James Gunn promises Michael Rooker a new DCU role after Peacemaker season 2 death
James Gunn has suggested Michael Rooker’s DCU story may not be over after that Peacemaker Season 2 death — but the comeback he’s hinting at isn’t the obvious one.
Right, so here’s a juicy bit of DCU business that’s a little bit odd even by James Gunn standards: we might not have seen the last of Michael Rooker in the DC Universe, even though his most recent character in Peacemaker Season 2 got absolutely mauled. Dead, but not necessarily done, if Gunn gets his way.
Actors will end up playing more than one character in the DCU. It’s bound to happen.
That’s Gunn himself, laying it out on the DC Studios Showcase: Official Podcast. If you’ve noticed a few familiar mugs popping up in double roles across his films, that’s not a glitch, that’s on purpose. He even singled out Rooker — and there’s a bit of backstory that makes this one intriguing.
The Savant, The Hunter, The Favour
Rooker first popped up in Gunn’s The Suicide Squad as Savant, but for Peacemaker Season 2, he materialised as yet another new face: Red St. Wild, a bloke with a truly diabolical eagle obsession. Not making this up — his entire plot thread in the season revolves around him hunting eagles (namely, Peacemaker’s mate Eagly), and, well, it ends about as badly as you’d imagine if you mess with a CGI bird with super-strength. Eagly gets his beak (and talons) bloody, Red St. Wild doesn’t limp out. The end. Or is it?
This is where it gets a bit interesting: by Gunn’s own account, Rooker jumped aboard at short notice as a favour. Gunn more or less promised him a voucher for a future DCU character gig as payback. To quote how he framed it for the podcast:
He specifically told me that if I did him this favour, he’d gladly give me another character somewhere down the line in the DCU.
So, if you’re keeping count, that’s two DCU roles for Rooker already, with Gunn practically saying a third could be on the cards — depending on opportunity, of course. No new role’s actually been named, mind, and Rooker’s not been officially attached to anything fresh just yet.
Why This All Makes Sense (Sort Of)
Gunn’s a notorious repeat-collaborator. If you’ve followed his Marvel output (think Guardians of the Galaxy), you’ll know he loves reusing actors, swapping them in for wildly different characters. Same logic applies in his DC sandbox — continuity purists may bristle, but as Gunn tells it, doubling up on acting duties is fair game if the circumstances fit.
- Michael Rooker has played Savant (The Suicide Squad) and Red St. Wild (Peacemaker S2)
- Red St. Wild is dead in-universe after a fateful run-in with Eagly
- Gunn openly planning for some actors to return as completely different characters
- Rooker helped Gunn by stepping in at short notice, and there’s ‘another’ role somewhere in the DCU pipeline for him
- No specific future project announced for Rooker yet—just Gunn’s word for now
Rooker’s two DCU deaths don’t mean we’ve seen the last of him if Gunn has anything to do with it.
One last bit of trivia: Rooker’s accumulated credits under Gunn’s direction include not just his DC work, but also a recurring presence in Guardians and a bit part in Superman. Wouldn’t bet against that track record continuing — assuming there’s anyone left in the DCU he hasn’t played or killed off by now.