Steve Agee reveals that James Gunn was shocked and giddy at the prospect of what Warner Bros. and DC allowed him to do in the finale of their HBO Max series Peacemaker. The series is a spinoff from Gunn's 2021 film The Suicide Squad, the second DCEU film to follow Task Force X, the team of villains assembled by Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) to take on covert operations. Peacemaker follows John Cena's titular character, a weapons expert who is so devoted to American values and peace that he will do anything - or kill anyone - to protect them. The series also stars Robert Patrick, Danielle Brooks, Freddie Stroma, Jennifer Holland, Chukwudi Iwuji, and Steve Agee as John Economos.
Peacemaker follows the character after the events of The Suicide Squad. He is recruited for a new mission by members of A.R.G.U.S. called Project Butterfly and teams up with overzealous busboy turned hero Vigilante. The series was written entirely by James Gunn, who also directed several episodes, occasionally handing the reins to Jody Hill, Rosemary Rodriguez, and Brad Anderson.
While speaking with Screen Rant, Agee explained what Gunn was like on set while filming the Peacemaker finale, which will air on February 17, 2022. Despite a grueling schedule involving three weeks of night shoots, Gunn was "running around with so much energy laughing going, 'I can't believe they're letting me do this.'" Agee said that he's "worked with James on four or five projects" but "never seen him that excited, that giddy." Read the full quote below:
James and Warner Brothers and HBO were all like, "No. We want this to be viewed and huge." I remember when we were shooting one scene in particular. The last episode takes place mostly at night and it was about 21 days of shooting at night. It was like three o'clock in the morning, and James was running around with so much energy laughing going, "I can't believe they're letting me do this. I cannot believe they OK'd this. Warner Brothers and HBO must be out of their mind. I can't believe I get to do this." I've worked with James on four or five projects, I've never seen him that excited, that giddy. It's gonna be great. It's gonna be well worth the wait.
Agee's working relationship with Gunn has gone back a long way, since his 2010 anti-superhero comedy Super starring Rainn Wilson. In addition to Super and The Suicide Squad, the pair have collaborated on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Brightburn, the story of an evil young boy with superpowers, which Gunn co-wrote and produced. Considering the fact that Agee has worked with Gunn on every budget level, in every tone of story, and with every level of studio interference, the fact that this is the most excited he's ever seen the director is very telling.
Gunn's idiosyncratic and irreverent humor is instrumental in his success as a superhero filmmaker, and he applied it to Peacemaker in spades. During his tenure at DC, Gunn has both ended The Suicide Squad with a giant city-destroying starfish and packed 104 F-bombs into the first three episodes of Peacemaker. The fact that he clearly feels the series finale is pushing the envelope farther than either of these facts is mightily intriguing as to how far the series will go before Peacemaker season 1 is finished.
Peacemaker airs new episodes Thursdays on HBO Max.
