James Gunn’s Creature Commandos has finally arrived on Max, and already the series is setting up some very unexpected deaths in the DC Universe. Creature Commandos serves as a soft start for Gunn’s upcoming DCU, with Gunn’s 2025 film Superman officially launching DC’s new cinematic universe. However, it seems that both the Man of Steel and some other DCU heroes can be first seen on Creature Commandos and in a very unexpected context.
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WARNING: SPOILERS!
Following the end of the first episode of Creature Commandos, Max released a “This Season on Creature Commandos…” teaser trailer, featuring a sizzle reel of footage from the upcoming season. Included in this tease is an image of Superman and what appears to be Starfire crucified and impaled alongside other unidentified DCU heroes, on an apocalyptic battlefield. The image itself is shown with blink-and-you’ll-miss-it speed, but it has already spread across the Internet and social media like wildfire.
The Dead DC Heroes & Their Importance To The DCU
The fact that Superman is shown in his first-ever DCU appearance in Creature Commandos‘ surprise tease is both to be expected and more than a little shocking. Gunn’s Superman is the first major building block of the DCU, so Gunn obviously sees the Man of Steel as taking the lead of the franchise, cinematically. The tease of Superman’s death in Creature Commandos could also hint at Kal-El being a target of the DCU’s overarching villain, who as yet remains unrevealed.
The inclusion of Starfire impaled in a stake in Creature Commandos‘ quick-tease could also indicate she is being positioned as a similarly prominent or important DCU character early on. A Teen Titans project is also in the works for the DCU, so Starfire is likely to be a key player there just as she was on the streaming series Titans. Starfire’s inclusion might to her taking on a leadership role in the DCU early on, with Starfire as a prime emissary of the Teen Titans alongside Superman’s role in the Justice League and his general leadership role among DC heroes.
The other characters seen impaled in Creature Commandos‘ tease are not as easy to identify, though Peacemaker could be among them. Peacemaker season 2 will be another of the DCU’s early projects, and per James Gunn, it will address the continuity relationship between the DCEU and the DCU, including why the Justice League’s cameo in Peacemaker season 1 is not canon to the DCU while the general season is. With John Cena’s Peacemaker being set to be part of the DCU very early on, this certainly points to him as a significant character in the franchise and could contextualize his inclusion alongside Superman and Starfire in the tease of the DCU’s superhero massacre.
Will The DCU Have Its Own Knightmare Timeline?
It is worth noting that the image of DCU heroes killed en masse comes after the villainous Circe (Anya Chalotra) ominously tells the Creature Commados “I have a message for your leaders. I will show you the future.” Circe’s message and the nature of the image itself would suggest that the crucifixion scene is some kind of vision of an apocalyptic future.
Obviously, the death of Superman and the concept of an apocalyptic future timeline seen in a nightmarish premonition invites immediate comparisons to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Zack Snyder’s Justice League. It remains to be seen if Gunn’s Knightmare-ish future vision will be as central to his DC universe as it was to Snyder’s, but the tease invites speculation about who the big bad of the DCU could be…
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Is Circe Really Showing A Glimpse Into The Future?
By the same token, the word of a villainess like Circe is not something the heroes and anti-heroes of the DCU should necessarily take at face value. It could very well be that Circe is taunting the Creature Commandos and other characters with nightmarish visions that aren’t actually glimpses into the future, but are simply meant to terrorize her enemies and/or manipulate them into misguided action. James Gunn’s DCU could play with the idea of future prophecy used as a red herring, rather than a foreshadow.
Even with such a quickly teased image, many fan theories are already being spun regarding the future of the DCU. In any case, the image of Superman, Starfire, and other DCU characters being crucified and impaled will no doubt be explained further as Creature Commandos unfolds.
Creature Commandos streams new episodes Thursdays on Max.
