Despite not having any combat points, Nina’s character serves a crucial purpose in James Gunn’s Creature Commandos.
Mood whiplash has always been an integral aspect of James Gunn’s writing, as viewers can go from laughing at Milton’s role in the squad to shedding a tear during Polka-Dot Man’s death. However, in Creature Commandos, this has been dialed to 11, and for good reason, as despite the episodes’ short runtime, Gunn has managed to give fans an adequate amount of laughs and boatloads of trauma.
Creature Commandos | Credit: DC Studios
As for the latter, almost every creature in the show has some of the most gut-wrenching backstories to be told in a DC show, which is saying something. One such character is Nina, and one complaint against her character’s purpose in the overall narrative highlights one major issue among some CBM fans.
Nina’s role in Creature Commandos sums up the show’s overall theme
On top of being an entertaining start to the new era of DC, Creature Commandos also serves as a well-written political commentary, which isn’t uncharted territory for Gunn, as seen in The Suicide Squad. But while most of the creatures were forced by society into the life of villainy, which is a stretch for characters like G.I., The Bride, and Weasel, Nina on the other hand turns out to be completely harmless and innocent.
A Very Funny Monster | Credit: DC Studios
However, her lack of physical contribution to the team has left some confused, who claimed that she served no purpose in the story. Although she did turn out to be the most innocent and didn’t deserve to be incorporated into Task Force M, it’s indeed the point of her character. Not only does society fail her, but when she finally wields the knife to take a life upon The Bride’s convincing, Nina accepts the label of monster that society branded on her and dies as a result.
“Nina doesn’t do anything!”
Right, that’s the point, she’s not a weapon or a soldier and she never should have been on this mission.
Society failed her and she lost her life because of it; that’s the entire point of her character. pic.twitter.com/ZV6YKnvifo
— The Moonlight Warrior 🌙 (@BlackMajikMan90) January 10, 2025
But if it isn’t said explicitly, how will people ever understand it? pic.twitter.com/LYqvueQBew
— RSL (@RSLLRSL) January 10, 2025
She’s the heart of the series and the humanity of the team. Because of that, she’s arguably the most important character.
— Whimsical Wizard (@wiz_whimsical) January 11, 2025
Media literacy is gone
— ✨J.T.✨ (@Hollywood_JT_) January 10, 2025
Given that Nina didn’t deserve to die and be frowned upon only makes her story more tragic, further highlighting the grotesque and unforgiving reality of the world, in which happy endings aren’t always a given.
One tragic backstory exceeds Nina’s tragedy for James Gunn in terms of sadness
Chasing Squirrels | Credit: DC Studios
Apart from Nina, another tragic backstory that brought most of us to tears, which can be said for most of them, was that of Weasel. Similar to Nina, Weasel was punished just for existing. Moreover, the fact that he can’t even speak further adds to his trauma of being unable to save the little girl, which boiled down to DCU’s incompetent police forces.
As for James Gunn‘s stance on Weasel’s flashbacks, the DC head expressed (via Variety) that it might be the saddest thing he has ever written, and he’s not wrong.
I remember finishing [writing] it. I was in Colorado with my wife, and I remember I said, ‘I think I just wrote the saddest thing that I’ve ever written in my entire life.’
With season 2 deservingly greenlit, it’ll be interesting to see where the story goes from here, especially with The Bride at the top.
