‘Creature Commandos’ Executive Producer Dean Lorey Is On A Mission

If a top-secret unit filled with the planet’s most dangerous criminals tasked with completing zany and violent objectives isn’t quite extreme enough for you, then you’re in luck. Max’s upcoming original animated series Creature Commandos follows an insane team of incarcerated monsters recruited for missions deemed too dangerous for humans. 

The series features plenty of familiar characters from The Suicide Squad, including Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) and everyone’s favorite human-sized and unhinged Mustelidae, Weasel (Sean Gunn). Fans will also recognize plenty of DC Comics staples such as Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo), Dr. Phosphorus (Alan Tudyk), and Circe (Anya Chalotra). David Harbour, Steve Agee, Maria Bakalova, Zoe Chao, and Indira Varma round out the rest of the impressive cast. 

Creature Commandos is written and executive-produced by James Gunn. Joining Gunn as executive producers are Dean Lorey, Peter Safran, and Sam Register. The series will kick off Chapter One: Gods and Monsters, DC’s brand new universe. As a key figure in the reshaping of DC’s slate of projects, Lorey isn’t a stranger when it comes to breathing new life into familiar characters. Lorey has served as executive producer on shows such as Harley Quinn and Kite Man: Hell Yeah! 

Lorey sat down with Bubbleblabber to explain his passion for DC comics, the uniqueness of Creature Commandos, and why he thinks Chapter One: Gods and Monsters is in good hands. 

Matthew Swigonski: So for anyone not super familiar with DC Comics, can you describe what viewers can expect from Creature Commandos?

Dean Lorey: Well it has some similarities to Suicide Squad. The big difference is that this is about a group of inhuman prisoners who all pull together to do what nobody else wants to do. So unlike Suicide Squad, they’re monsters and in some cases, classic monsters. You got Frankenstein, you got Bride of Frankenstein, and then there are plenty of others. 

Matthew Swigonski: That first episode kind of just jumps right into it. Is that what you wanted for the show? 

Dean Lorey: Yeah, you’re right. We jump right into it. We’re immediately into our first season-long mission in the first episode. And I think it’s very reflective of the season. 

Matthew Swigonski: DC has been making huge strides with its content in the past few years, especially with Gods and Monsters. There’s the upcoming Superman film, there’s Creature Commandos, and not to mention Harley Quinn and Kite Man: Hell Yeah! Can you describe how it feels to be a part of this new wave of DC Comic projects?

Dean Lorey: It’s very exciting. I’ve been a fan of James [Gunn] for a long time. Like back in the Troma days. I was always aware of what he was doing. And so I think he and Peter Safran have a really clear take on what they want to do with this. I love that they’re sort of very script-forward. James wrote every episode of this before we even started production.

I know that’s what they want to do with all of their shows and their movies, to have them written before they start production. So I just feel like we’re in good hands with them. And I love James. He has a lot of heart in the stuff that he does. And I think that’s something that maybe we’ve been missing and I’m excited to see it.

Matthew Swigonski: Yeah, you can tell when everyone behind the whole DC Universe are actually fans from the get-go. So were you a huge fan of DC comics growing up?

Dean Lorey: Yeah, I was a big comic book fan. For me, the first Superman that Christopher Reeve starred in was formative. I mean, I loved them all. I still love that movie. So I’ve always been a fan but I’m also still open to putting my spin on characters, like with Harley Quinn, which I did with Pat Schumacker and Justin Halpern. We had our own version of all of those characters and it was good because even though we’re all fans, we were distanced enough to say, ‘Okay, let’s do our version and not be beholden to what’s already been done.’ And that was true for Kite Man as well.

Matthew Swigonski: The cast of Creature Commandos is completely stacked. Does that make your job easier? 

Dean Lorey: Yeah. I mean, that’s what’s great when you’re directing voice actors. For the most part, the job is done in the casting. Like you know if you cast great people then the hard work’s already been done. And they just come in and they deliver and you might give like a little direction you know? ‘A little more this way, a little more that way.’ But for the most part, it’s done. Like David Harbour. His take on Frankenstein was amazing. I had no idea how he was gonna perform that character and it was great. GI Robot was another character that I really didn’t know how they would be portrayed. I didn’t know what Sean Gunn was gonna do. But yeah, it’s a stacked cast and they’re a dream to direct.

Matthew Swigonski: Was there one character in particular that you think was the most fun to develop?

Dean Lorey: I’m partial to GI Robot. I mean, I love them all. It’s hard to pick, but what I like about him is that he’s a robot. But Sean was able to bring a lot of humanity, I thought, out in that character. And then in terms of the design and all that, we played around with it for a long time. Rick Morales, who is the animation supervisor, was trying to find a look that was a little throwbacky but also had a sweetness to it. And so for that character, I have a particular fondness for him.

Matthew Swigonsi: No, I agree. To me, he seems so familiar, like previous robots from different TV shows and movies. Yet, he has his own unique spin on the whole character itself.

Dean Lorey: Yeah, yeah. You know, I could actually probably say that for almost any of the characters. But I don’t know, I just have a place, a little spot in my heart, for GI Robot. 

Matthew Swigonski: Is there one episode in mind that you can’t wait for fans to see? An episode that you can maybe tease a little bit without giving anything away?

Dean Lorey: Yeah… well let’s see. I think the thing that I would most like to say is that the series wraps up at the end of the season. There are no hanging questions. It all wraps up. And so I probably would say episode seven, because it really does come together in a kind of a beautiful way.

Matthew Swigonski: Do you think that this upcoming DC Universe is trying to compete one-on-one with Marvel’s Universe, or do you think you’re doing your own thing?

Dean Lorey: We’re putting our own characters out. Yeah, I think [Gods and Monsters] is its own thing. I don’t see any indication of what the Marvel Universe has largely been about, you know? Marvel is interrelated. So you need to see lots of it to see how the pieces fit together. The DC Universe so far has been much more self-contained. And I like that. When I get to the end of a season, I want to see the story wrapped up. I don’t want to feel like I have to watch a bunch of other stuff.

Matthew Swigonski: What’s your elevator pitch for Creature Commandos? 

Dean Lorey: It’s monsters on a mission. That would be my elevator pitch. I mean it has heart, it’s R-rated, it has a ton of comedy, and the action is great. To me, it just delivers on all fronts. 

Creature Commandos will premiere on December 5 on Max.