Michael Rooker is not only a longtime collaborator of James Gunn, after appearing in a bulk of his movies including two “Guardians of The Galaxy” films, and played a short-lived character in “The Suicude Squad,” he’s now reuniting with Gunn for the second season of “Peacemaker” adding what many see as a good luck charm.
In a new piece from Entertainment Weekly, promoting the DC streaming series coming to HBO Max on August 21, it is revealed that Rooker is playing the antagonist, Red St. Wild, who is hunting Christopher Smith’s (John Cena) animal sidekick, Eagley.
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“His name is Red St. Wild, and he’s the world’s foremost eagle hunter who is on a mission to kill Eagly,” Gunn told EW of Rooker’s new DC character. “We thought Eagly was probably the most popular character from season 1, and so in season 2, he has his own story with his nemesis, played by none other than the despicable Michael Rooker.”
Many will remember that Rooker played Savant in “The Suicide Squad,” who is killed rather quickly, as are many other expendable cohorts. The new run of episodes will feature another actor who died in that R-rated sequel, as Nathan Fillion makes a return as well as his Green Lantern character, Guy Gardner from “Superman,” after playing T.D.K., who saw a similar gory fate as Savant.
Gunn has said in the past that Season 2 of “Peacemaker” will act as a bridge, adding the show to the greater DCU canon as it is expected to link up with both “Creature Commandos” and “Superman,” with characters from those projects showing up in the new episodes debuting in August.
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It’ll be interesting to see if Gunn plans on making more mature DCU-set projects beyond television, as his mature corner certainly feels like “Suicide Squad 3,” the WWII hero “Sgt. Rock,” or a solo “Lobo” movie (has been in the work for ages) led by Jason Momoa could be a way to go if they wanted to deliver R-rated movies after “Deadpool & Wolverine” re-established that audiences still want those kinds of comic book films.