James Gunn Confirms The Return Of A DC Fan-Favorite In Peacemaker Season 2
A beloved character from writer-director James Gunn's DC-Max series "Peacemaker" is about to take flight again. It's a bird, it's a plane, it's — no, it's actually just a bird. The "Guardians of the Galaxy" director has posted in Threads that Eagly — the American Bald Eagle sidekick to John Cena's titular character — will be back for Season 2. "Eagly sneaked! He's back with us! I'm writing him today," Gunn wrote.
In June 2023, Gunn assured fans that "Peacemaker" Season 2 was still happening, but not before "Superman: Legacy." The film, of course, is the first entry in Gunn's and collaborator Peter Safran's reboot of the DC Extended Universe, which is now known as the DC Universe. "Superman: Legacy" is due in theaters on July 11, 2025. In a Threads post in October, Gunn confirmed for a fan that "Peacemaker" would take place in the continuity of the DCU and it would be addressed in Season 2. Also, that same month, the writer-director noted that he was in the process of writing the new season.
While Peacemaker's majestic winged sidekick appears to be the real deal, Eagly is actually a CGI creation voiced by prolific voice actor Dee Bradley Baker. During an exclusive interview with Looper, Baker said voicing Eagly was unique in that the raptor wasn't an exaggerated version of a Bald Eagle.
"This is a very realistic eagle, and it's beautifully animated," Baker said. "The folks at WETA Animation did such an outstanding job. Much of that was done when they came to me to add an expressive nuance to the performance of the eagle in the scenes."
Thanks to Baker, Eagly is a CGI eagle with a heart
Dee Bradley Baker is no stranger to voice acting, having compiled an astonishing 670 credits to date, including several animated and live-action characters in the "Star Wars" universe. As for his approach to bringing Eagly to life for "Peacemaker," Baker said he layered the character with heart since he views the "voice" of the creature as something much more than a sound effect.
"Part of why I'm called in to do something like this — whether it's an animal or a monster or an alien or something — is there's an intelligence or intent underneath it so that it plays out as a character in the scene," Baker told Looper. "It's not just a sound effect. I don't think of myself as a sound effects guy, really. I'm really an actor that channels my voice acting in a weird way, but it's acting. That's what they brought me in for — to add the extra feather in if you will — that extra nuance to the performance of Peacemaker's sidekick."
Eagly is not only featured in several scenes in the "Peacemaker" series, the character also swoops in at the end of the "Peacemaker Dance" sequence that opens each episode. Baker said he loves the dance so much that he never hits fast-forward on his remote when watching the series opening title credits on streaming.
On top of that, Baker said Eagly shouldn't be allowed to have all the fun. "I found myself thinking, 'There's got to be people on YouTube that I could go to that'll teach me that dance.'" Baker told Looper with a laugh. "I want to learn to do that dance!"