James Gunn’s Creature Commandos gets a release date, and new images depicting DC’s action-packed monster mash

James Gunn’s Creature Commandos is ready to stir up trouble on Max with an official release date and new images.

Christmas comes early for DC fans this year as the release date for James Gunn’s Creature Commandos arrives to end 2024 with an action-packed monster mash! Premiering December 5 on Max, the first entry in James Gunn and Peter Safran’s “Gods and Monsters” arc finds Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) with her hands tied, operationally, meaning that she’s no longer able to get away with putting human lives on the line to carry out her clandestine morally questionable missions. Instead, she recruits a ragtag band of misfits, not unlike the Suicide Squad and Peacemaker. Her new team is a collective of literal monsters, bringing tooth and claw to the DCU with unpredictable tempers and tantrums that could change how Waller wins the day.

The cast of Creatures Commandos includes Frank Grillo as Rick Flag Sr., David Harbour as Eric Frankenstein, Indira Varma as The Bride, Maria Bakalova as Princess Ilana Rostovic, Alan Tudyk as Dr. Phosphorus, Zoe Chao as Nina Mazursky, and Steve Agee as John Economos, and Sean Gunn as Weasel.

In addition to revealing the Creature Commandos release date, Entertainment Weekly debuted a gallery of new images for the series, featuring the cast kicking back at the bar, enjoying a nice cup of tea, and ready to throw down with guns blazing.

Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Gunn explained the appeal of Creature Commandos and how playing in the DC universe permits access to unique characters and teams outside the superhero norm. “The thing I’ve always loved about DC Comics was that you had your mainstream comics that always ran, but they also had these tonally different comics like Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns and All-Star Superman,” Gunn tells Entertainment Weekly. “It was different from Marvel in that way. That’s something that I really want to retain within the studio, that every project is going to bring a different vision by the artists who are creating it.”

“I’m used to dealing with oddballs and irregular types and weirdos,” Gunn continues. “That’s what Guardians is, and Creature Commandos is kind of like Guardians without the sentimentality. The Guardians are all really good characters at their heart, and that just isn’t necessarily the case with the creatures.”

On December 5th, everything will be declassified. The new Max Original Series from DC Studios #CreatureCommandos premieres exclusively on @StreamOnMax. I’ll have more intel soon. pic.twitter.com/5tqTLJo26e

— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) September 5, 2024

Gunn says each episode of Creature Commandos delves into a different character’s backstory, giving us a glimpse at what makes them who they are and how they became a part of the eerie ensemble. While Superman is the honest-to-goodness launch of the new DCU, Gunn wants fans to think of Creature Commandos as a “nibble” of the main course, an amuse-bouche of beasts, war-hardened robots, and wild takes on Universal Monsters.

“There are a ton of fun references to other DC stuff, a bunch of hints for things that are coming. So I think it’s just an extraordinarily fun way to start,” Gunn says about Creature Commandos.

About the Author

Born and raised in New York, then immigrated to Canada, Steve Seigh has been a JoBlo.com editor, columnist, and critic since 2012. He started with Ink & Pixel, a column celebrating the magic and evolution of animation, before launching the companion YouTube series Animation Movies Revisited. He’s also the host of the Talking Comics Podcast, a personality-driven audio show focusing on comic books, film, music, and more. You’ll rarely catch him without headphones on his head and pancakes on his breath.