Posted in: HBO, Preview, streaming, TV | Tagged: creature commandos, dc studios, dcu, hbo max, james gunn, peter safran

James Gunn Shares Surprising Creature Commandos Casting Update

DC Studios' James Gunn offered some surprisingly unexpected good news regarding casting & production on the animated Creature Commandos.

When DC Studios' James Gunn & Peter Safran announced "Chapter 1 – Gods and Monsters" (their first wave of films & series in their new DCU), we were impressed with the diversity of series selections being offered right out of the gate. But if we were forced to pick  a favorite, it was the news that writer J. M. DeMatteis & artist Pat Broderick's Creature Commandos would be getting an animated series adaptation. First introduced in Weird War Tales #93 (November 1980), the comic book series focused on Frankenstein's monster teaming with a werewolf, a vampire, and a gorgon to fight Nazis in World War II. The series has the distinction of being the first DCU project that Gunn & Safran gave a green light to, with Gunn having penned the series (with some serious The Suicide Squad roots). In addition, the series is being cast with voice actors who could also play their characters in a live-action project down the road. Why's that part about casting particularly important for this update? Because we might knew who's in that cast sooner than we think.

Asked for an update on how things were going with the project, Gunn offered up another direct response that caught us surprise in a very good way. "Starting production; almost done casting," was Gunn's response. So you know what that means, right? It's time to start shifting the speculation game to who will be voicing who (and maybe making the jump to live-action). Here's a look at a screencap of Gunn's response to how the animated series is progressing:

DC Studios Chapter 1 – Gods and Monsters: Beyond Creature Commandos

We're looking at the Amanda Waller (Viola Davis)-focused Waller, the Green Lantern series Lanterns, the Wonder Woman prequel series Paradise Lost, and a Booster Gold series. But we also learned that the second season of the John Cena-starring Peacemaker is on hold and that Greg Berlanti's "Green Lantern" series is no longer moving forward. Here's a look at the details of the other series that were announced:

"Waller": With Peacemaker Season 2 on hold while Gunn works on Superman: Legacy, the Viola Davis-starring series will include the "Peacemaker team" and serve as a "continuation" of the HBO Max series. The series will be executive produced & penned by Jeremy Carver (Doom Patrol) and DCU writers' room writer Christal Henry.

"Lanterns": Being compared to "a huge HBO-quality event" along the lines of "True Detective," the series will focus on Hal Jordan and John Stewart, who investigate a mystery that Safran said "plays a really big role leading us into the main story that we're telling across our film and television. So this is a very important show for us." This series will replace Greg Berlanti's previous take on a "Green Lantern" series.

"Paradise Lost": Set before the birth of Diana (Wonder Woman) and set on the island of Themyscira, Safran & Gunn see the series as a "Game of Thrones" -like take on Wonder Woman's origins ("It's really about the political intrigue behind a society of all women": Safran). Comic fans may recognize the title from Phil Jimenez & George Pérez's Paradise Island Lost comics series. "How did that come about? What's the origin of an island of all women? What are the beautiful truths and the ugly truths behind all of that? And what's the scheming like between the different power players in that society?" were the rhetorical question that Gunn asked when explaining the series' themes.

"Booster Gold": Seen as the DCU's deep dive into comedy, Safran describes Mike Carter/Booster Gold as "a loser from the future who uses basic future technology to come back to today and pretend to be a superhero." From a series perspective, we're looking at a possible 25th-century setting, where Mike is a disgraced former football star who uses a time machine on display in the Metropolis Space Museum to gain fame and fortune… and maybe the desire to be a real superhero (if the sponsorship is right?). "Basically, "Booster Gold" is imposter syndrome as a superhero," Gunn added.

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