Who Is Princess Ilana Rostovic in DC Comics? Is She a New Character?

A few days ago, James Gunn shared some big news regarding a new DCU project, expected to arrive in 2024 – the animated series called Creature Commandos. DC Comics fans know the team already, but even those who are acquainted with Creature Commandos might’ve noticed an unfamiliar name among those announced by Gunn. So, who is Princess Ilana Rostovic?

Princess Ilana Rostovic is a completely new character, created originally for the DCU Creature Commandos animated series. She wasn’t a part of the concept art image, so she might not be an initial member of the team. Ilana Rostovic will be portrayed (or voiced, that is) by Maria Bakalova.

Gunn and Bakalova have already worked together, and seeing that Gunn has already confirmed that some Creature Commandos characters and actors will appear in live-action projects as well, it wouldn’t be crazy to assume Bakalova and Princess Ilana Rostovic will be one of those characters. On that note, here’s what we know about the character.

Is Princess Ilana Rostovic in DC Comics?

The Creature Commandos were, right from the start, considered and advertised, as one of the DC’s ‘strangest comics ever. The team first appeared in Weird War Tales #93 in 1980, when the original team was first introduced.

The original team included a werewolf, a vampire, a Gorgon-esque Medusa, a Frankenstein monster, and rock-hard human soldier, and a G.I. Robot. Then, after the DC reboot, a new Creature Commandos team was assembled and included many of the same members, but also added some new ones.

For instance, there was a cyborg, a humanoid amphibian, a mummy-like creature, and a 74-year-old grandpa who was once a member of Hunter’s Hellcats.

And then comes The Agents of S.H.A.D.E. version of Creature Commandos – the one that’ll resemble the DCU animated series version of the team the most. The members here are Father Time – the leader of S.H.A.D.E., and Dr. Ray Palmer – the former Atom and creator of the majority of S.H.A.D.E.’s technology.

There’s Frankenstein again – or Frankenstein’s Monster, if you will – who serves as the team’s leader. He created a wife for himself, aka The Frankenstein’s Bride, but she refused to mate him. Then there’s Dr. Nina Mazursky, who’s a Gill-man/mermaid hybrid, and the creator of Creature Commandos.

Vincent Velcoro reappeared as the vampire from the previous versions of the team, as well as Warren Griffith, the werewolf. The team medic is Khalis, the mummy, while Matthew Shrieve remains the only human member of the Creature Commandos team.

Another version of Creature Commandos appeared in the Flashpoint event, where new characters joined the team, like Man-Bat, Solomon Grundy, and Dr. Phosphorus.

With all that being said – you might’ve noticed that I’ve never mentioned a character named Princess Ilana Rostova. That’s because she does not exist in DC Comics – in any version of the Creature Commandos or any other DC Comics team. As James Gunn confirmed on Twitter, Ilana Rostova is a completely new character created originally for the animated series.

Naturally, fans started to wonder who she might be and what kind of a role she might play. Ilana Rostovic might play a big role in the series, as she was announced among the first nine cast members connected to the Creature Commandos series. Here’s what we know about the character.

Who is Princess Ilana Rostovic?

Princess Ilana Rostovic is a completely new character for the Creature Commandos series, so we can’t dig up anything about her from the comics to better understand what kind of role she might play in the series. 

We do know, however, that we haven’t seen the character depicted in the initial concept art for the show, released by Warner Bros. and DC. In the concept art, we see (from left to right) Rick Flag Sr., Dr. Nina Mazursky, Dr. Phosphorus, Eric Frankenstein, The Bride, G.I. Robot, and Weasel. 

The two other announced characters that aren’t depicted in the picture are John Economos (with Steve Agee reprising his DCEU role) and Princess Ilana Rostovic.

That could suggest that Princess Ilana won’t be an initial member of the team. In fact, she might perhaps be their first mission – either to kill or save her. DC Comics fans will remember that one of the Creature Commandos’ first missions was the exploration of Dinosaur Island. Perhaps they’ll find Ilana Rostova there, and she eventually joins the team.

Unfortunately, until more information about the series’ plot comes out, we can’t possibly know who Ilana Rostovic will be – other than that she’s a Princess. We do know who’ll voice the character, though, which might also give us another hint about Rostovic.

Who is Maria Bakalova?

Maria Bakalova is a Bulgarian actress who will voice Princess Ilana Rostova in Creature Commandos. Bakalova actually already worked with James Gunn in the MCU. She first appeared as the voice of Cosmo, the astronaut dog in Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, and she’ll reprise the role in Guardians Galaxy Vol. 3 (due to be released on May 5, 2023).

That means she’ll be the third active MCU cast member to join Creature Commandos. The other two are David Harbour, who portrayed the Red Guardian in Black Widow, and will reprise the role in Thunderbolts, and Sean Gunn, James’ brother, who’ll reprise his DCEU role as Weasel while also giving his voice to G.I. Robot. Gunn portrays Kraglin in Guardians of the Galaxy.

Seeing that James Gunn already shared that several Creature Commandos characters are in plans to appear in live-action DCU projects as well, and the fact that he has a working history with Maria Bakalova, I bet that Princess Ilana Rostova will be an important character in the Creature Commandos series and that she’ll later reappear in live-action as well.

As for the animated show’s plot, we literally know nothing except what James Gunn shared in this Tweet:

“I’ve written all the episodes. I’m directing all of the primary actors initial recordings to get the voices right but I’m not the director of the show.”

Until we get more information, it’s all just speculation, but I honestly haven’t been this excited about a DC(E)U project in a long time – I believe since Zack Snyder’s Justice League! Creature Commandos is expected to premiere somewhere in early to mid-2024.

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