Who was the first person cast in the DC Universe? James Gunn reveals one Creature Commandos star was recruited before anyone else.
With the freshman season of Creature Commandos coming to an end this past week, the first project of James Gunn’s new DC Universe has officially concluded. The project served as a rather healthy win for a franchise that has been struggling critically and monetarily for years, and fans have begun reflecting and speculating about how the project took form in the space between reboots.
When speaking about crafting the series before the DC Universe was even truly formulated, James Gunn gave fans a small peak into the process. The director revealed that the first actor cast, not just in Creature Commandos, but the wider DCU was actually Maria Bakalova, who played Princess Ilana Rostovic. According to Gunn, this was done in order to better coordinate other actors native to the character’s home country.
“Maria was the first person we ever offered a role in the DCU [to],” Gunn explained in a recent talk with Entertainment Weekly. “She was the first person that we cast because I wrote the role for her, and we had to find out early because her native language is Bulgarian, so we needed to write all of the other characters to fit her language and we had to cast her right away.”
Maria Bakalova Reflects On Her DC Universe Role
This may come as a shock to fans, especially as Princess Ilana Rostovic was framed as a supporting role in Creature Commandos. It seemed to equally come as a shock to Maria Bakalova! The actress reflected on joining the DC Universe with the outlet, explaining that James Gunn had reached out to her not long after production had finished on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, where she played the beloved psychic dog Cosmo.
“I remember I was on a plane, shortly after we wrapped Guardians Vol. 3, and I was just feeling bummed that it was the last installment of this franchise and I would probably never be able to work with these people again, especially James.”
“But I got a message where he told me, I’m building this character for you, a femme fatale princess for this Creature Commandos show we’ll be doing at the DC Universe.’ I was like what, really? I was looking forward to reading the script, and it’s such a well-written script.”
“It’s so layered with so much suspense that by the end you don’t really know which side you’re supposed to be on, and I loved that. I was so thrilled to work with him again and play something I hadn’t played before, a woman who knows how to use her femininity to manipulate people. She makes you wonder, what is her actual goal? Do you trust her, or not? Is she fragile, or is she very strong? It’s a very complex character.”
Even though Maria Bakalova doesn’t exactly have the meatiest DC Universe role in the form of Princess Ilana Rostovic, it’s good to hear that the actress was gung-ho about collaborating with James Gunn even before Creature Commandos was fully formed on the page. The character certainly made an impression with her screen time, with Bakalova’s questions being answered in spades in the project’s finale.
Creature Commandos season 1 is currently streaming on Max. Stay tuned for the latest news regarding the future of the DC Universe and make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more content!