By Drew Dietsch
| Published
Creatures Commandos has debuted on Max as the official kickoff to the new DC Universe (DCU). Critics and audiences seem to thoroughly enjoy the violent, kooky series right off the bat. You can count me among them! The first two episodes were a fun spin on what James Gunn brought to the DC Universe with his first outing, The Suicide Squad (my rave review). I’m looking forward to the rest of the series unfolding.
Unfortunately, Creature Commandos also brought into stark clarity something I’ve been feeling about superhero cinema for a while: I don’t think superheroes are best suited for live-action.
From Ink And Paint To Flesh And Blood
Though there are certainly pulp and adventure predecessors to consider, Superman is widely considered to be the original superhero, making his debut in 1938. After the smashing success of Superman, comic companies everywhere tried to replicate the phenomena. Because of this, lots of strange and interesting characters emerged that benefited from being created as illustrated ideas.
And it makes a lot of sense that super-powered beings would be most adept at existing in animation as a result. These are such larger-than-life concepts that rendering them as “real” almost feels like a disservice to their inherent creative potential.
Creature Commandos brought this thought up again because I started imagining the far-less dynamic and vibrant live-action versions of the various characters in the show. For example, Weasel looks much more unique and stylish in this series than his entertaining but par-for-the-course CGI mocap version in The Suicide Squad.
The Advantages Of Superhero Animation
This doesn’t mean that live-action is inherently a disadvantage to superhero cinema. Look no further than comparing Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Both are stupendous movies that I would argue are two of the best pieces of superhero cinema ever made. However, when it comes to executing a fuller potential for the character and world of Spider-Man, Into the Spider-Verse has more artistic advantages thanks to the medium of animation.
It’s worth acknowledging that animation in America is widely viewed as an outlet for younger viewers, especially if it comes from a major studio. Creature Commandos is doing a great job at showcasing the appeal for animation aimed at adults. And because of that, it demonstrates how much better animation can be at certain aspects of superhero stories.
The action, violence, and kineticism in Creature Commandos is all expertly rendered. And thanks to it being a “cartoon”, the series doesn’t have to desaturate the colorful nature of these kinds of characters and their abilities. Similarly, look at how much people loved the colors and action of X-Men ‘97 and compare that to the flat color tones of the last few mainline X-Men movies.
The DCU’s Future
I love plenty of live-action superhero movies and shows, but when I think about the best translation of comic book superheroes from the page to the screen, I think much more of Batman: The Animated Series than I do The Dark Knight. Now, with the DCU kicking off with an animated show, I wonder if I’ll think more about Creature Commandos than whatever James Gunn’s Superman ends up being. And I wonder if more of the DCU might not be better at being cartoons than real.
