PEACEMAKER Director James Gunn Reveals Impact Recasting Vigilante Had On The HBO Max Series

PEACEMAKER Director James Gunn Reveals Impact Recasting Vigilante Had On The HBO Max Series

Original Vigilante actor Chris Conrad departed Peacemaker over creative differences, and writer/director James Gunn has now revealed the impact bringing in Freddie Stroma to reshoot all those scenes had.

By JoshWilding - Jan 17, 2022 05:01 AM EST
Filed Under: Peacemaker
Source: Screen Rant

Vigilante is a relatively obscure DC Comics character, but he's made a few animated and live-action appearances over the years. Arrow reimagined him as the villainous Prometheus, while Peacemaker is taking the anti-hero down a far more comedic route as Christopher Smith's obsessive best friend.

If you've watched the first few episodes of the HBO Max series, we're sure you'll agree that actor Freddie Stroma (who many of you will remember as Harry Potter's Cormac McLaggen) has been stealing the show. Chris Conrad was originally cast as Adrian Chase, but after starting work on the series, he walked away from the project over reported "creative differences."

Now, writer and director James Gunn has elaborated on the impact this had on Peacemaker.

"[Stroma] came in late. We had already shot five-and-a-half episodes with another actor, who's an incredibly talented guy, but we were on different pages about certain things, and I don't think he wanted to continue on the series in the long run," the filmmaker explained. "So, we brought Freddie in, five-and-a-half episodes in, and I reshot all of his scenes."

"Yeah, we reshot," Gunn continued. "I directed all of the scenes with Vigilante in five and a half episodes." We're assuming this means there isn't so much as a single scene with Conrad left in the show as it sounds like Gunn even reshot the scenes with his face concealed by Vigilante's mask.

This allowed troma to reimagine the character as he wanted, and the actors are so different, it's hard not to wonder what Conrad's interpretation looked like. We doubt any of those scenes will ever be released, of course, but rest assured that Stroma continues to make a memorable impact in Peacemaker over the course of the next four weeks (only seven episodes were shared with critics, something Gunn has since explained was done in an effort to conceal spoilers). 

What are your thoughts on Peacemaker's take on Vigilante?

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DemonTweeks
DemonTweeks - 1/17/2022, 5:11 AM
great show so far, really enjoying it. laugh out loud funny.
Unites
Unites - 1/17/2022, 5:21 AM
Old quote.
dracula
dracula - 1/17/2022, 5:35 AM
Get Taika and Daniela for a show
cyclopsprime
cyclopsprime - 1/17/2022, 5:51 AM
@dracula - maybe for season two
McMurdo
McMurdo - 1/17/2022, 12:25 PM
@dracula - Taika is just a lesser James Gunn
dracula
dracula - 1/17/2022, 12:40 PM
@McMurdo - Not saying have him direct, have him play the first Ratcatcher again
RokoVII
RokoVII - 1/17/2022, 5:41 AM
Conrad quiting the show is hilarious considering hes a nobody actor that barely gets any work
Darkknight2149
Darkknight2149 - 1/17/2022, 6:26 AM
I hate how willing James Gunn is to completely bastardise a character as long as they aren't well-known like Batman or Superman. Guardians of the Galaxy and his DC work are both guilty of this. This Deadpool-ish character has nothing to do with Vigilante except for the name and costume. Create a different character at that point.
globaltravels
globaltravels - 1/17/2022, 6:58 AM
@Darkknight2149 - show me on the vigilante doll where James Gunn touched you
TheHumanSpider2
TheHumanSpider2 - 1/17/2022, 7:26 AM
@Darkknight2149 - So you are that one Vigilante fan on planet Earth
PapaSpank54
PapaSpank54 - 1/17/2022, 7:37 AM
@Darkknight2149 - I'm with you though. As a comic fan, I get the feeling that, in Gunn's mind, he's laughing with the characters and books, but I think the layman just sees his films as laughing at them.
As a film enjoyer, I like that Gunn makes his own stories while still finding strategic spots to show respect to the roots of the characters he's working with.
PapaSpank54
PapaSpank54 - 1/17/2022, 7:42 AM
It's crazy that Peacemaker from James Gunn seems to be handling white man violence and racism with more tact than a lot of other media has in recent years.
The more modern twist on the idea of Peacemaker having a Nazi father is genius.
Vigilante is actually chilling on occasion, reminds me of that shooter that was a YouTuber who became obsessed with a Danny Phantom character and shot up the grocery store he worked at. Goofy dude you can empathize with until you see why he's lonely.
McMurdo
McMurdo - 1/17/2022, 12:26 PM
@PapaSpank54 - lol I genuinely think Peacemaker may tackle racism better than FatWS, a show that took every opportunity and then some to hit us over the head with it.
PapaSpank54
PapaSpank54 - 1/17/2022, 8:49 PM
@McMurdo - can't believe James Gunn out-subtled Marvel. [frick]in A.
Is TFaTWS any good? I've heard such mixed things about it
bobevanz
bobevanz - 1/17/2022, 8:40 AM
Great show, keep it up! 10000000 times better than titans or ANY of those garbage cw shows
KingLeonidas
KingLeonidas - 1/17/2022, 9:12 AM
They recast a 51 year old actor with a 35 year old. That sounds rather drastic? I am guessing Conrad was fired.
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