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DC's James Gunn on what makes Creature Commandos and the DCU different from Guardians of the Galaxy
Sometimes, some things have no meaning... which is the meaning. (What does that mean? Ask Creature Commandos creator/writer James Gunn.)
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Launching DC Studios — and the new DCU — with Creature Commandos might have seemed like a strange choice to many, not just because it’s an animated series rather than a live-action movie, but because to many, the Creature Commandos seemed like a watered-down version of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. Anyone who’s seen the show to date knows differently, however — and now series creator and DC Studios co-chair James Gunn is explaining why.
Be warned: spoilers for Creature Commandos episode three, ‘Cheers to the Tin Man,’ follow!
“This show is tragic. This is not Guardians of the Galaxy,” Gunn told Entertainment Weekly when addressing the apparent death of GI Robot in the third episode of the series. (He’s destroyed by Circe during his big moment saving the day, although what is death when applied to a robot?) “Even as dark as Guardians gets, they're all heroes. We know all of those characters are good guys. This show is not that sentimental. There aren't all happy endings at the end of this.”
That’s not to say that everything in the Guardians movies ended happily — Yondu sacrificed himself at the end of the second movie, after all — but there’s a difference in how each project handles that kind of thing, according to Gunn.
“When you lose Yondu, it is hard and it's terrible, but it all goes to this larger purpose of Peter Quill learning that he had what he needed all along and that someone loved him, and Yondu learning that same thing,” Gunn argued. “The hard thing for Creature Commandos is when we lose these characters, a lot of times it's just a fucking waste. Not that it's a waste of this character, but it's not for any reason. It's because sometimes death happens when we don't want it to, and sometimes it doesn't lead to a greater purpose. That’s the way in which I think this show is incredibly dissimilar from the Guardians.”
What this will mean for the rest of the larger DCU remains to be seen — Superman isn’t out until July 2025, and that movie will have a very different tone from the intentionally tragic Creature Commandos — but for now, let’s enjoy the prospect of a tonally varied DCU that allows for meaningless deaths, heroic inspiration, and maybe some surprises along the way, as well… and maybe keep an eye out for who’s next to go as Creature Commandos continues its run.
Creature Commandos is streaming on Max, with new episodes every Thursday.
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