By Drew Dietsch | Published
Creatures Commandos began with Max as the official debut of the new DC Universe (DCU). Critics and viewers seem to be enjoying 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, Suicide Squad (my rave review). I’m looking forward to the rest of the series.
Unfortunately, Creature Commandos and it brings to light something I’ve been hearing about superhero cinema: I don’t think heroes are better suited for live action.
From Ink and Paint to Flesh and Blood
Although there are indeed pulp and adventure predecessors to consider, Superman is widely considered to be the original superhero, making his first appearance in 1938. After the huge success of Superman, comic companies everywhere tried to replicate these events. Because of this, many unusual and interesting characters appeared that benefited from being created as illustrative ideas.
And it makes a lot of sense that creatures with super powers would have the most skill available in animation as a result. These are larger-than-life concepts that to pass them off as “real” almost feels like an insult to their inherent creative power.
Creature Commandos I brought this thought up again because I started thinking about live action versions that weren’t too altered for the various characters in the show. For example, Weasel looks a lot different and stylish in this series than his fun but par-for-the-course CGI version. Suicide Squad.
The Benefits of a Cartoon Hero
This is not to say that live-action is inherently bad for superhero cinema. Look no further than comparison Spider-Man 2 again Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Both are amazing movies that I would argue are two of the best pieces of superhero cinema ever made. However, when it comes to using the full potential of the character and world of Spider-Man, Enter the Spider-Verse it has many creative advantages because of the animation method.
It’s worth noting that animation in America is widely viewed as an outlet for young viewers, especially when it comes from a major studio. Creature Commandos he does a great job at showing the appeal of the cartoon aimed at adults. And because of that, it shows how good animation can be in certain aspects of superhero stories.
Action, violence, and kineticism in Creature Commandos everything is done expertly. And because it is a “cartoon”, the series does not have to eliminate the colorful nature of these types of characters and their abilities. Likewise, 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 main X-Men movies.
The future of the DCU
I love live-action superhero movies and shows, but when I think about the best translation of comic superheroes from page to screen, I think a lot Batman: The Animated Series than me The Dark Knight. Now, since the DCU is starting with an animated show, I wonder if I’ll think more about it Creature Commandos than anything James Gunn Superman it ends up being. And I wonder if most of the DCU might not be better in animation than reality.
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