Creature Commandos - which wrapped its first season this week - was the first project to be released under the new DCU banner ahead of Superman hitting theaters later this year, and creator James Gunn has now revealed that one of the animated show's cast members was the first actor he enlisted for the burgeoning shared universe.
Maria Bakalova, who plays the duplicitous Princess Ilana Rostovic, had previously worked with Gunn on the Guardians of the Galaxy movies as the voice of Cosmo the Space Dog, and the filmmaker explains why he decided to write the "femme fatale" character specifically for her.
“Maria was the first person we ever offered a role in the DCU [to],” Gunn tells Entertainment Weekly. “She was the first person that we cast because I wrote the role for her, and we had to find out early because her native language is Bulgarian, so we needed to write all of the other characters to fit her language and we had to cast her right away.”
Bakalova recalls finding out about the project and the character shortly after wrapping on GOTG Vol. 3.
“I remember I was on a plane, shortly after we wrapped Guardians Vol. 3, and I was just feeling bummed that it was the last installment of this franchise and I would probably never be able to work with these people again, especially James. But I got a message where he told me, I’m building this character for you, a femme fatale princess for this Creature Commandos show we’ll be doing at the DC Universe.’ I was like what, really? I was looking forward to reading the script, and it’s such a well-written script. It’s so layered with so much suspense that by the end you don’t really know which side you’re supposed to be on, and I loved that.”
Bakalova continues, “I was so thrilled to work with him again and play something I hadn’t played before, a woman who knows how to use her femininity to manipulate people. She makes you wonder, what is her actual goal? Do you trust her, or not? Is she fragile, or is she very strong? It’s a very complex character.”
If you've seen the finale, you'll know the answer to these questions!
Rostovic turns out to be a bigger monster than any member of Task Force M, and has made it her mission to wipe out all superheroes so she can conquer the world.
“Up until the last 10 minutes of the show, you are not for sure convinced that she really wants to dominate the world,” Bakalova says. “But she does! She wants control over everybody and to be the most powerful person in charge. It's interesting how you can manipulate people by making yourself look more innocent, more fragile, and maybe even more stupid. She wants to be underestimated. She wants to be seen as somebody who needs other people’s help, but she’s actually not that silly. She’s very smart. It’s a cool character.”
The Princess doesn't manage to enact her master plan, as she's taken out by The Bride (Indira Varma) as revenge for the death of Nina Masursky (Zoë Chao). This obviously means that Bakalova is unlikely to get the chance to play the character in live-action, but we wouldn't be surprised if Gunn came up with another role for her down the line.
The series also features Alan Tudyk as Dr. Phosphorus, David Harbour as Eric Frankenstein, Sean Gunn as G.I. Robot, and Steve Agee reprising his Peacemaker role as John Economos. Sean Gunn also voices The Suicide Squad's Weasel, and Viola Davis returns as Amanda Waller.
You can check out the full trailer below.
"Creature Commandos is an animated series, I've written all the episodes, something we're going to do that's a little bit different at DC is gonna have characters move into animation, out of animation, usually having the same actor play their voice as who plays them in live-action," Gunn said last year.