00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're delving into the history of one of DC's spookiest
00:10teams.
00:11We'll be getting into all things Creature Commandos related, so consider this your spoiler
00:16warning.
00:17CONCEPTION
00:23The Creature Commandos were created in 1980, debuting in issue 93 of Weird Wartell.
00:29They sprung from the minds of J.M.
00:30DeMatteis and Pat Broderick.
00:32The idea was for a monster-heavy team that lived up to the weirdness of the title they
00:37were appearing in.
00:38Punching Nazis, taking names, and sending shivers down the spines of all involved were
00:43their main objectives.
00:44It was an out-there idea, and when DeMatteis pitched Creature Commandos to editor Len Ween,
00:50he was given the green light to step into the land of the bizarre.
00:53However, the original run for the Creature Commandos was short-lived, hardly setting
00:58the world on fire.
00:59Roughly three years after their debut, Weird Wartell's would be canned in 83.
01:05But this plucky team of monstrous misfits and spooky soldiers had a way of bouncing back
01:10from the dead.
01:11BACKSTORY
01:12In pretty much all continuities, the Creature Commandos are an off-the-books military special
01:23ops team.
01:24In their original history, they were part of Project M, a top-secret organization within
01:29the government.
01:30To say that they were hard to find would be an understatement.
01:33Project M's base of operations happened to be a special lab hidden underneath the Statue
01:38of Liberty of all places.
01:40They experimented in the areas of radical biotechnology and robotics, even dabbling
01:45into dark arts like necromancy.
01:47The lead scientist, Professor Mazursky, theorized that a group of straight-up nightmarish-looking
01:52super-powered individuals would send the bad guys running.
01:56Not to knock this guy's educational background, but you hardly need to be a scholar to come
02:00up with that kind of conclusion.
02:02With a goal to quite literally weaponize fear, Project M's lab rats would go on to become
02:07the titular Creature Commandos.
02:09The Creature Commandos ran missions during World War II that only they were best equipped
02:14for.
02:15For example, they once went to Dinosaur Island and got the dinosaurs to revolt against the
02:19Axis forces occupying the area.
02:22Yeah, not sure if Sergeant Rock and his platoon would have been able to pull that off.
02:27During the New 52, the team went through somewhat of a makeover.
02:30Most of their origin was the same, but with some overhauls, mainly that they were now
02:35under the umbrella of S.H.A.D.E.
02:37It was a new agency within D.C. that focused on taking down monsters and the supernatural.
02:42This new era was really kicked off by Nina Mazursky.
02:46Wow, another Mazursky, what are the odds?
02:49In this rebooted continuity, she was a scientist who developed the first Commandos.
02:54When they ended up being faulty, she went back to the drawing board.
02:57Once she made a revised version, she willingly turned herself into a fish woman and became
03:02a Commando herself.
03:04Now that's some serious dedication.
03:06No matter what version you're looking at, being a Commando meant always having your
03:10life in danger.
03:11With the introduction of S.H.A.D.E., this team had to adapt or die.
03:15These assholes aren't human.
03:17Members.
03:18These four Commandos have had a bit of a rotating cast through the decades.
03:22Their very first incarnation had a variety of, let's just say, eccentric characters.
03:27Hey, if they're from a book called Weird Tales, it makes sense to hammer in the weird,
03:33right?
03:34For starters, there was Vincent Vel Coro, a guy who was essentially a living vampire,
03:39not unlike Michael Morbius, followed by a werewolf named Warren Griffith and a gorgon
03:43named Dr. Medusa.
03:44There's also a lovable robot in the mix known as GI Robot, but you could also call
03:53him Jake.
03:54That's still not the weirdest, though.
03:57We've also got Lucky Taylor, better known as Patchwork.
04:04He's a particularly interesting one since at first glance, you'd think he's Frankenstein's
04:08monster.
04:09I mean, he's got the rotting flesh, sickly complexion, and limited vocabulary down to
04:14a T. Despite that, he's actually not him.
04:18He's kind of like bootleg Frankenstein.
04:21Just don't tell him we said that, okay?
04:23To round out the group is their leader, a fairly regular military man with no powers
04:27or mutations named Matthew Shreve.
04:30The modern incarnation saw some more shakeups.
04:33Characters like the Bog Man and Autumn the Mummy would go on to join the ranks in later
04:37stories.
04:38But when Shade was introduced and the team was revamped in the New 52, more agents entered
04:43the fold.
04:44We mentioned Nina Mazurski already, but what about the other fresh blood?
04:48The other newcomers among the modern lineup were the actual Frankenstein's monster and
04:53his bride.
04:54We call her The Bride.
04:59Even Ray Palmer the Atom was hanging around the group, but only in a microscopic capacity.
05:04We'll clarify by saying he wasn't exactly an actual Creature Commando.
05:09He was just working for Shade as a scientist and occasional field agent slash hero.
05:14But still, that tiny bit of overlap is pretty cool, right?
05:18Though the team has varied from time to time, every version is pretty much guaranteed to
05:22be filled to the brim with the most powerful and vicious monsters you've ever seen.
05:27Monsters!
05:28You guys are monsters!
05:31Powers and Abilities
05:32The Creature Commandos are an interesting case when it comes to what makes them so special.
05:37Some of these Commandos don't have any powers at all, like Matthew Shree for instance.
05:41Instead, he relies on his tactical prowess and years of military training to get the
05:46job done.
05:47Matthew's really just the outlier, though, as the rest of the Commandos are pretty gifted
05:51in the powers department.
05:52We'll give a quick rundown of some of the standouts.
05:55Vincent Valcoro has Vampirism, meaning he can fly with his wings, use super strength,
06:00and even become a bat.
06:03But Vampirism weren't enough.
06:04You've also got Werewolfism with Warren.
06:06Basically, that means you've got a completely feral beast when you need it.
06:10Speaking of feral beasts, Frankenstein's another major player here.
06:13He's got massive strength, but also a surprising amount of agility as he's an expert swordsman.
06:19Because of special cybernetics gifted to him by Shade, he's also able to tap into technology,
06:25so maybe he's not so feral after all.
06:28When the going gets tough and things are in a real pinch, Alton the Mummy is a viable
06:32asset in the fight.
06:34His bandages have special healing properties unlike anything else.
06:37There's definitely more we could dive into, but all you need to know is that this team
06:41brings a lot to the table.
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07:01Adaptations
07:02There hasn't been a whole lot of other media that the Commandos have shown up in outside
07:11of the comics, however, that has slowly begun to change.
07:14The team was featured in a handful of animated shorts on Cartoon Network.
07:18They also had a guest appearance in Batman the Brave and the Bold.
07:21That's all well and good, but we doubt that's what everyone's really interested in.
07:33So let's talk about the elephant in the room.
07:36The Creature Commandos happen to now be the stars of their very own TV show.
07:41The animated Max Original has more major implications than you might think.
07:45That's because this project is the first real glimpse we have at DC's newest cinematic
07:51universe.
07:52Technically, the upcoming Superman movie is considered the official launching point for
07:56the DCU, but Creature Commandos comes out before that.
08:00So in a way, it's up to them to make a great first impression.
08:04No pressure or anything.
08:05The show's roster is a pretty interesting one.
08:08It's got a dynamic cast of characters, with many of the usual suspects you'd expect from
08:13the comics.
08:14Nina Mazursky, Frankenstein's monster and the Bride, and GI Robot will all be part of
08:19the team.
08:20Some of the other members joining the ranks are a lot less traditional.
08:24Characters like Rick Flagsinger, Dr. Phosphorus, and Weasel will be rounding out the group.
08:28None of those gentlemen have ever actually been Creature Commandos before.
08:32The show also seems like it's going to present the team as a sort of Suicide Squad offshoot.
08:38Task Force M kind of gives that away.
08:40This isn't necessarily a complaint, though.
08:42James Gunn has been known to toy around with characters and concepts plenty of times before.
08:47A somewhat unconventional lineup and a change in who their government overlords are can
08:52still be very entertaining nevertheless.
08:54The Commandos also have the potential to go beyond the confines of their show.
08:59The intention for the new DCU is to have characters be played by the same actors regardless of
09:04the medium.
09:05That means that the voice actors for this show can possibly show up down the line as
09:09those same characters in other live action projects or even video games.
09:14This show is its own thing, and every single project that comes out of DC Studios is going
09:20to be its own thing.
09:21In fact, we already know that's going to be happening.
09:25It's got a dynamic cast of characters, with many of the usual suspects you'd expect from
09:29the comics.
09:30Overall, there are some exciting possibilities all around for what can happen next, and a
09:35lot of that ties back to the Creature Commandos.
09:38For a group that seemed like nothing more than a team DC would prop up for Halloween,
09:42the Commandos are just getting started.
09:45Sometimes the best heroes aren't the noble ones, they're the terrifying ones.
09:55Are there any traumatizing tidbits about this team that we missed?
09:58Let us know in the comments down below, and also let us know if you're looking forward
10:02to the new Creature Commandos TV show.
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