‘Peacemaker’ Season 2 Will Feature a New Opening Dance Number (2024)

Every episode of James Gunn's Suicide Squad spin-off series Peacemaker begins with a now-iconic dance number featuring a deadpan John Cena and the rest of the cast and set to Wig Wam's "Do You Wanna Taste It." Even as the show earned rave reviews upon its debut in 2022, the sequence became a viral hit as fans delivered their own renditions and Gunn shared instructions for how to replicate Christopher Smith's smooth moves. Norway's brightest stars even got in on the fun, performing the dance at the Gullruten Awards. Before Cena grooved his way into the public conscience, however, Alan Tudyk stood in to "give peace a dance" during early choreography.

It's been known for some time that the Resident Alien star played Cena's part during previsualization for the Peacemaker intro since his wife handled the choreography for the series. During a panel hosted by Collider's Steve Weintraub at Fan Expo Boston, however, he detailed his full experience performing the bizarre routine with backup dancers and how his involvement helped perfect the dance for the rest of the show's cast. "Just recently, my wife, Charissa Barton, she didn't take my last name, it's cool guys, it is not a hangup for me. She choreographed the dance for Peacemaker in the opening of Peacemaker, right?" he opened, setting up the discussion. "So if you like Peacemaker… If you haven't seen it, check it out. It's on Max, and you'll like it."

Before Tudyk could dive into the finer details of his and Barton's involvement, Weintraub questioned if the upcoming second season would feature a new dance and if his wife would once again bring it to life. "My wife is involved. I think that's all I can tease, it is a new dance number," he confirmed. Although he couldn't get up and show off the new moves himself, he did offer a peek behind the curtain into the mindset behind the first dance. The key to making that unskippable intro with the entire cast involved, he said, was creating a unique routine that was still simple enough that any actor could repeat it. Tudyk was the barometer for that.

"I was along for the ride in the creation of the first one because for Charissa, her pitch to James, who didn't know it was me when she was pitching it, she said my husband's an actor, and I'll teach him the dance and if he can— because she has to teach the actors, so it has to be at a level actors can dance. So she said my husband's an actor and if he can do it, anybody can do it. So I served as a low bar that John Cena had to step over."

Alan Tudyk Performed 'Peacemaker's Iconic Dance With a Whole Team

Taking part in his wife's work couldn't come at a better time for Tudyk, considering it was in the works during the COVID-19 outbreak. Gunn previously told Rolling Stone that it came as a shock to him when Barton's videos outlining the dance all featured Tudyk as the star. He'd continue to be the dance assistant for Peacemaker as the intro was being formulated. "I was John Cena in the dance, and I wasn't doing anything at the time, but it was early pandemic when they shot that," he continued. "So I was in all of her— she would send the dance to him, and I was always in it. It was so cool."

Although he's known for many things, including his role as Dr. Harry Vanderspeigle in Resident Alien, Hoban Washburne in Firefly, and a variety of prominent voice parts ranging from I, Robot to Wreck-It Ralph, and Rogue One, Tudyk is not known for his dancing. That's why he was the perfect test in his wife's eyes to see if Cena and company could replicate Peacemaker's rocking number. When practicing, though, Tudyk says he stood out like a sore thumb among the experienced dancers Barton hired around him. "I'm terrible at dancing, and she had real dancers, they're called the skeleton crew, that come in and that she choreographed the dance on," he added. "And so, I was John Cena, and it was like all these like 20-something dancers and me. It was ridiculous."

Even if he's not confident in his dancing skills, Tudyk does believe the performance would be a fun watch in the context of the finished product. Sadly, it's not available to watch online even though Barton still has the footage, but he did put in a word with his wife to get the video out to the public. "Let me see. [texting] Hey, babe, did you ever post our pre-vis dance for Season 1? Uh-huh. What's it called? Peacemaker dance? Can you? Is it legal? [end texting] Okay, let's see what she says." He eventually got a response saying "I never did, no. But I should be able to now," meaning fans could soon get a look at the star's moves on stage. Tudyk assures it will be worth the wait, adding:

"Yeah, it was pretty cool because it's also different like to watch it because it got choreographed, it was going to be in one location. So she choreographed it in a place that had several rooms, and it was done there. And then at the sort of right towards the end, it was like, ‘We’re gonna just build a stage to do it,’ which is what people saw. The Peacemaker dance was done on the stage with neon lights and all this stuff. It was just like here. And so she quickly made it for the stage... So the pre-vis of it would be me [and] a bunch of dancers. And it would be cool to see."

Tudyk Says 'Peacemaker' Season 2's Writing Is "So Good"

The focus now for team Peacemaker is firmly on Season 2, which began filming earlier this year and is set to pick up in the aftermath of Gunn's new Superman film coming next year. When asked if Tudyk was tapped to cut a rug yet again to demonstrate the new dance sequence, he revealed, "We haven't done it yet. It's being crafted now." However, what he's seen of Chris Smith's new adventures already has him excited about where the show is going as it becomes firmly entrenched in the new DCU. "We talked about it because they've just started filming, and I just started reading the episodes, which is why I started talking about it. Oh my God, it’s so good."

All episodes of Peacemaker Season 1 are available to stream now on Max. Stay tuned here at Collider for more updates on Season 2 and more news out of Fan Expo Boston.

Peacemaker

Comedy

Release Date

January 13, 2022

Creator

James Gunn

Cast

John Cena , Steve Agee , Danielle Brooks , Robert Patrick , Jennifer Holland , Chukwudi Iwuji

Main Genre

Comedy

Seasons

2

Watch on Max