Warning: SPOILERS from Creature Commandos season 1.DC Universestar Maria Bakalova opens up on the massive fate of Princess Ilana in theCreature Commandosseason 1 finale. James Gunn’s DCU is finally underway, andCreature Commandosseason 1 served as the first outing of the franchise, giving the audience a taste of the new reboot through the animated side inChapter 1: “Gods and Monsters”. With the focus on some of DC’s more monstrous characters in the canon,Creature Commandosseason 1 showed that there is more to them than meets the eye.
After initially having Circe to deal with throughoutCreature Commandosseason 1, the season finale brought everything full circle, and the true villain of the story was revealed to none other than Princess Ilana. However, not everyone made it out alive fromCreature Commandosepisode 7, as Nina Mazursky paid the ultimate price when attempting to take out the wicked princess. However, Princess Ilana’s actions didn’t go unpunished as she also faced a grim end in the final minutes of the finale.
Creature Commandos Episode 7 Recap And Ending Explained: How The Finale Sets Up James Gunn’s DC Universe
Creature Commandos episode 7 concludes the epic conflict in Pokolistan, teasing a new chapter, and exploring the origins of Nina Mazursky.
Bakalova joinedScreenRantfor an exclusive interview to discuss herCreature Commandosseason 1 journey and join Gunn’s DCU franchise as Princess Ilana. Bakalova described her reaction to the reveal of Princess Ilana as the actual villain of the season and her thoughts on the tragic death of Nina. While Princess Ilana may be gone, the door is not necessarily closed for Bakalova in the DCU’s future, and she shared some potential ways to keep exploring Ilana inCreature Commandosseason 2.
Maria Bakalova Breaks Down Creature Commandos Season 1 Finale
“When James starts developing something, it’s always going to be great.”
ScreenRant: Have you been following just the reactions toCreature Commandosand seeing how everyone is just eating it all up?
Maria Bakalova: Yeah. it’s just proof that when James gets behind the page, when he starts developing something, it’s always going to be great. It’s always going to land properly. It’s always going to make people feel something, make them love, make them feel empathy towards these creatures, towards these monsters, which is even more challenging. I got a chance to work with him briefly on Guardians of the Galaxy, [which is] also a story about misfits who find their chosen family and become these heroes. With Creature Commandos, you have these team of monsters who are basically [being] taken from the prison to do a mission that human beings are not capable of succeeding with.
And you always find yourself in love and rooting for them, even though you know they’re monsters. But what James does is revealing the backstory of how these people became who they are today. And you don’t really judge them that much as the monsters as people usually perceive them, you get rid of the prejudice, and you understand them a bit more. So I’m really happy that people feel that, and people relate to the story. It’s the biggest gift if you see audiences actually react to what you’ve created. And that’s what’s happening with Creature Commandos, now I see people being really excited about it, I’m really excited about it, and it’s wonderful.
“To be honest, I do want to know how she ended up in this place.”
Image via Max
That’s why I think it’s so interesting that when we learn Ilana is the villain of the story. Was that something James told you from the beginning when you first joined the project or was that something you found out when you read that she’s trying to conquer the world?
Maria Bakalova: Not really - I got the call, pretty soon after we wrapped on Guardians of the Galaxy, and I was so sad that I’m going to be saying goodbye to all of these people, because I got to spend 10 years together [with them.] Yes, it’s the biggest gift that you can have to be able to be around the same people, if they’re good people, if you’re creating something that makes people feel good watching it and then I got a call about Creature Commandos, and he told me that he’s developing a character that is an original character, and I’m going to portray it, and it’s going to be this femme fatale princess. So that’s what I knew in the beginning. I knew that she’s got to be like a femme fatale, and my idea was like, ‘Okay, that’s going to be somebody very bold in her femininity, being able to use all of her terms and her seductive behavior to a degree, but for what?’
And then, when I got to read the script, I saw that she’s very manipulative. She’s pretty much the biggest monster of them all at the end of the day, even though she’s human, which is maybe another message that we can be monsters, even though we can look kind and sweet and gentle. It’s all about what you have inside of you. She wants to be treated as a woman, but she looks innocent, and everybody is there to pretty much protect her and save her. And then plot twist she is a villain! She is evil, and she wants to destroy the world. She want to take control over everybody.
To be honest, I do want to know how she ended up in this place. Why did she wanting to destroy her country in the first place? Because we can find references and a lot of other people with control and power that would have even more power. And it’s always interesting to get to know a little bit more about their backstory and what happened in their early life [where] they got to be who they are today. So I’m looking forward to get a chance to understand more why she is like that.
I know some people in the fandom were also wondering: how old is Ilana supposed to be? She’s a young adult, I’m guessing, right?
Maria Bakalova: Yeah. I haven’t really spoken about this directly, but I got the call from James [when he was] writing this character, thinking about me playing this character, which means that [she] probably is going to be around my age, late 20s. 27-28, a little bit before 30. So she gets to [have the] innocence of, ‘Okay, I’m still young, but I’m an adult, so all of my choices are conscious choices I’m doing - to do something with them.’
Princess Ilana’s DCU Future Has Potential Despite Creature Commandos Season 1 Fate
Even though she’s dead, what do you think the chances are that we actually may learn more about her in future DCU products? Here’s the thing, dead doesn’t always stay dead. There’s magic in this world, there are aliens, I’m sure she’s a very resourceful woman who could have had a backup plan in case she died.
Maria Bakalova: Yeah, we saw her in Circe’s vision. We saw her that she’s pretty much capable to kill superheroes somehow. So maybe she also has some superpowers. Who knows? Who really knows a lot about that place Pokolistan? Because I remember I was searching for it online back when I read the script, I was like, ‘Okay, so there is a place that somehow exists with the same name, but do we know more about it?’ Maybe it’s a place that a lot of human live, but maybe within these people, their people, their preachers, with special abilities, with special powers. So I don’t know…I hope she’s not dead-dead. Maybe some people will be opposite my opinion, because she has made some terrible choices, and she killed basically one of the nicest characters in this show.
Yeah, no hard feelings. I wasn’t crying at all! [laughs]
Maria Bakalova: It’s not fair to kill Nina…but I wish both of them survived somehow, and [that] we see them again. Because, to be honest, I think these are my two favorite…it’s difficult to say my favorite characters, but I felt very empathetic towards Nina, and I do want to know more about Ilana. I do want to know why is she like that [laughs] like, ‘Okay, basically you’re supposed to be the hero of your country, and you want to put it on fire? Why? Why do you do that?’ It’s a question that I feel like a lot of us are asking ourselves on the daily basis, but yeah, if we can get more sense of why is she like that in the future, why is she friends with Clayface? [Those are] interesting choices.
I don’t know how much you can speak to this for my final question. but has James maybe given an indication that he may use you somewhere else in the DC Universe? You do voice work as well, so could there be more of you in the DCU going forward?
Maria Bakalova: I would love to! More than anything, because I feel like, with Creature Commandos' first two episodes premiering back in December 5, and people loving it, it’s the biggest proof that we should keep doing this and the new DC Universe is going to have a great look. And I do want to be associated with something that comes to people and make people think about it, talk about it, feel for it. And knowing that James is going to be behind it, that’s for me, the biggest dream.So anything that he’s doing or he has in mind, I’m ready to jump in and do it.
More About Creature Commandos Season 1
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. CREATURE COMMANDOS is written and executive produced by James Gunn. Based on DC characters and produced by DC Studios and Warner Bros. Animation; additional executive producers include Peter Safran, Dean Lorey, and Sam Register; Rick Morales serves as a supervising producer.
Creature Commandos
Cast
Creature Commandos follows the exploits of a secret team of incarcerated monsters recruited for perilous missions unsuitable for humans. Released in December 2024, the film explores themes of redemption and collaboration as the monstrous squad is tasked with handling threats that present dire challenges beyond human capability.
