WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Peacemaker Episode 6, "Murn After Reading" now streaming on HBO Max.
Peacemaker star Annie Chang had to audition for two separate parts, according to series creator James Gunn.
For the first six episodes of HBO Max's original series, Peacemaker, Chang portrayed Detective Sophie Song until Episode 6, "Murn After Reading," when her body was overtaken by Goff (or Eek Stak Ik Ik), the leader of the Butterflies. "When [Annie Chang] auditioned she had to audition as TWO characters - Sophie & Goff," Gunn said. "Some actors were great at one or the other but only Annie was great at both."
Episode 6 of Peacemaker revealed that the Butterfly previously living in the body of Senator Goff -- who is now using Sophie's body as a host -- is the leader of the Butterflies. After sending a signal to all available Butterflies, she was able to infiltrate the entire Evergreen Police department and use them as hosts for her Butterfly army.
"Murn After Reading" also saw ARGUS team leader Clemson Murn, portrayed by Chukwudi Iwuji, disclose to his team that he has been a Butterfly the entire time. According to Iwuji, his character's secret identity "was a big selling point with [Gunn] and [executive producer] Peter [Safran]," but the actor chose not to let his character's Butterfly status influence how he portrayed Murn. "It was really important that I played it as Clemson Murn, and that was it," Iwuji said. "You know, with all his dark past - his taciturn and dry, drive - Amanda Waller qualities."
The first three episodes of Peacemaker premiered on HBO Max on Jan. 13. While there are eight episodes set to air overall for the show's first season, only seven were shown to critics before the series premiere. According to Gunn, this was to avoid any potential spoilers. "I wouldn't let them put out eight," Gunn said in a recent interview. "They wanted to put out all eight. I said, 'No way. No chance in hell are we putting out all eight.' There's just too many things [that] happen in episode eight that I just could not let it get out there. It would absolutely be spoiled. You know, I wouldn't even let them give it to one place or anything like that because it just wasn't... I didn't want it to be out there."
Gunn has previously stated that DC Films and HBO Max let him go "hog wild" for the series, giving him plenty of freedom in this addition to the DCEU. When Peacemaker was first announced, Gunn called the series "an opportunity to delve into current world issues through the lens of this superhero/supervillain/and world's biggest douchebag." He said, "I'm excited to expand The Suicide Squad and bring this character from the DC film universe to the full breadth of a series."
New episodes of Peacemaker drop every Thursday on HBO Max.
Source: Twitter