Creature Commands is billed as the first official chapter in James Gunn’s DC Multimedia Universe (co-chaired by Peter Safran), but it still feels exciting Superhero fatigue is now a diagnosable illness. It’s also full of astonishing violence, a catchy jukebox soundtrack, and unbridled horniness, so there’s no mistaking it for anything other than a byproduct of Gunn’s horror/crap/scandal mind. This, along with the captivating animations and subtle DC deep cuts, may be why both casual gamers and avid comic book fans will forgive this Max animated series for feeling a little dated.

Because there’s something new about watching a Frankentrix and a mythical sorceress fight each other Gogol Brothels “Start Wearing Purple,” we’ve seen this version of the supervillain team before. Gunn, who wrote all seven episodes of Commandsrecords a parallel course as The Suicide Squad (itself a reboot by David Ayers in 2016 Suicide Squad) with a typically ominous mission briefing from ARGUS boss Amanda Waller (Viola Davis), who is now forbidden from using people for her mercenary operations after the final of Peacemaker. She selects soldiers from the Non-Human Internment Division at Supermax Belle Reve and updates Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo) on how best to use chatty mercenaries to mitigate the latest geopolitical crisis. (They are referred to as “Task Force M” for “Monsters.”) Creature Commands is not exactly fresh, but at least it’s fun.

The Commandos are a diverse force. There’s glow-in-the-dark Doctor Phosphorous (Alan Tudyk), World War II mech veteran GI Robot, and alleged child killer Weasel (both wonderfully voiced by Sean Gunn). There’s also the friendly fishwoman Nina Mazursky (Zoë Chao) and the Bride (Indira Varma), as in “Of Frankenstein,” a giant patchwork corpse steeped in centuries of ridicule and torment, who turns out to be the team’s drunken warrior-philosopher revealed. (“Birth is always terrible; God’s gift to people is that he makes them forget,” she says at one point. “Science isn’t so forgiving.”) The bride stands out with her goth Marge Simpson hair , which withers, retorts (Varma’s line readings are captivating and the treatment of Frankenstein (David Harbour), who looks less like the DC version of Mary Shelley’s creation and more like Pepé Le Pew with screws in his neck.

At first glance, the mission for which Waller has assembled this ragtag group seems to have low stakes in comparison The Suicide Squad‘S: The sorceress Circe (Anya Chalotra) has recruited an army of incel militia called the “Sons of Themyscira” (which should go down well with Wonder Woman fans) to murder Ilana Rostovic (Maria Bakalova), princess of the fictional Eastern European nation from Pokolistan. In the first episode, the Commandos take up residence in Rostovic’s palace as the princess’s reluctant bodyguards – they receive a remote electric shock from Waller should one of their members disappear – while Circe plans her attack. Things take a chaotic turn for Flag and his team as Circe’s motives come to light and the Commandos’ true function takes shape.

Always adept at coaxing compelling beats from the most absurd characters, Gunn made Guardians of the Galaxy a household name simply by laying out the aliens’ motivations that we understood, and this is why Creature Commands works just as well as it works. What motivates a supervillain is only a cliché if the author allows it, and Gunn is too skilled a storyteller, too fascinated by the origins and psychology of these esoteric freaks and geeks to keep her stories generic. So Gunn takes a detour from the series’ pandemonium to explore the origins of the Commandos, painting a vivid picture of who these misfits are and why they’re so willing to beat Waller’s drum. (For most, it’s salvation from hellfire.) Even Tudyk’s cackling radioactive man gets a tragic backstory that explains why he’s so picky about when, where, and how he uses his melting powers. He may have a permanent grin, but he’s not smiling.

Overall, the animation from the Parisian studio Bobbypills is a happy combination of Peter Chung and Invinciblea hectic gallery of expertly storyboarded choreography and compelling character stories that only diminish in quality once the dust settles. And during Commands blatant violence will certainly be compared InvincibleThe action sequences strike a more deft balance between chaos and whimsy than the Prime Video series, imaginatively and instinctively deploying a variety of superpowers attuned to the moods of the people wielding them.

There are moments Creature Commands when Gunn directs all this chaos and depravity too far into the distance and his softly-tuned, emotional beats collide with the carnage. At seven half-hour episodes, the series also feels overstuffed with information at times (it sheds more light on the DCU than you might think), and character details are sometimes squeezed in seconds before they’re relevant to the actual story. But despite all those messy emotions and messier body parts flying around, Gunn’s Monster Puree achieves the level of seriousness it so often aspires to. (Get ready for the Weasel episode that will change the way you think about sleeping pets forever.) Even when he’s running in circles, the guy still knows how to deliver cheap thrills.

Creature Commands Premiering December 5th on Max