Why Creature Commandos Succeeds as an Adaptation (Unlike Suicide Squad)

James Gunn’s Creature Commandos has introduced a team of bizarre, supernatural soldiers
into the new DCU. Although past villain team adaptations like Suicide Squad (2016) have
struggled, Creature Commandos already looks like a success. But what makes this adaptation
work where Suicide Squad faltered?

The answer is in its commitment to the original comics and its characters, something Suicide
Squad failed to do.

Embracing the Absurdity of the Comics

One of the biggest mistakes Suicide Squad made was trying to force gritty realism and
slapdash humor on a team of eccentric antiheroes. While the original Suicide Squad comics,
particularly under John Ostrander’s run, had serious moments, they never abandoned the idea
that these were deeply flawed, often ridiculous characters thrown into high-stakes situations.
The 2016 film took that concept but stripped away much of the weirdness, focusing instead
on generic action and forced edginess.

However, Creature Commandos leans fully into the bizarre. The original team, introduced in
Weird War Tales #93 (1980), was a group of classic monster archetypes repurposed as
soldiers in World War II. There was Warren Griffith, a werewolf who struggled with his dual
nature; Sgt. Vincent Velcro, a vampire with a taste for Nazi blood; and Pvt. Elliot Taylor, a
reanimated corpse modelled after Frankenstein’s monster. These weren’t just gimmicks
though, their monstrous identities were directly tied to their personal struggles and how they
functioned in war.

Gunn’s adaptation doesn’t attempt to modernize the team. Instead, it embraces the original
concept by keeping the core idea of misfit monsters working together while expanding it with
characters like Nina Mazursky, a human-amphibian hybrid scientist from The New 52 era,
and Rick Flag Sr., a legacy character tied to the Suicide Squad mythos. By using animation,
the show was able to fully explore their monstrous abilities and larger-than-life personalities
without the constraints of live-action effects, something the Suicide Squad movies never took
full advantage of.

A Clearer Creative Vision

One of Suicide Squad’s biggest failures was its behind-the-scenes turmoil. David Ayer’s
original vision for the film was greatly altered by studio interference, leading to drastic last-
minute edits and a clash that made the final product feel disjointed. The film tried to pull
elements from various Suicide Squad comic but was never able to commit to a single tone or
direction.

Creature Commandos benefits from having a singular creative voice in James Gunn and a
spectacular writing team behind him. More importantly, the series takes direct inspiration

from the comics without watering them down. Gunn didn’t just pull from the 1980s Weird
War Tales stories; he incorporated elements from Jeff Lemire’s Frankenstein, Agent of
S.H.A.D.E., a series that expanded the concept of supernatural black ops teams in the DC
Universe. Frankenstein’s role in the team, for example, is largely influenced by Lemire’s
version of the character, who is a brooding, poetic warrior that struggles with his violent past
while fighting alongside other outcasts.

The Suicide Squad movies tried to balance comic accuracy with mainstream appeal but often
sacrificed depth in the process. Harley Quinn became the clear standout, while characters like
Killer Croc and Captain Boomerang were reduced to background roles with little
development. However, Creature Commandos took the opportunity to fully explore each
team member, ensuring they feel just as fleshed out and real as their comic counterparts.

Respecting the Team Dynamic and Character Depth

The heart of any team-based comic is its character interactions. The Suicide Squad comics,
especially during Ostrander’s tenure, thrived on the relationships between its members:
Deadshot’s brazenness clashing with Captain Boomerang’s cowardice, Amanda Waller’s iron
grip over the team, and Rick Flag’s constant struggle to control criminals who didn’t respect
him. However, the 2016 movie barely scratched the surface of these dynamics. Many
characters felt underdeveloped, their relationships rushed or non-existent.

However, Creature Commandos already has a roster that lends itself to deep, meaningful
dynamics. Rick Flag Sr., for example, is a fascinating inclusion because his son, Rick Flag
Jr., was a central figure in the Suicide Squad comics. His presence in this story raises
questions about how he differs from his son and how he fits into this group of literal
monsters. Meanwhile, Frankenstein and Nina Mazursky bring elements of Frankenstein,
Agent of S.H.A.D.E., where the focus was on supernatural beings navigating a world that
often sees them as weapons rather than people.

This respect for character depth is what sets Creature Commandos apart. Instead of reducing
its team to quick gimmicks or one-note archetypes, the show is set up to explore their

relationships and struggles in a way that the Suicide Squad movies failed to do. In the comics,
Warren Griffith’s struggle with his werewolf transformation wasn’t just a cool power, it was
a source of internal conflict, as he feared losing his humanity. Vincent Velcro’s vampirism
made him a literal predator among his comrades, forcing him to constantly manage his urges.
These types of nuanced conflicts are exactly what a strong adaptation needs, and Creature
Commandos was in the perfect position to deliver them.