With the release of Creature Commandos, Superman, and Peacemaker Season 2, DC Studios co-head James Gunn has successfully brought the DC Universe into full swing. A number of additional projects are also on the way, including Supergirl, Clayface, and Man of Tomorrow. It’s a positive new direction for the studio which has struggled to find its footing with the ill-fated DCEU, though it’s been confirmed that one DCU actor was recast by James Gunn in one of these new projects.
One of the franchise’s properties, Peacemaker Season 2, is still airing weekly at the time of this writing. Fans were recently introduced to a DCU character that has been quite humorously portraying by a familiar actor. However, the decision to cast this actor was the result of a recast, as series creator James Gunn has unexpectedly confirmed.
It’s quite unexpected because this actor is a longtime friend of Gunn so it made sense that he would’ve been attached to the role from the beginning. In fact, he even had a small role in Gunn’s DCEU as a completely separate character. This could be why Gunn didn’t initially have the actor in mind.
As shared on Peacemaker: The Official Podcast via Comic Book Club, however, he had to come to that decision when the original actor attached didn’t work out.
“Last season, we talked a lot about how we recast Vigilante. Well, we recast the character of Red St. Wild,” Gunn began. “He was another actor, he was a very talented actor, great guy. It just didn’t work out for various reasons. And so after we had shot most of his scenes, I called up my friend Michael Rooker. I said, I want you to come in and maybe, you know, do this role for us. He said, how much money? I said, you’ll actually have to pay us. And he agreed to come in.”
Of course, Gunn was joking and they did, in fact, pay Rooker. As such, the rest was history, so he “agreed as a favor to come in and do the role. And he did it in a short amount of time.” It’s great to see how things have worked out, especially since Rooker’s work as Red St. Wild has been widely-acclaimed and positively-received.
Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any additional updates regarding the DCU and how the franchise moves forward as we have them. For now, fans are fortunate that this DCU recast worked out well for James Gunn and that Peacemaker Season 2 looks like yet another successful addition to the franchise.