We were warned that Creature Commandos would be a full-on adult animated TV show. And that warning was apt! The first two episodes alone brought on nudity with cartoon butts and cartoon nipples, and graphic sex scenes. Perverts: your time is now.
I’m just kidding about that last part, of course — you do you. But it is surprising how hard (no pun intended) the series goes even in these first few episodes… Particularly given previous animated offerings in the DC Universe. I’m thinking specifically about the (excellent) Harley Quinn animated TV show, or its spinoff Kite Man: Hell Yeah!, both of which feature plenty of adult language and even sex scenes. But unlike Creature Commandos, the naughty bits are always blurred.
Not so in Creature Commandos, which is about as adult as writer/director James Gunn’s previous live-action efforts The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker. Both featured R-rated nudity and some raunchy sex scenes. And here too, we’re getting the same.
Spoilers and nudity warning for the series premiere past this point, but things kick off right in the first episode, “The Collywobbles,” as Princess Ilana Rostovic (Maria Bakalova) tries to seduce squad leader Rick Flag, Sr. (Frank Grillo). In the middle of the night, she brings him to her room in her castle, and proceeds to take off all her clothes, throw him on the bed and try to make love to him. He resists, and leaves — mostly because he’s trying to be professional, but also because he’s still in mourning for his son, Rick Flag Jr. (Joel Kinnaman). Regardless, in the process while the show does the classic “covering the nipples” thing with Ilana (except for one quick shot), we do get to see cartoon butt. Not unprecedented, but there it is.
Things get taken up a notch, though, in Episode 2, “The Tourmaline Necklace.” The episode kicks off right at the start with a flashback to the birth of The Bride (Indira Varma). While this might be the least sexy cartoon nudity ever streamed on Max, we get to see the pieces of The Bride pre-assembly by Victor Frankenstein (Peter Serafinowicz), including her breasts. Hubba hubba?
Later in the episode, Ilana helps patch Rick up after a fight with Doctor Phosphorus (Alan Tudyk). And in the process, manages to successfully seduce him this time. The two proceed to go at it in the bathroom, complete with butt nudity from Rick Flag, Sr, while Phosphorus, GI Robot (Sean Gunn), and Weasel (also Gunn) listen outside and comment on his performance.
We’re not done yet, though… Later in the episode we get to see the relationship between Victor and The Bride develop, leading to the two making love on the same table on which she was created, as Eric Frankenstein (David Harbour) looks on. This is the most graphic nudity so far, including The Bride’s nipples, Victor’s butt, and plenty of thrusting and moaning. It’s pretty much straight-up an R-rated sex scene in animated form.
The point here though is not that we’re gawking at butts and nipples like a latter day Beavis and Butthead, but that this causes two opposing reactions. On the one hand it’s laudable that Max and Warner Bros. Discovery are letting Gunn and company tell the story they want to tell, the way they want to tell it. Sex and nudity are part of life, and they’re not shying away from those aspects of storytelling. In particular the two sex scenes in Episode 2 serve different purposes… The first is played for comedy; the second for tragedy. It’s sex scenes that push the plot forward, or cause a reaction in the audience, versus just being there to be there.
The other hand? I will say it’s a surprising move to kick off a new superhero universe with an adult animated series that features relatively (to the rest of animation) graphic nudity and sex scenes. I’d imagine 2025’s Superman will not include content like that, so it’s potentially a bit of whiplash to come when saying “Here we are! Here’s the new DCU!” But perhaps that’s part of the point to announce that this new universe isn’t one tone… It’s a lot of them. It can be adult animated series with sex and nudity. But it can also be earnest superheroics from the Man of Steel.
We’ll obviously know more as the DCU continues to develop. But as for now, we’ve got more butts, boobs, and (fingers crossed) schlongs to look forward to as Creature Commandos continues over the next few weeks.
Where To Watch Creature Commandos:
Creature Commandos Premiere Dates And Episode Guide:
The first two episodes of Creature Commandos premiere Thursday, December 5 at 3 am ET / Midnight PT on Max. One episode a week premieres after that, leading to the season finale on January 9, 2025.
Here’s the full list of episodes in Creature Commandos, with premiere dates:
- Thursday, December 5, 2024: Creature Commandos, Episode 1
- Thursday, December 5, 2024: Creature Commandos, Episode 2
- Thursday, December 12, 2024: Creature Commandos, Episode 3
- Thursday, December 19, 2024: Creature Commandos, Episode 4
- Thursday, December 26, 2024: Creature Commandos, Episode 5
- Thursday, January 2, 2025: Creature Commandos, Episode 6
- Thursday, January 9, 2025: Creature Commandos, Episode 7
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