All episodes ofCreature Commandosare now streaming on Max, and fans finally have the first taste ofJames Gunn’s DCU. Gunn has a history of working with the same actor multiple times on his projects, as evidenced by hisCreature Commandoscast, several of whom appeared in hisGuardians of the Galaxytrilogy. One of the Gunn veterans isMaria Bakalova, who voices Princess Alana in the animated series, and previously voiced Cosmo inGuardians of the Galaxy Volume 3. Bakalova also recently starred alongsideSebastian StaninThe ApprenticeandAmandla StenberginBodies Bodies Bodies. During a recent episode ofCollider Ladies NightwithPerri Nemiroff, Bakalova was asked about the biggest challenges of playing a character in animation vs. live-action, and it’s even more difficult than you can imagine:
“My god, kudos to all the voice actors out there.It’s such a hard job to do.You basically only use your voice. We’re privileged, to a degree, to be able to use physical appearance, to be able to walk in a different way, to talk in a different way, look at people in a different way with a camera when we’re acting on a set. You use your eyes a lot of times, you use your hands a lot of times, you use your smile a lot of times. With voice acting,you basically only use your voice and your emotions and how you feel in the moment, and what you are trying to achieve by just literally using your voice only. It’s a very hard job to do, especially when James does such a great job, but challenging, by building characters that are so layered that they pretend they’re one thing and they’re something more than that. You have to do it believable because the other characters have to believe that that’s one thing, and then you reveal later that it’s a different thing. It’s a very challenging place to be. But he is in charge, so you trust him, and you know that, at the end, it’s all going to be good.”
Bringing different emotions to life without being able to use body language or anything other than your voice has to be an immense challenge, and is part of whyoutstanding voice performances in animationdeserve just as much respect as performances in live-action. From an outside perspective, it may seem like voice acting would be easier because you’re only using your voice and not your full body, but in reality, relying on one part of your body to convey things like tone, intentions, feelings and more is exponentially more difficult. The voice performances inCreature Commandosare part of what made the show such a hit, especially fromIndira Varmaas The Bride andFrank Grilloas Rick Flag Sr., and the show would undoubtedly not be held in the same regard without their phenomenal work.
What Is Next for the DCU?
Now that the first season ofCreature Commandoshas come and gone, fans haveSupermanto look forward to, which will be released on July 11 and serve as the official live-action launch of James Gunn’s DC Universe.The first trailer forSupermandebuted near the end of 2024 and was a hit among fans, evenbreaking records on its way to earning more than 250 million viewsacross social platforms during its first 24 hours. There was some wiggle room forCreature Commandosif the show had not been the major success that it was, but Gunn,Peter Safran, and everyone at DC needsSupermanto be a smash hit both financially and in its critics and audience reception for Gunn to get the chance to see his vision at DC through.
All episodes ofCreature Commandosare now streaming. Stay tuned to Collider for future updates on the DCU and watchCreature Commandos onMax. you may watch Bakalova’s full episode ofCollider Ladies Nightbelow.
Creature Commandos
In “Creature Commandos,” Amanda Waller assembles a covert team of monstrous operatives, including a werewolf, vampire, and gorgon, to undertake high-risk missions deemed too perilous for human agents.
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