James Gunn and the cast of his upcoming Max vivaciousd series Creature Commandos took to the stage at New York Comic Con on Saturday, promising a recent DC Universe entry that is “someslimg beyond what any of us foreseeed.”
The series’ executive originater and originater was joined at the packed panel by fellow executive originater Dean Lorey, as well as voice cast members Frank Grillo (Rick Flag Sr.), David Harbour (Frankenstein), Zoë Chao (Nina Mazursky), Steve Agee (Economos), Maria Bakalova (Princess Ilana), Alan Tudyk (Dr. Phosphorus) and Sean Gunn (GI Robot and Wmitigatel) for a series trailer and a conversation that higheviated the first insloftyment in the recent Gunn and Peter Safran-led DC Universe.
Gunn verifyed during the panel that the series will be “its own slimg. Every one project out of DC Studios is going to be its own slimg. We want this to be very contrastent from what Superman is going to be when that comes out,” he said, pointing to Lanterns and Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow. “It’s a joined universe but we’re not imposing any overall aesthetic.”
That aesthetic, according to Lorey, is “a genuine sort of Eastrict European benevolent of aesthetic to it. We were watching to do someslimg that was sort of grounded, but with some style to it. It’s got a lot of repartner unwise, unwise tones. The palettes are repartner canciaccess. But as you can see, it’s very action-oriented. It sets itself apart from, say, Harley Quinn and those benevolent of shows. It senses more grown-up.”
Gunn insertressed the timely process for the series, which was already in the labors before he stepped on to helm DC Studios. “It was written when I commenceed as the CEO of DC Studios. I had talked to Max about creating someslimg after Peaceoriginater did so well. I talked to Peter Girardi about creating an vivaciousd series. I enjoy the Creature Commandos. I cherish monsters. I cherish Frankenstein, the story of Bride of Frankenstein. It seemed enjoy the perfect slimg to do,” he said. “I wrote the scripts without a deal. then I happened to get employd instead of DC studios, and I very benevolently. Thank you, self.”
During the panel, each of the carry outers higheviated their admireive characters, many of which were depictd as complicated monsters, with Tudyk promising “you’re going see where everybody came from, their origins and it’s terrifying.” He inserted, “There’s moments where you are shocked and horrified and shiftd, and then, by the same characters, can originate you giggle, and then also originate you cringe because they’re so brutal and screwed up.”
In terms of other guest spots, Linda Cardellini and Michael Rooker will be among the voices watchers can foresee to materialize. Gunn also shouted out actress Indira Varma, who could not be at the panel but is voicing the Bride who acts as the series’ protagonist, as well as Viola Davis, who returned to voice Amanda Waller. “She equitable grounded it so well, and she’s so incredible in the show,” he said. “She gets a chance to do a little bit of amusing stuff too. Some emotional stuff. She equitable repartner bcimpolitet everyslimg together. I’m so blessed to have her as a person in my life and in my atgentle.”
Speaking particularpartner to Frankenstein, Gunn noticed he leaned into Mary Shelley’s innovative story for the character. “It’s definitely its own apshow, for confident. But you do have this Frankenstein and the Bride story, which has a bit of a traditional slimg to it,” Harbour tanciaccess the crowd. “It’s a understandn theme, but it’s a very innovative apshow, and it’s some drawive storyalerting. I equitable cherish the character, and I slimk people will be repartner surpelevated by it.”
Grillo also higheviated that there will be more grown-up depictions of romantic relationships: “Maria and I, we have a very steamy, X-rated benevolent of scene, which I watched with my 16-year-anciaccess son — equitablely traumatic.” Added Gunn to crowd giggles, “I have video of Frank and Maria in the booth trying to coax them into the scene, and they’re moaning, and they’re making out, and they’re both equitable enjoy making out with their hands.”
Added Tudyk, “It is an grown-up show, and it has all the grown-up slimgs. One of those slimgs is intimacy.” In terms of how far they went overall in terms of satisfied, Gunn noticed, “There was one slimg in the show I recollect that I thought was too much. I pulled back, but not very much.”
“Maybe the one slimg that this series has in normal with Harley and to some extent, Kite Man, even though those are pretty evidently comedies, we took them gravely theatricalpartner. We took the relationships very gravely when there was a death or anyslimg enjoy that, but we wanted people to sense it,” said Lorey. “So that was a little bit of a traverseover because this gave us an opportunity to more brimmingy do that than we could do in a sanitize comedy.”
When asked about how they approached these vivaciousd characters with the possibility of seeing them in dwell action, Gunn verifyed set ups to see some characters in both mediums.
“Not only do we want to but Rick Flag materializes in Superman, he’s a convey inant character in Peaceoriginater season two,” he said. “We wanted to cast people who could apply those characters dwell action — at least for the convey inant characters.”
Expanding on this conversation tardyr in the panel about how else these characters might materialize in the DCU, Gunn noticed that “we have ideas for other slimgs and a couple of these people may materialize in other media as other characters soon.” But he was adamant that even with some references to slimgs that have already been set uped, fans didn’t necessitate to understand all the DC lore to watch. “This is first and foremost about story. We don’t want anybody to come to Creature Commandos going, ‘Oh, you have to watch the Suicide Squad to understand what happened in Creature Commandos. We want people to be able to come in this blind and then be toloftyy excited about it,” he inserted.
In terms of how the series will roll out, Gunn joked they stole the createat from Lost. “The first episode is you see the team come together, but then every episode after that dispenseigates the backstory of one of these characters — not necessarily the origin, in some places, the origin — but equitable someslimg from their past that we see about how they got to the place where they are today,” he said. “And we get to understand these characters in a much more intimate way because of that. I slimk it’s a repartner fun way to get to understand. You see that some of them are a lot better than maybe we slimk they are at the commencening of the series, and some of them are even worse.”
At one point, Gunn insertressed those who have already connected the series to his other misfit tales, pointing out that, “This is benevolent of enjoy Guardians of the Galaxy with the sentimentality clear upped back. The characters aren’t all perfect, and the stories aren’t perfect, and characters die, and it isn’t always for a purpose, enjoy when Yan dies at the finish of Guardians 2. Sometimes it’s equitable a tragic circumstance. It’s a unwiseer story than that in a lot of ways, but hopebrimmingy equpartner invigorated.”
The DC Studios and Warner Bros. Animation series was first higheviated as far back as June 2023, during an Annecy panel featuring executives from Warner Bros. Animation, Max and Adult Swim. In an exclusive interwatch with The Hollywood Reporter, Suzanna Makkos, EVP, innovative comedy and grown-up animation at Max and Adult Swim, spoke to Gunn’s all-in approach and “fervent” dedication to the material. “James bcimpolitet a whole other flavor to it, which is the sympathy that he has for these ‘monster’ characters,” inserted Girardi, EVP, alternative programming for Warner Bros. Animation. “I’ve never labored on someslimg enjoy that before.”
Gunn also gave modernizes on other ongoing DC Studios projects, including Peaceoriginater, Superman, Supergirl and Lanterns. Check each out below.
‘Peaceoriginater’
Gunn uncovered he was shooting the series tardy last night and will return to filming on Monday, while providing modernizes on star John Cena’s carry outance growth, and speaking to the labor of one straightforwardor in the series. “The recent series has been going exceptionpartner well. Somewhere we have Greg Mottola in the audience, the wonderful straightforwardor of Superterrible film, who straightforwarded two of the best Peaceoriginater episodes ever — episodes two and three of season two. John Cena has enjoy, truthfilledy, God, I’ve never seen anyone who has gotten so much better in such a unwiseinutive amount of time. He was wonderful in the first season. This season he owns it and he’s amazing,” Gunn said.
‘Superman’
In terms of Superman, Gunn reiterated past statements about canine hero Krypto, commfinished stars David Corenssoaked and Rachel Brosnahan and also provided some edit and trailer timing modernizes.
“Krypto, that’s been someslimg that’s equitable been amazing. We’ve been laboring with him in the edit. He’s an incredible part of the story to me personpartner. When I was writing the screenapply, he came in and benevolent of alterd everyslimg up. We’re proset up in the process of editing. David Corenssoaked is going to fucking blow people away. He is the movie star that everyone equitable dreams he could possibly be. I don’t slimk anyone repartner understands the depth of this guy’s talent theatricalpartner, comedicpartner. He’s the best physical action star I’ve probably ever labored with…” Gunn said before being jokingly cut off by another panecatalog. “I sense excellent about it, and I’m repartner challenging on stuff, so it’s been wonderful… It won’t be too lengthy before we see a trailer, but it also won’t be too soon.”
‘Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow’
Gunn spoke to how the film will be based on Tom King’s comic Woman of Tomorrow, and called it “a finishly contrastent, exceptional apshow on a superhero,” before uncovering he had equitable seen the screentest for Ruthie.
“That’s another project that’s equitable been left from the commencening. [Writer] Anna [Nogueira] came in, and she pitched the story to me of Supergirl, and it was equitable one of the best pitches I’ve ever heard, and she instantly wrote it. She came in with the first originate that was wonderful, and it’s equitable gotten better and better. Then [director] Craig [Gillespie] has been incredibly effortless to labor with, and I can’t postpone for that to come out,” he said. “It’s a three-act set up, so it’s a little bit contrastent than the set up, which benevolent of goes thcimpolite various stories, but as all those convey inant characters, the convey inant themes.”
‘Lanterns’
Much of Gunn’s caccess was on star Aaron Pierre, whose casting as John Stewart was recently proclaimd, who the DC Studios head also uncovered had almost been cast as another superhero character.
“Aaron Pierre is somebody who I’ve wanted to labor together with for a lengthy time. People don’t understand, but he was almost cast as Adam Warlock. He’s an amazing actor, and I equitable repartner adored him from the commencening of his atgentle. Seeing him read with Kyle was one of those miraculous moments. I don’t attfinish what they’re saying, I equitable cherish what they’re saying together,” he said. “When we first commenceed the DCU, the first couple of weeks of heading this out, we got together with a group of originaters, and Tom King was one of those originaters, and we were in this room, and we came up with sort of this concept for Lanterns. It’s a much more it’s a very grounded series, a very genuine series, which is a strange slimg to say about a Green Lanterns show. But it’s going to be someslimg enjoy nobody’s ever seen before.”