James Gunn unknowingly cast a Guardians of the Galaxy actress in ‘Peacemaker’

JAMES Gunn, writer and director of Peacemaker unknowingly cast Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 actress Elizabeth Ludlow in his HBO Max series without realizing they’d previously worked together.       

Gunn is best known for helming Marvel Studios’ Guardians franchise. With last summer’s R-rated The Suicide Squad, he has introduced a slew of new characters to the DC Extended Universe.

One of which, John Cena’s Christopher Smith/Peacemaker, is now enjoying his own spin-off series. In addition to Cena, Peacemaker sees Jennifer Holland and Steve Agee reprise their roles as Emilia Harcourt and John Economos from The Suicide Squad. New cast members include Robert Patrick, Danielle Brooks, Freddie Stroma, and Chukwudi Iwuji.

Following the events of The Suicide Squad, Peacemaker’s eight-episode first season sees its eponymous vigilante/villain recruited by Amanda Waller’s (Viola Davis) ARGUS to once again help “save the f—king world.”

This time, the operation is “Butterfly” and the threat he’s facing comes in the form of a suspected alien invasion. In addition to ARGUS wildcards like Vigilante (Stoma) and Clemson Murn (Iwuji), one of Peacemaker’s most intriguing characters is Leota Adebayo (Brooks)—who, unbeknownst to the rest of the gang, is Waller’s daughter. Unlike Waller, Adebayo seems to be a righteous character who just wants to do right by her family, including her wife, Elizabeth’s Ludlow’s Keeya.

During a Twitter watch party with the Peacemaker cast for the series’ fifth episode, “Monkey Dory,” Gunn revealed he cast Ludlow as Keeya Adebayo without even realizing he’d also worked with her on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017). 

The reason for this is Ludlow wore such extensive makeup to play “Easik Mother” in the previous project that Gunn didn’t recognize her until she’d already been cast in his new series.

Even if it was accidental, this is yet another example of Gunn’s proclivity for working with the same actors across multiple projects. Other examples include Nathan Fillion, Michael Rooker, and his brother, Sean Gunn, who have all appeared in both the Guardians franchise and The Suicide Squad. Pom Klementieff, who plays Mantis in the Marvel Cinematic Universe also has a brief cameo in the DC film.

Guardians alum Stephen Blackehart even appears in Peacemaker episode 5 as Charlie the Gorilla. Peacemaker’s Iwuji is also set to appear in the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. While keeping his MCU role a secret, Iwuji recently opened up about working with Gunn.

Gunn and company will have plenty of job opportunities moving forward. Despite the current iteration of the Guardians franchise coming to an end, Peacemaker‘s stellar reviews bode well for both a second season and more spinoffs.

For now, Peacemaker continues to release new episodes on HBO Max every Thursday, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is due to hit theaters on May 5, 2023. (source: screenrant.com)

(ROHN ROMULO)