James Gunn Debunks ‘Peacemaker’ Spin-Off Casting Rumors

The Big Picture

• Corey Hawkins is not in the
  Waller
  series, as scripts are still in progress and casting hasn’t started yet, says James Gunn.
• The
  Peacemaker
  spin-off will explore Amanda Waller’s character, with DC veterans Christal Henry and Jeremy Carver at the helm.
• Peacemaker
  Season 2 will film in May.

James Gunn once again took to social media to debunk a DCU casting rumor that was gaining steam around the internet. This time, however, it wasn’t for his much-anticipated Superman movie, but rather the Peacemaker spinoff series Waller starring Viola Davis. In a recent post on Threads, he addressed the possibility of Straight Outta Compton star Corey Hawkins boarding the series as A.R.G.U.S. agent Dale Gunn after a fan asked about the reports, saying “Scripts aren’t finished. Haven’t started the casting process. (So no).”

Hawkins, who enjoyed roles in The Last Voyage of the Demeter and The Color Purple last year, was linked to the series through a piece on Medium which has since been deleted. It’s the latest in a string of false casting reports regarding the DCU that have gained traction, most of which plagued Superman with Pom Klementieff and Miriam Shorr‘s alleged additions being covered by reputable publications. With Gunn confirming Waller is still fairly early in the creative process, it’s likely we won’t be hearing any casting news for a while.

Announced in 2022, the spinoff will entirely revolve around Davis’s Amanda Waller, the ruthless government official in charge of the Suicide Squad who’s shown a willingness for shady dealings to achieve her goals. Initially, it seemed the series would address the fallout of Waller’s actions in Peacemaker Season 1 after her daughter Leota Adebayo (Danielle Brooks) blew the whistle on Project Butterfly and Task Force X. With the show pushed back amid the dual Hollywood strikes to now take place after Season 2 of the John Cena-led series, however, there may be a slightly different angle in mind for Waller’s first solo outing when it arrives. Since writing still needs to be done, the final shape of the live-action series could change before we get a glimpse of it.

‘Waller’ Is Under the Stewardship of DC Veterans

Waller hails from Christal Henry and Jeremy Carver, both of whom have plenty of experience in DC working on Watchmen and Doom Patrol respectively. Carver also helped bring Steve Yockey‘s Dead Boy Detectives series to life, which hits Netflix on April 25. The duo’s work won’t be seen for a while yet, as Peacemaker Season 2 will begin filming in May. In the meantime, the DCU has big things coming with Creature Commandos set to arrive later this year and Superman due out next summer alongside a boatload of other projects in the pipeline as part of Gunn and Peter Safran‘s grand plans.

Stay tuned here at Collider for more on Waller as writing continues on the spinoff series, and stream Peacemaker on Max in the U.S.

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