Spoilers for “Creature Commandos” to follow.
As co-president of DC Studios, James Gunn has (to borrow from the competition) great power and great responsibility. As DC fan, I appreciate that he’s doing his part to boost the company’s comic books. So many other superhero movie writers treat the comics as only raw material, but Gunn’s got real passion for them.
You can see that earnest love in how deep he pulls from the comics. At Marvel Studios, Gunn elevated the Guardians of the Galaxy into the mainstream and made his fave Rocket Raccoon a household name. Gunn’s “The Suicide Squad” was similarly filled with deep cuts from DC comic books. No one else would make a blockbuster starring characters like Peacemaker (John Cena), Ratcatcher (Daniela Melchior), and Polka-Dot Man (David Dastmalchian, who worked hard with Gunn to flesh out his character).
“Creature Commandos” has a similar line-up as the Guardians of the Galaxy and the Suicide Squad: a bunch of nobodies. Like in “The Suicide Squad,” the halls of Belle Reve prison are loaded with zany super-villains. Episode 3 (“Cheers to the Tin Man”) goes the furthest yet, with cameos from Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man and The Crimson Centipede. In the words of Gunn himself, via Korath the Pursuer (Djimon Hounsou) in “Guardians of the Galaxy” — “Who?!”
“Cheers to the Tin Man” focuses on G.I. Robot (Sean Gunn) and his backstory. What landed an American hero like him in prison? A “friend” brought him to an American Nazi rally. Being an android programmed to do nothing but kill Nazis, G.I. Robot shot up the place. Killing Nazis is technically a crime, so he was tried and imprisoned. During the long walk, he passes by his new neighbors: the aforementioned Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man and The Crimson Centipede.
Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man makes a cameo in Creature Commandos
The Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man/Sven Larson is a shapeshifter. In his default form, half of his body is a purple T-Rex that looks like it’s growing out of his body’s left side. (Two-Face isn’t the only DC villain with a head split down the middle.) His right arm and leg are tentacled tree branches, while his left arm and leg (the one on the T-Rex half) are made of diamond. Hence, animal, mineral, vegetable. (The name comes from Carl Linnaeus’s defunct taxonomy system, which breaks down objects into the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms.)
Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man was created by writer Arnold Drake and artist Bruno Premiani in 1964 as a foe of the Doom Patrol. (He debuted in “Doom Patrol” #89.) The Doom Patrol, as written by everyone from Grant Morrison up to My Chemical Romance’s Gerard Way, is a proudly weird superhero comic. Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man is just one of the comic’s many strange characters.
Still, his mouthful name and silly character design mean he’s not an A-Lister villain. His only prior appearances outside the comics were small roles in “Batman: The Brave and the Bold” and “Teen Titans Go!” and also in the live-action “Doom Patrol” TV show played by Alec Mapa. (There’s no connection, though — “Doom Patrol” is not part of Gunn’s DC Universe.)
Warner Bros
Some character designs are just better suited for drawing, not recreating in live-action. In “Creature Commandos,” Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man looks only slightly weirder than the rest of the group.
The Crimson Centipede also shows up in Creature Commandos
In the cell over from Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man is the Crimson Centipede, a mostly forgotten foe of Wonder Woman. The Crimson Centipede is an insectoid villain, but unlike the villainous caterpillar Mister Mind (from “Shazam!”), he’s human-sized and more.
The Centipede has green skin, antennae, and many repeating rows of arms and legs. (The “Crimson” in his name comes from the red clothing he wears, not his olive skin.) When walking upright, he resembles a centaur.
The Crimson Centipede was also created in the 1960s (’67, precisely) by writer Robert Kanigher and artist Ross Andru. He debuted in “Wonder Woman” #169 and though presented as a serious threat (he was written as a creation of Mars, the God of War), his super-silly design means he didn’t have much staying power as comics left the Silver Age.
In 2017’s “Wonder Woman: Steve Trevor Special” #1, writer Tim Seeley and artist Christian Duce reimagined the Centipede as a Xenomorph-like monster.
DC Comics
Gunn and the “Creature Commandos” creative team must prefer the original, though. If anyone should shepherd the DC Universe on film, it’s someone like James Gunn, who takes the emotions of his stories and characters seriously but isn’t so afraid that he leaves out the silly stuff.
“Creature Commandos” is streaming on Max, with new episodes releasing on Thursdays.
