Writer/director James Gunn says he knew Eagly would steal scenes from the Peacemaker cast and calls the animal partner the true star of the show. After making his DC Extended Universe debut with The Suicide Squad, Gunn has returned to create, write and primarily direct the eight-episode first series in Warner Bros.' ongoing comic book franchise. The filmmaker developed the show during post-production on his DCEU movie, hoping to distract from the lull of lockdown and ultimately entering talks with DC Films for spin-offs from The Suicide Squad leading to the show's greenlight.
Peacemaker centers on John Cena's titular antihero and explores his origin story and his missions after The Suicide Squad, in which he turned on his team in an effort to follow Amanda Waller's orders to eliminate all evidence of Project Starfish. Peacemaker, alongside A.R.G.U.S. black ops squad Project Butterfly, is tasked with taking out dangerous parasitic butterfly-like creatures posing as humans located around the globe before they can complete their unknown goal. Alongside Cena, the cast for Peacemaker includes returning The Suicide Squad stars Steve Agee and Jennifer Holland and marks the DCEU debuts of Danielle Brooks, Robert Patrick, Freddie Stroma, Chukwudi Iwuji, Rizwan Manji, Nhut Li, Annie Chang and Lochlyn Munro.
In time for the show's premiere, Gunn recently caught up with Collider to discuss the well-received DCEU series Peacemaker. When asked about the lovable bald eagle companion, Gunn revealed he knew Eagly would steal scenes from the show's cast and properly warned his stars ahead of time, ultimately calling Eagly the "true star of the show." See what Gunn said below:
"No, I loved it. I knew he was going to steal the show. I'm like, 'Take it from the guy who had baby Groot.' Or, even the first Groot. The first Groot when we had him on set, everybody just took it for granted that this guy was there. And then all of a sudden the movie comes out and everybody loves this character that nobody gave two thoughts about on set. I'm like, 'Eagly's going to steal the show. Everybody's going to love Eagly.' I'm like, 'You were great in that scene, Jen. You were amazing, but unfortunately you're in the scene with Eagly, so he's the one that people are going to be talking about in that scene.' They just have to deal with it. Eagly's the true star of the show."
With his breakout comic book movie work in Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy, Gunn began making a name for himself with lovable non-human characters thanks to the likes of both Bradley Cooper's Rocket Raccoon and Vin Diesel's Groot. This would be further bolstered with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 as the world was introduced to Baby Groot and his famous opening dance sequence, which Gunn memorably served as the reference for the movement of the animation. In the lead up to Peacemaker's release, the teases of Eagly in the trailers and posters caught many audiences' attentions for becoming the next big animated character from Gunn.
Now that the first three episodes of Peacemaker are streaming on HBO Max, audiences have done just that as Cena's bald eagle companion has become one of the breakout stars of the show. In addition to the funny moment in which Eagly hugs Peacemaker, the animal partner also was included in the series' now-viral opening credits dance sequence set to the tune of Wig Wam's "Do Ya Wanna Taste It." The wait for more Eagly won't be long as the next episode of Peacemaker arrives on HBO Max on Wednesday.
Source: Collider
