Michael Rooker’s DC Universe filmography is extensive. He played the vigilante-turned-canon-fodder Savant in The Suicide Squad and a neo-Nazi in Creature Commandos as Sam Fitzgibbon. In Peacemaker season 2, he’s also an eagle hunter named Red St. Wild. And he’s not finished yet. As a frequent James Gunn casting choice, it’s been confirmed this might not be the last time we see Rooker in the DCU. Here’s what that means, both for the actor and for the DCU canon in general.
[Ed. note: Spoilers ahead for Peacemaker episodes 4 and 5.]
On “Peacemaker: The Official Podcast with James Gunn,” the two longtime collaborators reveal how Rooker ended up playing St. Wild as a favor to Gunn after “something wasn’t working right” with a previous actor. Over dinner, Gunn told Rooker, “I have this role for you that would be great in Peacemaker, but you’d probably die.” He then continued, “We will not consider this as meaning that you can’t play another role in the DCU,” which Rooker says was “a big deciding factor for me.” Rooker then jokes that fans will now think “I’ll be coming back to the DC in a major, substantial role.” “This is how we tell you Rooker will be playing The Flash,” Gunn quips.
An original character in Peacemaker, Red St. Wild is a master eagle hunter hired by A.R.G.U.S. to take out Eagly, Peacemaker’s loyal sidekick. While A.R.G.U.S. targets Peacemaker for killing Rick Flag Jr. in The Suicide Squad and hiding an interdimensional portal in his bedroom, they enlist St. Wild to handle the bird. His edge comes from using stereotypical Native American rituals to astral project and track prey, showcased in episode 4’s “Need I Say More.” In episode 5, he manages to shoot Eagly after a failed poisoning attempt, only for the long-rumored “prime eagle” and his flock to swoop in and attack. Although St. Wild gets mauled by eagles, both Rooker and Gunn speculate whether he’s truly dead or not, with Rooker saying, “It’s up to the fans.”
Rooker’s many DCU roles also raise another question: What exactly is canon, anyway? Gunn confirmed to IGN that “almost” all of Peacemaker season 1 is canon, and made some clever edits in an early season 2 flashback to swap the Zack Snyder-era Justice League out for his own Justice Gang. Gunn has also stated that his film, The Suicide Squad, is an “imperfect memory,” which basically means he can pick and choose which parts of it get to stay canon and which don’t. (Creature Commandos and Superman are both fully canon, as is anything else from the DCU that follows, including Peacemaker season 2.)
Of course, considering Rooker’s elaborate costumes in both of his live-action DC roles so far, it would be easy enough to recast him for another part. And given their long-time collaborations throughout the years, we can rest assured that Rooker will be playing even more DC characters in the future. Just probably not The Flash.
