It’s been three years since the first season of Peacemaker, and in that time James Gunn has gone on to become the leader of the DCU films, starting with this summer’s critically acclaimed hit Superman. He now returns to the 11th Street Kids who, after saving the universe in the previous season, find themselves not celebrated heroes, but continued cast-offs who nobody seems to like.
Joonatan Itkonen
I met with the cast at a virtual junket and got to speak with them about where our anti-heroes find themselves and what to expect from a show that is tonally different from anything else in the DC Universe.
Right off the bat, it’s clear nobody is at peace with themselves. Least of all Harcourt (Jennifer Holland), who spirals out of control as she’s let go of ARGUS and the only life she’s ever known.
Jennifer Holland: She's struggling with some demons, for sure. She's in a very vulnerable place, but she doesn't want to show that to anyone.
Her way of dealing with the feeling of discomfort and loss of control of her life [is not healthy]. And she’s feeling vulnerable for the first time in a really long while, because she almost died at the end of season 1. So, she’s opening to these relationships with the 11th St. Kids in a way that I think makes her uncomfortable.
I think she goes a little too far with how much she's opening up and she's trying to button back up again. I think she's unravelling a little bit. And the way that shows itself is by putting herself in these positions where she will get hurt.
Adding to this burden is Rick Flagg Sr. (Frank Grillo), the father of Rick Flagg Jr. (Joel Kinnaman), who Peacemaker (John Cena) killed in The Suicide Squad. It’s an act of betrayal within the team and of everything that Peacemaker thought he stood for that is still eating him up inside.
For Grillo, that pain drives Flagg into the new season.
Frank Grillo: That's the genesis of really what my existence is throughout these different various shows and movies. As a father of three sons, you know, the fact that he (Peacemaker) has taken the life of my kid, my legacy, my objective is kind of simple. It is to destroy him. Now, I can't be just driven by one thing otherwise that would be a little bit boring. So, there's a lot of other stuff I have to deal with because I'm now in a new position [as director of ARGUS].
Meanwhile, one of the first season’s more timid characters, Adebayo (Danielle Brooks), returns with a more renewed sense of purpose. In the midst of powerful and superpowered beings, it’s Adebayo who doesn’t question who they are.
Danielle Brooks: I think that sparked from the first season, where she got this confidence of self-assurance. Because when I went back and watched the series, there were just so many moments where the 11th St. Kids, Economos (Steve Agee) or Peacemaker would just plant these seeds in her. Like: you got this, you can do this, don't doubt it. I remember being on the fence, then thinking I am made for this shit! I feel like from that moment on she was gone. So, in season 2, we’re watching her literally trying to be the best version of herself. She's now the cheerleader for everybody.
It’s been interesting to watch the other characters truly struggle through their lives, and as we see throughout the season, even Adebayo’s still figuring out her personal life as well. But she's ready to choose herself for the first time.
Episode 1 of Season 2 also re-introduces the multiverse into the DCU. In the very first moments, Peacemaker stumbles into an alternate reality where his brother, Keith (David Denman), and father, Auggie (Robert Patrick) aren’t just alive, but a happy and healthy family. It’s a revelation that propels everything that happens in the following eight episodes.
David Denman: Chris, in this universe, is a little troubled. Keith is there to protect him and look out for him, you know, even more than his father is – even though their father's a nicer guy in this universe! His biggest trauma is killing his older brother when they were young. To have a chance to heal by having this relationship with him in this world is such a wild thing for him to go through, you know? It's like that dream that you wish was so real that you don't want to wake up from. Then, in this one moment, he gets to live it. It's kind of a beautiful thing.
Denman’s casting was kept a firm secret until the moment the first episode came out. After years of building up a character through memories on-screen and others speaking about him, Denman says he doesn’t feel the pressure of living up to that image. Instead, it was much harder to live up to the secrecy surrounding DC’s grand plan.
Denman: The only thing that came into play is when I had to be very tight-lipped about who I was playing! Some of my close friends knew what I was doing, and they were like: “What? Oh my God!” So that was kind of fun. I quickly realized this is a bigger deal than I thought it was. But Keith’s there to represent healing. He’s a factor for Chris of a trauma that clearly everyone who watched season one knows. I didn’t feel pressure coming in to play that.
Another newcomer to the series is Sasha Bordeaux, played by Sol Rodriguez. She’s a new ARGUS agent who, unlike her partners Langston (Tim Meadows) and Economos, is far more grounded and devoted to the cause. Rodriguez, who is quick to laugh and immensely charming in person, felt the pressure of joining a massive hit in its second season.
Sol Rodriguez: I was very intimidated because it's just like going to a new school where they’ve already started the term and you're the new kid. They’re all so amazing and funny people and amazing actors. They had also worked together before, so they were already a family, and it was very intimidating to walk into that. But from my first meeting with James and then meeting Steve and the rest of the cast, it was such a a relief to realize how kind and friendly they are.
Rodriguez’s character, Bordeaux, is the right-hand man for Flagg Sr. As such, she must play most of the series very straight and even annoyed at the fast-and-loose antics of her team. I ask Rodriguez how those dynamics found their way on screen from the page.
Rodriguez: It was very intimidating because she's a tough character and in real life I'm very different. On top of that, they’re also all men. Steve is 204 centimetres tall! I'm 158cm, so he towers over me. Giving him directions and telling him what to do was a mystery to me. Like, how do I make this grown man listen to me and do what I tell them to do? That took a little bit, but I think I got the rhythm of it throughout the season.
But, in the beginning, I was very scared because I also admire them so much, but as soon as they say cut, we all laugh. That also relaxes you and gives you confidence. You know that you are comfortable with them.
Steve Agee, who plays Economos, chimes in with regards to the relaxed atmosphere.
Steve Agee: When I first met Langston (Tim Meadows), he's in the van with me, and James (Gunn) had told him during rehearsals to just keep touching me. Now, John Economos, the character, does not like to be touched. He has a personal space that is very well defined! So, you can see it in my eyes that I'm just really struggling to keep a straight face, and it was so funny because I think Tim also knew that. That first day with him in the van is the hardest I think I’ve ever laughed on set.
It’s that borderline between creepy and unhinged and parody that Gunn does so well. I ask if all of it comes from the page, or is there a level where they, as actors, have to start pulling back to avoid the relationships appearing false or too broad on screen.
Freddie Stroma (Vigilante): It's on the page. I genuinely think that if you lean into it, the audience feels that, too. If the words on the page are that insane, my only job is to tell the truth. So, if my character believes it, it'll be funny and it'll do its thing. But the truth is ultimately all I need to bring to the table because James is funny. His writing is what's going to make it work. So yeah, it's just utter confidence and believing what you're saying. Put those together and you get Adrian.
Agee: That big brother/little brother vibe between Adrian and Peacemaker last season, that clinginess, has shifted onto Economos this season. Last time, I was like, completely put off by this (Adrien) character. But then, by the end of the season, we've all had this massive fight to save the world in the final episode, which was kind of our becoming a band of brothers. I don't think I'm as annoyed by Adrian in season 2, I tolerate him more because we're friends.
Grillo, an intimidating and physical presence who at 60 retains the look of someone half his age, gets to play against type as Flagg Sr., with a wealth of sassy and dry putdowns reserved for anyone who gets in his way. He, too, sings Gunn’s praises in finding the character.
Grillo: You know, I'd like to say it was all my doing, but it's all on the page. It really is actor-proof. I think one time I tried to change one word, I tried to add one word, and I called James, and immediately went: No. And rightfully so. It’s on the page; it's great. I'm not stressing about what the why of things when James then gives you carte blanche to go and create this. It was a ton of fun.
Holland: Frank just exudes confidence and he's very charismatic. He's he doesn't have a false moment. He's always so incredibly real. And so that's what you look for when you're a creator or when you're an actor working with someone. So, he brought a lot to it. He's being modest, which is not like him, he's not.
Grillo: Not at all!
In the second episode, the multiverse expands further, revealing that like Keith and Auggie, this world has another Harcourt who is seemingly happier and more well-adjusted – and deeply in love with Peacemaker. I ask Holland about playing the character between these worlds.
Holland: I didn't want them to feel like completely different people. I wanted Amelia from the other dimension to feel like she had the same genetic makeup as our Harcourt, but that she had a different upbringing. It was sort of like the nature versus nurture. You still had whatever might make you a little bit strong or tough, you know, and capable and all the things at the core of your genetics. But then what if that person didn't have as much trauma in her childhood. What would that person be like? Amelia in the second dimension, she's quicker to smile. She's quicker to laugh. She lets go of things easier, and she's a very emotionally needy person. She approaches emotions and relationships very different than our Harcourt. It was fun to get to play both characters. What a dream. I mean, what a dream I get to play her in two different dimensions. It's amazing.
Finally, returning from a seemingly idealised world to our Harcourt, problems and all, I asked Holland what did she find to love about the original version of the character who she spent most time with.
Holland: I think her best quality is loyalty. Whether or not that's something that remains throughout the entire season, or if that breaks because of her desperation, we don't know.
I think she's an incredibly loyal person and that comes from being a soldier. In season 1, when Adebayo plants the fake Peacemaker journal in his trailer, Harcourt, who has hated this man for the whole season, she's so angry with her because you don't betray your teammates. That's who she is at her core. She may not like you, but she won’t betray you. She's a complicated person, but she's loyal.
Season 2 of Peacemaker streams weekly on HBO Max. The full season review can be read from the link below.
Joonatan Itkonen
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