Creature Commandos ep. 3: The Unsung Heroes of the DC Universe

Course Description: We take a look at various characters and episodes from comic book-based TV shows and movies. We also explore connections with broader mythologies and other media, mentioning the potential for future expansions in the DC Universe.

Today's Syllabus:
Heroism, villainy, and the complex relationships
Narrative arcs and their emotional impact

Guest Lecturer(s): Master Juishin and Zero Cool

Required Reading/Listening:
CREATURE COMMANDOS (2014)
DC HORROR PRESENTS: CREATURE COMMANDOS (2024)
CREATURE COMMANDOS PRESENT: FRANKENSTEIN, AGENT OF S.H.A.D.E. (2024)

Additional Research:

Actors/Actresses:
Joel Kinnaman

Characters:
Will Magnus
Sgt. Rock
Weasel
Nina Mazursky
GI Robot
Rick Flag
Amanda Waller
The Bride
Doc Phosphorus
Frankenstein
Agent of SHADE
Seven Soldiers
Blight
Circe
Alfred
Joker
Clayface
Hellboy
Red Guardian
Nightcrawler
Beast

TV/Movies
Batman Beyond 

Office Hours: Monday 8:30p EST on Twitch

Chapters

• 1:33 G.I. Robot and the Nazis
• 6:37 Weasel's Tragic Backstory
• 14:14 Dr. Phosphorus: A Villain's Journey
• 24:02 Star-Studded Cast and Future Speculations

Transcript

My favorite one, G. I. Robot. You got to mention you got to do what you got to do. It was like a nervous tick that he had. 

Have all these people been checked? How [00:02:00] do you know? He goes, no, they're not Nazis. 

His dialogue that's when I really I liked it before but that's when I really start to enjoy it the gi robot episode That's when I really started to enjoy it the one moment I had a a moment because I did gi robot didn't like him as much as I like some of the other characters But I did the character But the moment that got me is when he got bought by the, da. 

The wartime collector, yeah. Took him to the little meeting, da. And they pulled back the curtains and, you see the swastika up there and they're da. Nazis! No. He actually had a human moment where he almost felt bad. Because he knew that he was going to have to kill them all. 

And there was that instance where he was like, I'm Yeah, because he showed a family because, yeah, because if you notice when they were under attack, when they went to rescue Brian and Nina. [00:03:00] He asked Flay, are these Nazis? And he's yes, they are. You can see the smile on his face. 

You can see the smile on his face when he unleashed on the Nazis. And, oh man, it's just like the dialogue that he had. And the, his, it was it was his one objective. Yeah. That's what it was. What was it Magnus, when Milton, Will Magnus was trying to figure out how to get past it? I like how they typed that in. 

Love that, because then you saw on the blackboard, you see this little, All the other metal groups. You see this human shape, but you see some of the equations and stuff like that, and you knew, if you were familiar, that he is going to be working on the metal path. Yes. If you go back and look, in the center of the board, he has circles. , in that circle. It's each symbol of the metal man. Of the metal man. Yeah. Yeah. So he was working on it then, and his interaction, that was a great little tie in for that part right there. He was trying to, he was trying to come to [00:04:00] the, what do you want to do? He's I want kill Nazi. 

He, what do you really want? He goes, no. That if you objective, if you didn't have a direct. What would you want to do? I'd like to, go see my boys. The Easy Squad. The Easy Company. I want to see my boys, and I want to kill Nazis with my boys. He had that moment. I want to see my boys. And I want to kill Nazis with my boys. 

You gotta applaud a person with a gun. Clear direction. Yeah. focus. Yeah. And I think that's why I think like when Flagg said yes, they're Nazis, I think like he realizes that. He's you know what, I'm not with easy, but you know what? Close enough now I get the killed with bubble boys. Get the kid with a team. 

Yeah. Yeah. And that, that will magnet scene that ties it in to maybe something that's coming on later down the line with the rubber in Great egg. If it wasn't, if it wasn't great [00:05:00] Easter egg. Yes. And he even mentioned that I may even add some upgrades to you when I put you back together. If I'm feeling generous. 

Yes! 

So we may see an upgrade here. Oh we did. Oh we did, yeah. Cause if you watch the scene where he was with Flag and they're shooting it up at the house. Before that, where he was in the past with Sergeant Rock, I think it was. Yeah, I thought that was Rock. He only had extensions. 

Oh, okay. And he could swivel. But when they went to rescue the bride and Nina, he was like levitating and he detached at the torso. He had three levitation pads underneath and he went up and then he had a whole brand new set of guns. Yeah. Okay. See, I was working while I was also watching, so I got a little bit of a watch. 

But his comic counterpart was actually a series. of robots where it was, they were created by the U S to fight [00:06:00] for the allies during world war II. The first one was a prototype and they just went by Joe. The second one was called Mac. The third and the final were Jake one and two, and that's J A K E. 

And it stood for jungle automatic killer experimental one and two. Okay, Jake, not from safe farm, not from safe farm. And the last one, Jake too, ended up actually joining the creature commandos in the comment. So now we get onto the sad one. Weasel. Episode four, what I just watched. 

Okay. Cause He's introducing the Suicide Squad to tell you, he's oh yeah, he kills some children. He like, yeah, he kills some babies, or he kills some children. In the movie, in the Suicide Squad movie. You don't really feel sympathetic for a creature like that. Yeah. He was this silly looking, goofy, evil thing, and you didn't think any [00:07:00] more of that. 

That's why he's there. That's all you thought about him. And we thought he was round, because when he fell in the water, they were like, did anyone check to see that he could swim? I'm like, no. Yeah. No, he only . But yet you see he survived at the end of the movie. So when you introduce this character now and you bring him back, you're like, oh, they got the weasel back. 

I'm like, oh. And he mentions it again when he's, when Frank's talking, or not Frank, but Rick Flag's talking to the princess. Yep. She was like, what did he do to, 'cause she's playing with him and he is almost like a pet and she's throwing the stuff while he killed. He killed 27 children. And then they get back from the mission and he starts talking to her. 

His lawyer. His lawyer. And he just thinks that the lawyer's just trying to just be a lawyer. 'cause every, 'cause every client is innocent to, because that, to me, that's how he approached her. It was like, she's like, where's my, but my client yeah. He is classified. She's he's he killed like 27 babies. 

She goes, it was more like there were eight kids. Okay. 27, 8, whatever. It doesn't matter. So he a saint. Yes. Yeah. [00:08:00] It was, he's a monster. It doesn't matter. You shouldn't have to put it into work. You bought, why are you bothering? That was his point. Then you see why you saw what happened when you watched it. 

And it was heartbreaking. I got to say, I thought my daughter was going to cry. That she was a little upset over it. That was one of the most heartbreaking episodes of this whole run. We haven't seen the last two, but so far, it shots to that whole dichotomy of because. Humans and monsters. 

More or less, when you see stories like this, the humans are more monsters than anything. What it alludes to on a basic level is that anything that's different from what we know is considered. 

Mons monstrous. We're afraid. We're afraid of it. We're more likely to shoot first than we are to ask questions. Yeah. And like I was saying, we say we see it with Nina. We've seen it with Night Crawler, we've seen it with Beast. . We've seen it with and Disney Beauty and the Beast. 

. And we've seen it over and over again. [00:09:00] 'cause that individual is different. So they must be monstrous. So Wiesel had the, one of the most tragic backstories cause when he was initially introduced, it was just like, oh, he's there cause he killed 27 kids. And it wasn't until I don't know if it was through his eyes or like a dream, but the retelling, it looked like it was, he was reliving it through the dream, through the he was, yeah. 

He was sleeping, he was dreaming about it. She had shown him the picture of the kids. Yeah. And she was asking it to remember. And even Nina was like I wonder what he's dreaming about. He was like, probably chasing squirrels. Probably chase the squirrel, probably. And that was the name of the episode, chasing Squirrels. 

And it just shows how they so easily just. Cast him off. Yeah. Like it's, we know what he's about. There's nothing else to him. Yeah. Leave it alone. He's a weird, he's a weird creature. He's a weird character. Something that you shouldn't get close to that's what he had alludes to. That's what they allude to, but he's actually one of the most looks like though, one of the most human or heartfelt characters, at least. And it seems like he [00:10:00] has that ability to care. Yeah. Yes. Playing with the kids. He was playing with them. They, cause they care for him. Yeah. They showed him kindness. He enjoyed it. He, and he, and by the time it all came down, he actually was trying to save them as well as he could. 

And he afraid he could get him. And once again, fear stepped in. Oh, he's not trying to save the kid. He's trying to do something to him. And they just started opening fire without even trying. To figure out what the situation was. Yeah, man, that was tough. That was hard. That one was tough. Me oh oh, you gotta kid me always with the guns. 

Always. Yep. It was really hard and he, I have to believe that I, he would've gotten them kids outta there. I know he would've if he had been, if he had given the time, I think he could've gotten the kids outta. But the ones that survived, there were the kids already. But before that though, before that, oh yeah, absolutely. 

Before that fire started and all that. Even after the fire started, 'cause they struck the match and they, it lit a few boxes. [00:11:00] Yeah. And the kids continued to play. But it wasn't until the guy fired the gun he was firing, instead of trying to rescue the kids, he was trying to kill the monster and he hit the gas tank and then that's what led to all Hell broke you loose. 

Yeah. That's when the explosion happened. A few of the kids died in that explosion. We saw the one boy. He had that last choking moment. And then passed away. And then, the only one that was left was the little girl who was the initial contact with him. Stuff like that. 

And he was really trying his best to get her out of there. Tried everything he could to get her out of there. That made it even more heartbreaking. Absolutely. And he was just Taking the damage and still trying to save her. Had to be drug away 'cause he was still and what makes me mad is that they were more about shooting him. 

Yeah. Than trying to save the girl. Yeah, that's what I said. That's the moment they had him down. They could have gone to the, they had, they could have, they had time to go get the girl. [00:12:00] But they were all about securing the monster. And then what happened? She ended up dying. I anyway, because. She got buried underneath the Clemson building. 

Because they gave in to their fear, yeah. Yeah, it cost her life because they were too concerned about subduing him. Yeah. Now, comic's character, Weasel, has been around since the 80's. It was I ran into a little barrier. There was two, and I wasn't sure which one was, they were drawing from. But the one I went with was, he ended up on. 

Being recruited to the suicide squad mission to rescue Hawk and he attacked the Tinkerer and Rick Flagg Jr. had to put him down. Sounds about right. Dr. Phosphorus is up next. 

Phosphorus reminded me of Blight from Batman Beyond. Yeah, that's what he reminded me of. I looked it up and actually I thought they were the same, or at least [00:13:00] related, and so I looked it up, and it was actually that Phosphorus was the inspiration for Blight. For Blight. Oh, really? Okay. Yeah, I liked Phosphorus as a character. 

I liked Phosphorus as a character, but I haven't really Visually? We haven't got his backstory yet. We haven't got his backstory yet, but right now, other than the fight with Flag, and burning the hell out of Circe, I haven't got his backstory. What else in the And he provides a little bit of comic Injunction After what's her name took down that The furry bear in the cafeteria After the bride took down the bear After he took the girl's food Oh yeah And he said Yep, you are certainly Yes And your uncle Guess you won't be needing that And your uncle He's got some, he's got He's really got some really good Comedic insertions. 

Yes. Yes, he does. Overall, as a character, I'm not really feeling a whole lot. And maybe it's because we've seen so many backstories so far. We haven't gotten to his yet. [00:14:00] Yeah, that's supposed to be this week. And I could definitely change my mind on him because it's not like I hate him as a character. 

It's just other than the comedy so far, he's another one. What have you really done? He had a moment with They, they went back to the Stan, whatever the country is. They went back to the Stan shit went to hell, and they're all on the run. And they brought out the tank. Oh yeah. And you remember that? 

Stripped down and even after he did that, which was cool. And I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna, this is my favorite moment for him though. 'cause you mentioned the comedic timing. He stripped down. And they fired the tank, it burned away, cause he's Dr. Phosphorus. So they try to roll him over. He gives them the double birds. 

As the tank is burning around him. And splitting in two, he's and he holds it. And hits the. And you see their eyeballs. [00:15:00] You see the eyeballs pop up and the burned indentation of his middle fingers. this video. Still, that part right there, that was, 

that part right there. That's like this son of a bitch. I hate him. I hate to love him, but damn it he's turning me to his side. Yeah I liked the character just up until that point. I hadn't really seen a whole lot from him. Hoping that when we get the backstory it might change my mind. 

But you're right, that, that part with the tank, that was freaking awesome. So comic wise, Phosphorus was, he's from 77, he's been in, first appeared in Detective Comics in 77. He was a Batman villain. And he's a piece of shit Batman villain, from what I've read. He bombarded, his first appearance, he dropped some toxic gas [00:16:00] on an audience in concert. 

Poison the water supply in Gotham. Joker did it. And that's when Alfred got sick. So that's how Batman got on his ass. You can't be fucking around with Alfred . That's a good way to bring the Batman out on your ass. . Then you fuck around and you go, couple of 10, 15 years later, you break down the bat. 

Family, I forget cancer from swimming in the river we hood up. There would be one cat that I would not mess with in a DC universe. It'd be offered so well. I hate to break it to you, but Alfred's dead. No. Okay. I was the villain when he was alive. There'd be one cat that I would not mess with in the entirety of the DC Universe. 

And that'd be Alfred, because hey, Alfred might whoop your ass. One. He might just say, you know what, fuck, I'll whoop your ass right now. It's not Batman that you're also fucking bringing that's coming from the whole Batman family. That whole, yeah, that's what I'm saying. You got Jason Grayson, you got Jason Todd, Tim Drake and little Damien. 

Yeah. Stephanie Brown. You got Stephen King. And, yeah, Barbara. [00:17:00] Yeah, and before we get off topic, Alfred was the one, as much as I hate Damien, Alfred was the one that humanized Damien. Absolutely. Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. He'd still be a little shit. Yeah. Yeah. He humanized him and he, Damon was taught humility at the death of Alfred. 

. Absolutely. So Alfred did a lot because he also, you gotta give props to a man who had to stand there in behind Bruce and watch him after all these years mission to, to avenge his parents death. Think about it at the age that Bruce. Saw his parents die. Alfred became Yeah. A parent. Yeah. The same good father. 

Yeah. And he had already seen Bruce from Yep. To, so this is, in all everything but actual title, that's his father. Yeah. Yeah. And to watch your child go out and put themselves in danger on the line every day da. And [00:18:00] then you are the one that is trying to provide. Very best support to keep him from dying during this mission day in day out or just to keep him from going over that and putting an end to the Joker. 

Just the mental fortitude that Alfred would have had to possess to get through that. That's amazing. Now you look at all the other lives that he had touched, but we digress. We're not talking about Madman today. But Alfred, there's one dude I would not mess with in a DC game, that's Alfred. 

I can't say I don't have a least favorite because I've enjoyed all of them. Exactly, cause even when Cause it starts out, they're talking about how What's her name, took over Demscara. Yeah. Yeah, and she's fighting all the men. I'm like, oh, this is definitely turning out different than the last one. 

[00:19:00] And she's got this whole, she's doing it. And then when you see she turns up where they're at and attacking. I was like, okay, they're attacking it. And then she all of a sudden, she disappears. I'm like, oh, wait, she's going for the princess. I'm like they didn't think to leave nobody behind. 

Okay, that seems weird. But I guess with that group, you couldn't. You gotta bring everybody around. But but then you get to talk to her and she's Oh, there's a reason why I was trying. She's Oh, I'm trying to save your lives. The best villain is the one that you can identify with. 

And she was like, Oh yeah, I'm trying to save you. You have no idea what that little princess is like. And it took a leap of faith for Waller to go in there and all right, let me see what you got. Yeah. And see that vision that she had to share with her. She had a line in there when she was talking to Waller and Flagg when it was something along the lines of, even the devil doesn't wanna see the word bird. 

Yeah. 'cause they were, because Flagg was like, the princess is not black. And she was like, yeah, no. That's what she's like even. Yeah, exactly. It's 'cause you don't believe it until you actually see it. Or so we'll think about the devil, and I even [00:20:00] thought about once they revealed Cersei, what she had saw and the reason behind what she was trying to get rid of the princess for. 

I the way that time works. Yeah. And I was thinking it was going to go along the way that in them trying to stop it. Yeah. They created is what was gonna create it. What Create the event itself? Yeah. What created the event itself, because it could have easily went they, them sending the squad, the creature commandos back over there to take her out. 

. And they fail and she's oh, this was an attack on my life. I gotta obliterate all meta humans. And usually in Greek mythology or in most mythology self, all prophecies are self-made because. You hear a prophecy about yourself and they want to try and stop it in the end, them trying to stop it, they set on that path to ensure that it happens no matter what. 

Yeah. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy, yeah. And yeah, so trying to stop it, [00:21:00] trying to prevent it, make sure that it makes an, the actual event happened. Yeah. Yeah. You wanna see yourself fulfilling profit that's twisted as Watch 12 monkeys. That's crazy. Yeah, absolutely. But that part right there leads me into my least favorite part of the series so far. 

You saw the professor. She went in. She's the expert on clairvoyance. Da. And you see her in the classroom. Like she's all about them scared, but she's all about the lesbians. Yeah she's not, frankenstein said it. She's not very professional. And if frank tells you I'm not great, wait, but I digress. 

What led me to my least favorite was finding out that the professor, her getting killed, that was not a big deal. Finding out it was clay face. Yes. Clayface has no business in this series at all. We don't know. He's a creature. He is a creature, but once again, [00:22:00] it's almost like we pulled from the Batman well and shoved that in there to make it work. 

Granted, he's a shapeshifter. Granted, he can impersonate you. No problem. He's a theater actor. He's a stage actor. He can do those type of things, right? Yeah. Loved him in Harley Quinn. Yeah. That does be a yes, he is great. But it seems to me that it was a little bit, I don't want to say on the lazy side, to put him into that position, to shove him into that role as the killer of the professor. 

We could have gone with any other shape shifter. Yeah. That's Batman villain. Yeah. Let's leave Batman alone. I get you for a little while. I get you. I see what you're saying. Because that was the only moment in the entire series that I've seen so far where I was a little disappointed. 

Okay. And I had the same sense when they, I it was shoehorned. I feel like they shoehorned joker Absolutely. Into the first [00:23:00] suicide squad. And he didn't need to be there. Didn't need to be there. But it's still unfinished. Absolutely. And it could be a total and. We get two more episodes and it could completely change my perception of why he was there and why he did what he did. 

Blah, blah, blah. No problem. But at this moment right now, that's my most disappointing moment. And Clayface is supposed to have his own movie. Yeah. Really? Yeah. I didn't even know that. Clayface is going to have his own movie. What form it's going to take, whether it's going to be animated or TV or movie. 

It could be setting him up. And it absolutely could, but it didn't make any sense to me to have him specifically be that character. It almost like To put him there. Almost like a MacGuffin. Just an easy out. That magic reset button. We could have found how many other shapeshifters. Yeah, you're right. I get you. Is there anything that we didn't touch on that you guys wanted to speak on before [00:24:00] we get out of here? I say that when you get a chance, just look at the cast of these characters. This is a pretty stacked cast. 

Between David Havler, you've got Alan Tudyk, you've got Frank Grillo, you've got, Viola Davis, I think I even heard at one point, 

there was in the last episode, a very familiar voice and I can't put my finger on it right now. What's his name, his brother, he's the wizard? Sean Gunn. Sean, he's the wizard. Sean Gunn, absolutely, yeah. And, G. I. Robot. Yeah, he was G. I. Robot, yeah. Was the guy that played Meryl in Walking Dead. Oh, okay. 

Randy. Oh yeah, I know who you're talking about. Randy. I do not think of his name, but he's been in numerous, he was in Suicide Squad too? Yes. He was in Suicide Squad. Yep, he was. He was been in The Guardian of Galaxy 'cause he was a [00:25:00] young dude. He was young dude. Young dude. Yeah. The guy that played John. 

I cannot think of his name right now, but he's always, I heard his voice in that last episode. He's always in James Gun features. Yeah. James Gun. So a very stacked cast. Yeah. I was very impressed. Agreed. I really think that the only one that I didn't know of right off the top of my head was the one that plays the bride. 

And I have to think that, not as you mentioned the cast, I have to think that with the talent of, 

of David Harbor, they have to be setting Frankenstein up for something. For something. Yeah, absolutely. If they're talking about. Carrying over Clayface and they're carrying over Rick Flag and with David Harbor as Frankenstein. Come on. He already did Hellboy. He, of course he stranger things was in there. 

Red Guardian for the MCU. So I, Rooker. Yeah. I think something that's coming along for David Harbor in the DCU. You're not going to have talent [00:26:00] like that and not set him up for something. We'll see. We'll see. But, yeah. Alright, that's it. I'm going to go ahead and call it. I appreciate everybody taking the time to listen in. 

And we will catch you next time. So remember, live your best geek life. Play games, read comics, watch anime, geek responsibly. Peace. Later. Stay nerdy.[00:27:00]