series from James Gunn. Featuring a largely brand-new team under the control of Amanda Waller (Viola Davis), the show’s premiere episodes see “Task Form M” being deployed on their first mission. However, there are some key differences between this new team and the roster from the original DC Comics.
A group of arguably non-human monsters assembled by Amanda Waller, the Creature Commandos have been brought together as a means of circumventing ARGUS' new restrictions from Congress about sending incarcerated humans into the field. As such,Creature Commandosepisodes 1 & 2introduce this new team of operatives led by Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo) before sending them out to protect the princess of a European nation. Keeping that in mind,here are some of the biggest differences between the DCU’s new Creature Commandos and the team seen on the page.
The DCU’s Creature Commandos Are Assembled In Modern Day Unlike Their Comic Book Counterpart
The Original Creature Commandos Operated In WWII
In the comics,The Creature Commandos first came together during WWII. Created by J.M. DeMatteis and Pat Broderick in 1980’sWeird War Tales #93,The Commandos were a group of supernatural monsters brought together to take on the Axis powers, essentially serving as a crossover for the anthology series which has previously featured each member individually ahead of their big team-up event. Not unlike the Justice Society, The Creature Commandos of Project M was another attempt by the Allies to take on the Axis powers, though the idea with this team was to psychologically terrify the enemy by deploying literal monsters at them.
Creature Commandos Cast & DC Character Guide
Creature Commandos will kick off James Gunn’s new DC Universe with an animated TV series including some of the weirdest DC Comics characters.
As seen in the DCU’s newCreature Commandosseries, the team is being introduced all at once in the present day. Debuting as operatives to be deployed at the will of Amanda Waller and ARGUS, this new team of monsters is less about scaring the enemy and more about their tenuous human status. This allows Waller to use them in place of a more traditional Task Force X that has since been banned by Congress after Waller’s daughter Leota Adebayo outed her and the programat the end ofPeacemakerseason 1.
The Original Creature Commandos Team Has A Very Different Lineup In The Comics
The Team Has Evolved Over Time
The original line-up for the Creature Commandos consisted of Lieutenant Matthew Shrieve, the team’s only human, Warren Griffith, a werewolf, Vincent Velcro, a vampire, and Elliott “Lucky” Taylor aka Patchwork, a reanimated soldier resembling Frankenstein’s monster.However, The Creature Commandos team has evolved and varied over the years to feature more of the characters seen in the new animated DCU series. This includes the actual Frankenstein’s monster in the DC Universe, The Bride, G.I. Robot, Dr. Medusa, the amphibious Bogman who serves as DC’s Black Lagoon monster, the mummy known as Aten, and more.
DC Comics also hasa current ongoingCreature Commandosseries from David Dastmalchianwho played Polka Dot Man in James Gunn’sThe Suicide Squad. To that end, this new team roster is more like the original roster featuring Shrieve, Lucky Taylor, Vincent Velcro, Wanda Griffith, and Mina Rhodes aka Doctor Medusa. However, this new version of the team is operating in the present day.
Now, the DCU’sCreature Commandosroster features characters who were part of the comics team including The Bride (Indira Varma), Nina Mazursky’s Mermaid (Zoë Chao) who replaced Bogman in the comics, and G.I. Robot (Sean Gunn). Frankenstein’s monster (who goes by Eric) is also in the series voiced by David Harbour, though he’s not yet a part of the official team.Likewise, Rick Flag Sr. looks to be replacing Shrieve, while Doctor Phosphorus (Alan Tudyk) and Weasel (also Sean Gun) are new additions who haven’t been part of the comics team before.
The Creature Commandos Don’t Have Any Connection To Task Force X In DC Comics
Project M, Not Task Force M
At the beginning ofCreature Commandosepisode 1,Amanda Waller dubs this new team “Task Force M"with the letter M standing for “monster”. They’ll also be known as the Creature Commandos, just like Task Force X was also known as the Suicide Squad.That being said, the Creature Commandos of the comics never had any direct connection to ARGUS, Task Force X, nor Amanda Waller herself.
“It does make a certain amount of sense that Waller and ARGUS would take Project M’s place in the DCU…”
Instead,the Task Force M name is a reference to the government’s secret Project M which actually ran the team during WWII, and the Flashpoint timeline’s version of the team was also founded by Nina’s father, Myron Mazursky. However, it does make a certain amount of sense that Waller and ARGUS would take Project M’s place in the DCU. That said, it will be interesting to see if the origins of the team and its original inception during WWII will be referenced or adapted in some form asCreature Commandoscontinues.
The Comics' Creature Commandos Have Very Different Villains To The DCU Show
They’ve Never Fought Circe Before
In the comics, the original Creature Commandos were deployed against the Germans during WWII.Initially dispatched to Nazi-occupied France, the Commandos took down Hitler’s elite forcesand foiled a plan to replace several world leaders with androids (including FDR, Churchill, and Stalin). They then went to the South Pacific to fight the Japanese, as well as dinosaurs on the aptly named…Dinosaur Island (where they would first meet and ally with G.I. Robot). Not only did they liberate death camps, but they also fought in Germany itself.
Creature Commandos Episodes 1 & 2 Recap And Ending Explained
Creature Commandos episodes 1 & 2 end with a surprise ending and cliffhanger after introducing Amanda Waller’s Task Force M in the new DCU.
To that end, no version of the Creature Commandos in the comics has ever fought Circe, the Amazonian sorceress in the new DCU series seeking to take over Pokolistan and overthrow its monarchy. A classic rival of Wonder Woman,Circe (Anya Chalotra) is incredibly powerful, as proven when she brutally beats down The Bride before magically turning her arms into inflatable tube men, while her forces known as the Sons of Themyscira shoot Nina’s helmet that was allowing her to breathe on land.To that end, it will be exciting to see how Task Force M stands a chance against Circe as the DCU’sCreature Commandosseries continues.
Creature Commandos
Cast
Creature Commandos follows the exploits of a secret team of incarcerated monsters recruited for perilous missions unsuitable for humans. Released in December 2024, the film explores themes of redemption and collaboration as the monstrous squad is tasked with handling threats that present dire challenges beyond human capability.
