James Gunn's DC reboot kicked off with a nerfed villain, leading to an outcry by fans online.
Gunn's DCU is officially underway with the release of Creature Commandos, showing off a new team of villains and antiheroes in an R-rated animated setting. Following up on some of the events of 2021's The Suicide Squad, the series also unveils new plot points that have not been touched in any previous DC outing.
The first three episodes pitted the team against a powerful adversary in Circe, who boasts ties back to the Wonder Woman legacy and the magical side of the DCU. However, as has been the case with villains in the past, her introduction was not all sunshine and roses.
Fans Unhappy With James Gunn's First DC Reboot Villain
The first three episodes of DC Studios' Creature Commandos featured the DC reboot's first major villain, Circe. However, Anya Chalotra's antagonist did not put up much of a fight, going down fairly easily against Alan Tudyk's Doctor Phosphorus and Sean Gunn's Weasel (one of two characters Gunn plays).
Following this episode, fans took to X (formerly Twitter) to criticize the series for nerfing the villain who seemed to be so powerful.
@y2kmarcus wondered how Circe went down against "the damn rabid dog" and asked how she was "supposed to fight Diana [Prince]," better known as Wonder Woman, after that moment:
"Also am i crazy or is this circe severely depowered like this kind of gag you’d expect coming from heavy hitters like wonder woman not the damn rabid dog how is she supposed to fight diana at this rate"
The same user continued, urging James Gunn to "fix the power scaling quickly" so that fans would not have problems with his new universe:
"fix the power scaling quickly and the magic too or we gonna have a problem soon….
@spikebrownstone had much harsher commentary, calling the show "wack" for having Circe lose to Weasel:
"'Creature Commandos' is wack wdym Circe (a fucking wonder woman villain) got folded by a fuckin anthropomorphic weasel man
While @BlerdCentral has not watched the show yet, they were not pleased with Circe "getting handled" by the titular team of antiheroes:
"Haven't seen this yet but why is the GOD Circe getting handled buy the fuckin creature commandos???"
@Wonder_boy20 asked why DC is "making Circe struggle so much," hoping to "see her stand her ground" in the last four episodes:"
"I’m loving 'Creature Commandos' so far but why are they making Circe struggle so much? She’s being humiliated all the time we better see her stand her ground in the next episodes. She’s a ww villain after all."
@jordnjones took a more positive outlook on the outcome, teasing that Episode 4 is "about to get SERIOUS" upon its debut:
"Circe is a fucking MENACE…her attacks are so horrifyingly calculated—if Weasel & Phosphorus hadn’t locked in, Ilana would've been finished. 'YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU'VE DONE. YOU'VE DOOMED THE WORLD!!!' Next week is about to get SERIOUS.
What Will Happen With Circe in James Gunn's DCU?
While Circe is by no means dead, her inclusion in Creature Commandos left many fans with more questions than answers about her place in the DCU. Those questions became much more prominent when she was almost completely absent from Season 1's last three episodes.
Circe made her impact felt in Episode 4 with her vision teasing Princess Ilana Rostovic taking over various nations and killing the world's superheroes (see the show's first look at a dead Wonder Woman here). This was all proven to be falsified thanks to Clayface's involvement, but plenty of damage is still done.
The real question now is whether Circe could come back in a future DCU project, whether it be Season 2 of Creature Commandos or elsewhere.
As of writing, the only Wonder Woman-adjacent project in Gunn's new DCU is Paradise Lost, a prequel series set to show the early days of Themyscira. Due to it's expected place in the DCU timeline, Circe should not be expected to have a role in this series when it eventually debuts.
Many hope she will return to the fold when Wonder Woman takes her place in the DCU alongside other heroes like David Corenswet's Superman, who makes his full debut in his upcoming 2025 solo movie.
This would also track with Gunn's promise that characters in his new DCU will move across mediums, which is also seen in Superman with Rick Flag Sr.'s appearance. For now, however, Circe will remain in the background until further notice.
Season 1 of Creature Commandos is now streaming in full on Max.
