DC StudioTop adult animation shows Creature Commando Surprising both old and new fans. Not only that First season Yet another amazing show to add to the Marvel series' repertoire of comic book juggernauts, it also serves as a premonition for what else. What does the future hold for DC Studios? Under the direction of James Gunn, it certainly doesn't hurt that it's packed with wit, humor, heart, and sex appeal. Which until now is unheard of for a DC project.
Very similar suicide unit (Gunn's version) Creature Commando It sees various types of DC oddballs tasked with deadly missions befitting of monsters. The main rejects are Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo), Bride (Indira Varma), GI Robot (Sean Gunn), Weasel (also Sean Gunn ), Dr. Phosphorus (Alan Tudyk), Dr. Nina Mazurski (Zoe Chao), Frankenstein (David Harbour) and Circe (Anya Chalotra).
While many of the above characters reveal themselves to be more than they initially appear to be forces of good throughout the show, Princess Ilana Rostovich also proved himself to be quite the opposite. Along with the season finale of the show We spoke with Princess Ilana star Maria Bakalova to ask her if the Disney princess' fluttering eyelashes and facial features are authentic. Or is she just playing with the audience's sympathy?
This interview has been edited for brevity.
Isaiah Colbert, io9: This isn't the first time you've worked on a James Gunn comic book project. Your first was on Marvel's. Guardians of the Galaxy Volumes 1 3 As the talking space dog, Cosmo, what drew you to Gunn's other work?
Maria Bakalova: My name is James. I'm just a huge admirer of everything he does. He's a master storyteller (in) how to create characters. The way the story is created (and) the way the story is told is amazing. It's an extraordinary story.
You can always find his signature because of his sense of humor. The love of these characters and the idea of finding a place in your life And find people you recognize yourself in. You can find the family of your choice to a certain extent. You can meet friends and feel like you belong somewhere. which I feel as a human being Often born with the feeling that “I want to belong somewhere.” I want to be seen. I want someone to understand.” We saw that too. Creature Commando– We saw that too. Guardian of the Galaxy–
All of these projects feature gigantic creatures that don't fit together. which were united by the idea that they were extraterrestrials. And they don't fit anywhere. But in the end, they can be the greatest heroes. And you will find yourself falling in love with them. encourage them and wants them to be successful in their mission. Even though I'm a little biased here (and) I don't want them to kill my princess. Let's say she's also part of the creature commando team. Because I don't want to go to jail either.
IO9: Creature Commando It's full of characters who don't look like they might at first blush. Including Ilana. Throughout the show, Ilana's rubber band from being a Disney princess type character. to cold, scheming villains How did you balance the two different tones of her character?
Bakalova: Ilana is a character I haven't played before. I've worked on a lot of interesting projects (which are) very different. But I've never played a villain before. I've never played someone who uses manipulation to get what they want. Sacrificing dignity and humanity to achieve the goal of power and social control. It's interesting.
I always wonder how people get here. And how did they go from just having this as an idea to starting to implement it? She is a complicated woman. She is seen as naive, fragile, and someone who really needs protection. But she's not as stupid as she plays. And not as fragile as she wanted others to think she was.
Even though she revealed a little in front of Rick. But she was like “I am a woman And I got what I wanted I know I can handle a lot of things. I don't need a boy. I need a man.” A glimpse that maybe she wasn't quite what they thought. She wants to play with her charm. And she wants to play with her femininity. She wanted to play with the idea (that) she was harmless. But she is in danger, when in fact she is the one in the most danger of all.
I played something similar when I tried to convince people that my characters were actually human beings. Back in 2020 too. Borat (sequel film)– Sometimes you just have to let people believe what they want to believe. And I think that was her goal as well. She leaves Rick and the animals alone. Believe they want to protect her That's why she played it like, “Alright, I need protection. Just don't get in my way.”
Later we revealed that especially when she spoke her language. She is a completely different human being. She is a monster She has a bad idea. It's about the future, but yes, she's an interesting character to play.
io9: You mentioned Ilana forming a relationship with Rick Flag, an unprofessional relationship that led to a hilarious scene where Doctor Phosphorous concealed that they were intimate. James Gunn shared a clip of you kissing the back of your hand to make noise on His social media That's a scene that required close coordination. Or just go into the booth and show off different takes. As necessary to make it work?
Bakalova: No. I think you need to get an intimacy coordinator if you want one. For this specific scene After all, I don't need it. If I need someone to be with me I always ask. It was an open conversation with James and everyone behind DC.
But what James does well is use humor throughout. Yes, it's animation for adults. But full of humor It's not that serious. Even if we look at the scene We looked at the person in front of the door. Listen, they are very angry and violent. And it's like that. “How long will this last? What exactly happened?” It didn't feel like a romantic scene at all. It didn't feel like it. beautiful woman– is a scene about two characters using their obsession to distract from real danger and real problems. And it's funny. It's hilarious.
They shouldn't do that. But they are doing it. at– Rick realizes that this isn't his job there. But he's doing it. Ilana knew she shouldn't do that because she might expose herself. But she's doing it, and it's weird, and it's funny, and it's weird.
It's fun to have fun with it because Creature Commando It's a great show. It's a very layered show filled with beautifully edited characters, locations, and music. But it's also a lot of fun. It's not that heavy, pointing fingers (saying) “This is wrong, this is right.” It was a fun performance. Dark but fun I don't need an intimacy coordinator. I don't know about Frank (Grillo), maybe—if he wanted to—he could have one. But we had so much fun doing it.
io9: Speaking of dark moments in the future sequence from Circe, we see Ilana take over the world and slay the pantheon of DC heroes, including Peacemaker and Wonder Woman, Batman, and Superman from the Justice League. Which members of Justice do you think are the best? Which League member would Ilana be the most merciless? And why?
Bakalova: Ah! Maybe if I knew the bride was going to kill me. I must be the worst person to you. That is my biggest enemy here because I can pretty much fool people. But the bride is my biggest problem.
io9: Throughout the show, Ilana's status as a villain is played ambiguously. Considering the Creature's commandos were on the run whether Circe's vision was correct or not. All of this isn't helped by how endearing Ilana is to characters like Flag and Weasel. Is Ilana's love for them real or is it just a façade?
Bakalova: I think it's a little bit of a façade. Maybe with a weasel (it wasn't) so much of a grimace. But let's be honest. You just have to play the game. If she wants to achieve her (in)goals. She just wore that mask. (Pretend) She's fun, fun, and enjoys being with them. It's very fake at the end of the day. She has a bigger mission. She has power over the world. If she had to pretend that she really liked them, then she would.
Maybe when we're not on her She might kick Weasel and leave him when Flag isn't around. There might be other people she can have fun with. I don't understand how she sympathizes with them.
io9: Even if your character dies at the end. Creature CommandoHas roles in other comic books Which would you like to play?
Bakalova: Who knows? I'll keep this to myself for now, but of course. I would like to play a few more comic book roles.
All seven episodes of Creature Commando Streaming on Max, season two is on the way.
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