‘Creature Commandos’ Episode 3 “Cheers To The Tin Man” Breakdown & Recap 

Our journey into the DC Universe continues with the third instalment of Creature Commandos which dived deep into the story of G.I. Robot. Find our full Creature Commandos episode 3 breakdown inside.

Creature Commandos follows a ragtag group of supervillains forced to work together by the US Government to carry out their bidding. The group, forced together by Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) and Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo), are tasked with protecting a princess (Maria Bakalova) in the distant European country of Pokolistan against the villainous Circe (Anya Chalotra). The first episode saw the deployment of the group, as well as brief introductions to the team, while the second episode dove deeper into the backstory and motives of Indira Varma’s The Bride. 

The show’s synopsis reads as follows: 

Creature Commandos tracks a secret team of incarcerated monsters recruited for missions deemed too dangerous for humans. When all else fails… they’re your last, worst option.

This article contains spoilers for the first three episodes of Creature Commandos.

‘Creature Commandos’ Episode 3 Breakdown

The show’s third episode serves as a character study on G.I. Robot, played by Sean Gunn, and his journey from a WW2 battle bot to a rusty killing machine. The third episode picks up directly after the events of episode 2, which left unlikely heroes The Bride and Nina Mazursky (Zoe Chao) defeated at the hands of Circe’s Brothers of Themyscira. The episode opens with Rick Flag, G.I., Weasel (Sean Gunn), Dr Phosphorus (Alan Tudyk) and Alexi (Julian Kostov), ready to lay siege on Frankenstein’s Manor to rescue Nina and The Bride, only to find that they are left bound and unguarded. 

Welcome To The DCU Sgt. Rock

While receiving a directive from Flag, G.I. falls into a memory, where he is serving with Easy Company in World War II. This scene gives our first look at Sgt. Rock, Little Sure Shot, and more. It’s a big deal for a few reasons as Sgt. Rock is one of the most popular war comic characters since its inception, but largely due to the reported development of a Sgt. Rock movie starring Daniel Craig and directed by Luca Guadagnino. In this flashback, G.I. develops a bond with the squadron by demolishing a rival battalion of Nazis. 

A second flashback shows a big time jump from the events of the first, approximately 20 years after the war. Here, G.I. Robot is being interviewed by a television host in front of a live audience. In the interview, our lively protagonist scans the audience and darkly questions whether any of the attendees are Nazis. A US general offers the unique robot to scientist William Magnus (played by Alan Tudyk), who aims to research the artificial intelligence showcased by the veteran automaton. 

Will Magnus and the Metal Men!

In the comics, Will Magnus is a prolific character who created the Metal Men, a group of robotic heroes. While this isn’t a concrete tease at the Metal Men in James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DCU, it’s definitely something to think about going forward. Magnus acknowledges a level of awareness and therefore consciousness in G.I. making an interesting case study for Magnus’ experiments. He takes G.I. back to his lab and upon questioning a theoretical display of want, G.I. expresses his longing to reunite with his friends in Easy Company, demonstrating desire despite his artificiality. 

Back in the present day, a guard rushes into Princess Rostovic’s room to warn her of the impending invasion before being blown into smithereens. Several Brothers of Themyscira attempt to sexually assault the Princess before she gets away and hides, awaiting the arrival of the Commandos. When they do arrive, the team obliterates their opposition, burning them, irradiating them, and ripping them to bits. 

Hub City & The Question Reference

In the middle of the battle, G.I. falls into another memory where he’s being obtained by Sam (Michael Rooker). It’s revealed that after Magnus, G.I. bounced around from lab to lab before being retired by the US Government in the ’90s. Sam is a military collector, who takes G.I. home to his large selection of cats and war-era memorabilia. One day, Sam takes G.I. to meet some “friends” and when sat down at a conference surrounded by these men, it’s revealed that this convention is actually the Hub City National Socialists Club, or more plainly, a neo-Nazi convention. In the comics, Hub City is a city known for being so rife with crime and corruption, that it was a harder place to live than Gotham City. It was the home to The Question, a character that many audiences have on their DC Universe character wishlist. When G.I. realises his circumstance, he is elated when his directive kicks in, leading him to slaughter 32 of the attendees. 

This slaughter scene is interpolated with clips of him killing masses of Brothers of Themyscira in the present day, with our lead enjoying himself very much. Again in the past, G.I. is arrested and tried by the state as a human, leading to his eventual incarceration at Belle Reve. 

A New Line-Up Of DC Villains In Belle-Reve

Upon his arrival at the Louisiana prison, we see glimpses of several DC characters from the comics. The first, Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man, is a bizarre villain who serves as an antagonist to the Doom Patrol, a group of characters who received their own Elseworlds series which went on for four seasons. Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man actually appeared in the show’s first season.

 Also appearing in the Belle Reve line-up is Crimson Centipede, a character created by Ares to torment Wonder Woman. Next is Aquaman foe Fisher-Man, as well as Shaggy Man who was a comic-book Justice League villain. All these characters join a growing list of canonical heroes and villains existing within the boundaries of the DC Universe. While in Belle Reve, G.I. grows rusty and covered in cobwebs. And soon, when we cut back to the present, Circe destroys G.I. Robot, putting an end to the character. 

Circe makes her way towards the Princess, before getting ready to strike a killing blow. The Creature Commandos have something to say about it however, and soon Weasel jumps in and saves the Princess from Circe before Phosphorus burns her, subduing her. Meanwhile, Nina picks up G.I.’s head, which is slowly losing power, and bids an emotional farewell, stating “Cheers to the Tin Man.” The episode is left on a final note, with Circe exclaiming “You don’t understand what you’ve done, you’ve doomed the world.”

Creature Commandos episode 3 was directed by Matt Peters and written by James Gunn. It is now streaming on Max.

Up Next On ‘Creature Commandos’

Next episode we can expect another backstory for another character, highlighting the humanities and inhumanities of another member of the Creature Commandos task force. Who will it be? Due to the episode title, we have a feeling it’ll be Weasel. 

Creature Commandos episode 4 will debut seven days after the release of the third episode, on Thursday, December 19th at 12AM PST. It will be titled “Chasing Squirrels”, written by James Gunn, and will have a runtime of 25 minutes.

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