
Creature Commandos won me over almost instantly for the character of GI Robot (Sean Gunn). He is a robot programmed during World War II to fight Nazis. He enjoys gunning down Nazis. His favorite topic is about hunting Nazis. His favorite type of person is somebody who enjoys killing Nazis. His least favorite type of person is, well, Nazis. What I’m trying to say is that GI Robot kills a lot of Nazis in this show and it’s a delight.
Gunn stages this animated series with the same style as his 2021 film The Suicide Squad. We’re introduced to a new task force under the assembling eye of the ruthless Amanda Waller (Viola Davis). Her new team is called Task Force M, named for the monsters that fill the ranks. Led by Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo), the team includes the badass monster Bride (Indira Varma), the wordless creature Weasel (Sean Gunn), the snarky radioactive Doctor Phosphorus (Alan Tudyk), the innocent aquatic creature Nina Mazursky (Zoë Chao), and the aforementioned GI Robot, the best character, even though he only occupies a handful of the episodes. The first season gives them a mission of stopping a world-ending threat while also reserving time for their sympathetic backstories.
Task Force M differs from Task Force X in that you care more for this team without the shock of them being picked off in a brutal Dirty Dozen style. The roster is small and the episodes take their time to make you care about all the team’s monsters. This includes Weasel, the only returning member of the past Suicide Squad movie, who was previously referred to as having killed children. The truth revealed is so sad that it’s much easier to cheer him on when he starts shredding the face of an evil witch. While backstories are mostly tragic, some dark humor is tossed here and there. Bride, for example, was horrified of being forced into existence for the benefit of the egotistical monster Erik Frankenstein (David Harbour). Though Bride makes it clear she’s not interested in the dopey Erik, especially after he murders her father figure, he still pursues her like a hulking Pepe LePew, his stalkerish devotion a mix of the creepy and the absurd.
The overarching plot is decently compelling, loaded with deception, magic, and unexpected cameos, making the reprisal of another imperialism mission in a fictitious foreign country not all that derivative (at least this country has cool knight armor that shoots lasers). There’s plenty of vicious violence, giddy gore, surprising sex, and a pitch-perfect soundtrack of selections from Gogol Bordello and the Dresden Dolls. The comedy also remains a strong point of Gunn’s writing, as with the hilarious back and forth of Amanda Waller arguing with her team over what constitutes as descriptors for witch stuff. It’s weird and wild in all the best ways, playing with the DC Comics world and roster in the most creative manner possible. This is a show that can pose Clayface as a secret agent who is a misogynistic asshole incel that plays video games and you can buy that personality with ease. Also, it’s so satisfying watching GI Robot’s backstory, where modern-day Nazis rebuild him and starts massacring them when realizing their political ambitions (“Get ready to die, Nazis!”).
Creature Commandos is another weird and stellar dose of James Gunn’s wild world of DC Comics. He might have returned to the formula he crafted for The Suicide Squad and maybe even with Guardians of the Galaxy, but it’s a format that still works so well. There are gut-busting moments of hilarity and delightful dollops of the irreverent coursing throughout every episode of this romp through comic book characters. This is the type of superhero show we need now more than ever, especially with such a lovely character like GI Robot. I’m happy to report that GI Robot does survive this season and is built up to be stronger than ever by the season’s end, ensuring there will be plenty more Nazi killings in the next season and I can’t wait for what Task Force M will do next.