Creature Commandos proves studios are hurting superheroes

By Drew Dietsch
| Published 1 second ago

Commando Creatures debuted on Max as the official kickoff of the new DC Universe (DCU). Critics and audiences seemed to appreciate this violent and delirious series from the start. You can count me among them! The first two episodes were a fun take on what James Gunn brought to the DC Universe with his first outing, The suicide squad (my rave review). I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of the series unfold.

Unfortunately, Creature Commandos also highlighted something I've felt about superhero cinema for a while: I don't think superheroes are best suited to live-action.

From ink and paint to flesh and blood

While there are certainly pulp and adventure predecessors to consider, Superman is widely considered the original superhero, debuting in 1938. After the runaway success of Superman, comic book companies around the world attempted to reproduce the phenomenon. Because of this, many strange and interesting characters have emerged and benefited from being created as illustrated ideas.

And it makes perfect sense that super-powered beings are therefore the most apt to exist in animation. These are such larger-than-life concepts that making them “real” almost seems to detract from their inherent creative potential.

Creature Commandos I picked up on this idea because I started imagining the much less dynamic and vibrant live-action versions of the various characters in the series. For example, Weasel looks much more unique and stylish in this series than his entertaining but normal CGI mocap version in The suicide squad.

The Benefits of Superhero Animation

This isn't to say that live-action is inherently a disadvantage to superhero cinema. Look no further than compare Spider-Man 2 And Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Both are great films that, in my opinion, are two of the best superhero films ever made. However, when it comes to fully exploiting the potential of Spider-Man's character and world, Into the Spider-Verse has more artistic benefits through the medium of animation.

It's worth recognizing that in the United States, animation is widely seen as an outlet for younger viewers, especially if it comes from a major studio. Creature Commandos does a great job of showcasing the appeal of adult-oriented animation. And for that reason, it demonstrates how much better animation can be at certain aspects of superhero stories.

Action, violence and kinetics in Creature Commandos everything is expertly rendered. And thanks to the fact that it's a “cartoon”, the series doesn't need to desaturate the colorful nature of these kinds of characters and their abilities. Likewise, look how much people loved the colors and action of X-Men '97 and compare that to the flat color tones of the later mainline X-Men films.

The future of the DCU

I like a lot of live-action superhero movies and shows, but when I think of the best translation of comic book superheroes from the page to the screen, I think way more about Batman: The animated series than me The Black Knight. Now, with the DCU launching with an animated show, I wonder if I'll give more thought to Creature Commandos that anything by James Gunn Superman ends up being. And I wonder if more of the DCU wouldn't be better at cartoons than reality.