Back in January 2023, DC Studios co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran shared their new vision for DC’ entertainment franchise with the world when they revealed their opening slate for the new DCU, a slate that includes films like Superman, The Brave and the Bold, Swamp Thing, and The Authority along with television series such as Lanterns, Creature Commandos, Booster Gold, Waller, and Paradise Lost. Now, with Creature Commandos set to premiere on December 5th on Max, DC fans may be getting to hear more about the future of the DCU courtesy the show’s New York Comic Con panel. On Thursday, Gunn took to social media to share that he along with Creature Commandos cast members Frank Grillo, David Harbour, Zoe Chao, Sean Gunn, Dean. Lorey, and Steve Agee will be at a panel at NYCC on October 19th and at that time will also “fill you in on all the details of our monster army and the seeds of the DCU!”
Creature Commandos is an animated series that will follow a secret team of incarcerated monsters recruited for missions deemed too dangerous for humans. When all else fails… they’re your last, worst option. The series is both written and executive produced by Gunn. In terms of its position in Gunn’s new DCU, Creature Commandos is set within the newly-rebooted DC Universe and is technically the first project, but Gunn has recently elaborated a bit more and described the series more as an appetizer for what’s the come — noting that the upcoming Superman live-action movie is actually the real start of things.
Videos by ComicBook.com
“Superman is the true start of everything, it’s a humongous epic,” Gunn said, adding that Creature Commandos is “a way for people to just take a little nibble and see what it tastes like.”
Gunn also noted that the series has “a ton of references to other DC Stuff, a bunch of hints for things that are coming,” and added “So, I think it’s just an extraordinarily fun way to start.”
Gunn has previously indicated that, in the new DCU, projects will be directly tied to one another across everything from animation through to things like games as well to create one cohesive universe, which in turn allows for characters to appear across projects, such as Grillo’s Rick Flag, Sr. who will appear in not only Creature Commandos but in the second season of Peacemaker, too. Gunn has also teased that a main character in Creature Commandos will also cross over into the live-action Max series, Waller.
“What we’re doing with the DCU is we’re having animation tied directly into live action. Television, movies, and games all intertwine within the same universe,” Gunn said in 2023 about how the various facets of the DCU will connect.
So, what should fans expect from the Creature Commandos panel at NYCC when it comes to the future of the DCU? At this point, there are limitless directions things could take, though in a February earnings call, Warner Bros. head David Zaslav teased that Gunn and Safran would “in the next few months” take people through a “full spectrum” of what to expect over the next decade when it comes to DC Studios.
“I’ve had a glimpse into what James and Peter are doing, and it really does serve as an exciting indicator of where the new DC is headed under their leadership,” Zaslav said at the time. “There’ll be more you’ll hear from them in the months ahead… We’ll have James and Peter take you through in the next few months a full spectrum of what they see over the next 10 years.”
Creature Commandos arrives on Max on December 5th. The show’s NYCC panel takes place October 19th.
