James Gunn
Peacemaker’s Steve Agee on Dancing For James Gunn and Hating His Beard
Every superhero, even one as unconventional as John Cena‘s Peacemaker, could use a little back-up — which is where Steve Agee comes in. The comedian and actor appears in the HBO Max comedy Peacemaker as John Economos, first seen working for Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) in The Suicide Squad and now investigating the strange goings-on that happen to coincide with Peacemaker’s escape from prison. “I tend to have parts where I’m in a scene and I say a line at the very end where we cut to the action,” Agee says about his past work on projects like New Girl and You’re the Worst. But while Economos is the sort of part that Agee plays nimbly as a character actor, he did value the opportunity to get a little deeper with the role in Peacemaker‘s eight episodes. Agee, as he explains in this one-o...
Peacemaker Review: The Suicide Squad Spin-Off Series Soars Like a CGI Eagle Thanks to Its Ensemble
The Pitch: If you watched The Suicide Squad last year and got told that one of the characters would be getting a spinoff TV show, would Peacemaker (John Cena) have been your first guess? Even with the post-credits scene setting up the series, probably not. Nonetheless, James Gunn‘s first major TV project takes this blunt instrument of an anti-hero and uses him as the base for an at times strange, at times pretty fun action-horror adventure. (The term “superhero”… does not feel particularly applicable, in this case.) “Previously, in The Suicide Squad…” That’s not a bit — that’s literally how the first episode of Peacemaker opens, treating the film like the true pilot episode of the series. (Which, it could be argued, it was.) What’s important to remember from that movie, if August 2021 is u...
John Cena’s Peacemaker Is the Hero We Don’t Need in First Trailer for HBO Max Show: Watch
He’s not the hero we need, but maybe he’s the hero we deserve. Peacemaker is here in the first trailer for John Cena’s The Suicide Squad spin-off series coming to HBO Max on January, 13th 2022. Picking up where the hit DC Extended Universe movie left off, Cena’s Peacemaker is brought back from the brink of death by Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) “just to save the fucking world, that’s all.” Now under the charge of his handlers (Danielle Brooks’ Leota Adebayo, Chukwudi Iwuji’s Clemson Murn, Steve Agee’s John Economos, and Jennifer Holland’s Emilia Harcourt), it’s up to Peacemaker to bring peace to the country — no matter who he has to kill to get it. The teaser trailer also introduces Freddie Stroma as Adrian Chase/Vigilante, another wacky anti-hero who kills for the greater good. We als...
John Cena’s Peacemaker Introduces Eagley in First Look at the Suicide Squad Spin-Off: Watch
John Cena’s Peacemaker may not care how many men, women, and children he needs to kill to get peace, but he won’t hurt a feather on an eagle. Certainly not his pet bird, Eagely, who’s introduced in the teaser clip from HBO Max’s The Suicide Squad spin-off series. In the first-look footage released today by WarnerMedia, Cena’s heroic supervillain meets up with his new team of handlers at an Italian restaurant. Steve Agee’s John Economos mocks him for showing up in full Peacemaker cosplay, noting that “a bright red shirt and white pants aren’t exactly conducive to lurking in the shadows.” When Peacemaker introduces his pet eagle as Eagely, Jennifer Holland’s Emilia Harcourt asks if his pet dog is named “Doggy.” Maybe instead of Peacemaker, this show should be called Sh*ttaker, as t...
James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad Gets Surprise Second Trailer: Watch
April Fool’s Day has been full of the suspected pranks and goofs, but this is no joke. James Gunn has shared another trailer for The Suicide Squad that features loads of new footage from the upcoming blockbuster. This new preview arrives less than a week after Warner Bros. unleashed the film’s R-rated trailer on audiences last Friday, which is an usual amount of successive promotion for a movie of this caliber. Either way, audiences surely won’t be complaining because this new trailer is stuffed with sneak-peaks of the highly-anticipated entry in the DC Extended Universe. Whereas the last trailer focused on film’s primary Squad members (like Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn and Idris Elba’s as Bloodsport), this one makes room for a whole slew of kooky side-characters like King Shark, Weas...
Marvel Reveals a Ton of Casting News, Secret Wars Disney+ Series, Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special
Xochitl Gomez (photo via Instagram/@_xochitl.goemz), Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury (Marvel), and Christian Bale (via WikiCommons) Forget stockholders; Disney’s investor’s presentation on Thursday was the best first-night-of-Hanukkah gift Marvel fans could ask for. Kevin Feige was on hand to present updates on the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe projects — and boy were there a lot of updates. After showing teasers and trailers for all of Marvel’s mostly completed Disney+ series (WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki, Ms. Marvel, and What If…?), Feige unloaded a stream of other upcoming projects. Some we knew about, such as Hawkeye; the Marvel head confirmed long-standing rumors (substantiated by recent on-set photos) that Hailee Steinfeld is playing the new Hawkeye, Kate Bi...
John Cena’s The Suicide Squad Character Peacemaker Gets HBO Max Spinoff
Before the character even makes his big screen debut, John Cena’s Peacemaker from The Suicide Side has been given a TV spinoff. Deadline reports that HBO Max has picked up Peacemaker for an eight-episode, straight-to-series order. Cena will reprise his role, while The Suicide Squad writer-director James Gunn will also make the streaming transition. He’ll write the series and direct a number of episodes, as well as executive produce alongside fellow The Suicide Squad producer Peter Safran. Cena will co-executive produce. The series will focus on the origins of Peacemaker, a character said to “love peace so much, he’d kill for it.” More vigilante than hero or villain, he was created by Joe Gill and Pat Boyette for Charlton Comics before eventually being acquired by DC Comics. The original Pe...
James Gunn Reveals Characters and First Teaser Trailer for The Suicide Squad: Watch
James Gunn has shared the first teaser trailer for The Suicide Squad and revealed new characters from the star-studded cast. The unveiling took place during DC’s virtual FanDome on Saturday. Gunn himself hosted a panel, and with a bit of pomp and ceremony he announced the villainous roles played by previously-announced actors. The big news is that Idris Elba will be inhabiting Bloodsport, a Lex Luthor associate. During a Q&A/trivia section, it was also revealed that Bloodsport in the film is spending time in jail for shooting Superman. This is the biggest plot drop from the panel, and it’s actually pulled right from the comic books. As for the rest of the Squad, a large part of it was already known, with Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) Captain Boomerang (...
The 100 Greatest Summer Blockbuster Movies of All Time
“Cool.” “Riveting.” “Gripping.” “High-Octane Thrill Ride!” All cliches of film criticism and yet all feelings we’ve experienced while watching a crackerjack summer blockbuster. Oops, there we go again. All things considered, any moviegoer can speak to the divine feeling of sitting in a cool, packed theater in the heat of the summer and being united by narrative. Not just united, but hypnotized, mentally convinced that the fate of the world is before your eyes, and there is nothing more important in that very moment. It’s escapism. It’s popcorn. It’s Chinatown. But also, it’s the power of spectacle. Over the years, Hollywood has certainly run that concept through the ringer, having turned what used to be a summer blockbuster season into, well, an entire calendar year. Now, all those aforeme...
