The Death of Superman is one of the most monumental storylines in DC Comics history. It has been adapted in live-action (in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Superman & Lois), in animation (Superman: Doomsday and the two-part Death of Superman and Reign of the Supermen), and in video games (The Death and Return of Superman). But Creature Commandos — the kickoff of the new DC Universe ushered into existence by DC Studios co-chief and series creator James Gunn — might mark the first time the Man of Steel has been killed off before even his debut appearance.
While David Corenswet’s Superman isn’t due in theaters until next summer, the newest Creature Commandos trailer that rolled after Thursday’s two-episode series premiere on Max revealed the first full look at the DCU Superman since Gunn shared a photo of the actor suited up on set earlier this year.
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The animated Superman is shown covered in blood and what appears to be the corpses of Mister Terrific and Starfire, the Tamaran Teen Titan, impaled on stakes. At their feet lies the remains of Peacemaker on a battlefield of bones.
This turns out to be a vision of an apocalyptic future conjured by the rogue Amazonian sorceress Circe (voiced by Anya Chalotra), who claims to be the rightful heir to the throne of Themyscira: the mythical, all-female island nation and birthplace of Wonder Woman.
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In a preview of the weeks ahead, Circe is seen pursuing Princess Ilana Rostovic (Maria Bakalova), heir apparent to the petroleum-rich Pokolistan. The witch, covered in blood, tells the Creature Commandos at one point: “You don’t understand what you’ve done. You’ve doomed the world!”
Set after the events of The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker, Creature Commandos sees A.R.G.U.S. Director Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) recruit General Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo) to lead Task Force M (“M” for Monster), her answer to Congress shutting down Task Force X.
Prisoners of the Belle Reve Non-Human Internment Division include The Bride (Indira Varma), the irradiated sociopath Dr. Phosphorus (Alan Tudyk), the Nazi-killing veteran G.I. Robot (Sean Gunn), the fishbowl-headed Nina Mazursky (Zoe Chao), and the animalistic Weasel (also Gunn), one of the few surviving members of Project Starfish in Corto Maltese (as seen in 2021’s The Suicide Squad). Their mission: protect Pokolistan’s Princess Rostovic from Circe and her forces.
The adult animated series feeds directly into Gunn’s Superman movie, the “true start” of the semi-rebooted DC Universe, followed by Max’s Peacemaker season 2. Linking these three projects is Grillo’s Flag Sr., father of Joel Kinnaman’s Rick Flag, who died on Waller’s mission to Corto Maltese in The Suicide Squad.
Is Superman’s Death DCU Canon?
The DC Extended Universe’s Superman (Henry Cavill) was hospitalized by a Kryptonite bullet fired by the assassin Bloodsport (Idris Elba) and later died battling the man-made monster Doomsday in 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, only to be revived during the events of Justice League. But Corenswet’s Superman may not have suffered such a fate: Gunn has said that the events of the DCEU are only canon if mentioned in the DCU.
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“There are references to things that happened in the past, and those references then become canon in the DCU because we mention them,” Gunn noted when explaining how the new DCU canon works.
Put simply, if such events aren’t referenced, it can be assumed those events either didn’t happen or happened differently. For example: the Peacemaker finale is referenced in the Creature Commandos premiere, but the Justice League’s appearance at Coverdale Ranch didn’t happen because they don’t yet exist in the DCU.
Superheroes active by the time of Superman include Mister Terrific (Edi Gathegi), Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced), the Guy Gardner Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion), Metamorpho (Anthony Carrigan), all of whom are set to appear in the movie. Characters who will eventually make their way into DCU include the Green Lanterns John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) and Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler), Supergirl (Milly Alcock), Booster Gold, and the as-yet-uncast Batman and Damian Wayne Robin.
New episodes of DC Studios’ Creature Commandos premiere Thursdays on Max.
