Editor’s Observe: The next accommodates spoilers for the Creature Commando Season 1 finale.Creature Commandos options the standard hallmark of a James Gunn venture: a set of misfits who’re carrying round some immense trauma however handle to band collectively to both save others – or save themselves within the course of. It is the identical method that powered his earlier DC Comics initiatives The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker, in addition to his Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy for Marvel Studios. Commandos takes it one step additional by dedicating every episode to exploring the backstories of its titular monsters, which provides some much-needed emotional depth — particularly in relation to G.I. Robotic and Weasel (each voiced by Sean Gunn). The identical method is taken for the Season 1 finale, “A Very Humorous Monster,” although the end result leaves rather a lot to be desired.

“A Very Humorous Monster” shifts its focus to Nina Mazursky (Zoe Chao), the Commandos’ aquatic member. When the Commandos are actually trapped between a rock and a tough place — the onerous place being the citadel of Pokolistan’s princess Illana (Maria Balakova). Nina is tasked with killing Illana because the sorceress Circe (Anya Chalotra) had a imaginative and prescient of her killing each superhero on Earth, kickstarting World Warfare III — however she fails, and Illana stabs her to loss of life. Whereas it is a genuinely stunning flip, it appears like it is slicing Nina’s story brief — particularly with how her backstory performed out.

‘Creature Commandos’ Was at Its Finest When It Let Nina Bond With the Others

The factor that made Nina stand out from the remainder of Creature Commandos‘ forged was that she wasn’t actually a hardened killer, felony or sociopath. Dr. Phosphorus (Alan Tudyk) was remodeled into his radioactive state when he double-crossed crime boss Rupert Thorne; it is also confirmed that the expertise drove him mad. The Bride (Indira Varma) needed to take care of the undesirable advances of Eric Frankenstein (David Harbour) for near 200 years, which left her reasonably jaded about life. And Weasel’s backstory does not simply paint a tragic image — it fully recontextualizes his look in The Suicide Squad, which was largely performed for laughs. Nina tries to search out non-violent options to their issues, and although these options normally go south, it exhibits that regardless of not being totally human, she has a really human spirit. Gunn’s work florishes when he focuses on characters like these; Ratcatcher II (Daniela Melachor) from The Suicide Squad and Groot (Vin Diesel) from Guardians of the Galaxy are key examples.

Creature Commandos additionally created an incredible dynamic between Nina and the Bride, in addition to Nina and G.I. Robotic. In G.I.’s highlight episode, “Cheers to the Tin Man”, it was revealed that he was locked in Belle Reve after gunning down a gathering of neo-Nazis; Nina appears to be the one one that he can even have a dialog with, as he refers to her as “Buddy Nina”. It makes it all of the extra tragic when Circe destroys G.I. in battle, and Nina is left cradling his head. She additionally appears to rub off on the Bride, and vice versa — when their return to Pokolistan finds them taking refuge in a brothel, Nina assaults one of many metahuman purchasers when he assaults one of many staff; previous to this, the Bride brutally beat down a prisoner who harrassed Nina at Belle Reve. Nina’s loss of life solely shuts the door on these budding relationships, which appears like a disgrace.

There’s Nonetheless Potential for Us To See Nina Once more in ‘Creature Commandos’

“A Very Humorous Monster,” like most flashbacks, dedicates its time to showcasing Nina’s life previous to ending up in Belle Reve. After she was born together with her lungs on the surface of her physique, her father tried to experiment on her to save lots of her life — however as a substitute remodeled her into her aquatic state. Issues rapidly go from dangerous to worse, leading to her being carted off after watching her dad getting shot in entrance of her…however it nonetheless appears like a part of her story is lacking. The remainder of the Commandos had clear ends to their tales explaining why they have been in jail, and it appears like Nina did not. Once more, how did seemingly peaceable girls find yourself in one of many worst prisons within the DC Universe?

Even with Nina’s loss of life seemingly popping out of the blue, there may be a door open for her return. The Bride is given command of a brand new group that features the mother Khalis, who has the facility to heal the lifeless. In Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E. by Jeff Lemire and Alberto Ponticelli, which serves as one of many main inspirations for Creature Commandos, Khalis was capable of save Nina from a deadly wound. Whether or not or not he’ll use this energy in future episodes of Creature Commandos stays to be seen, however Nina Mazursky undoubtedly deserved higher. The Bride put it greatest: out of all of the Commandos, she was probably the most human.

Creature Commandos is accessible to stream on Max.

Watch on Max