The Suicide Squad: James Gunn Explains How They Filmed the Helmet Fight Scene

James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad is out now and features a lot of fun moments and cool shots. Gunn has been sharing some behind-the-scenes content ranging from images of Margot Robbie doing an epic Harley Quinn stunt to fun bloody photos of John Cena as Peacemaker. The director also occasionally answers fan questions and reveals how certain parts of the movie were made. In a new post, Gunn explained how they filmed the fight between Peacemaker (Cena) and Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman) that was seen through Peacemaker’s helmet.

“@JamesGunn apologies if you’ve already answered this previously, but was this shot of Kinnaman reflected in Cena’s helmet practical or VFX composite? Seems like an odd question but these things keep me up at night,” @itsRyanUnicomb asked. “We shot the fighting shot from where the helmet is turning with the action & then shot the helmet turning around it at the same speed & then used VFX to wrap the 1st footage (along with plates of everywhere else in the room) onto the helmet,” Gunn explained. You can check out the tweet below:

“Through the story, you learn where Peacemaker came from,” Gunn told Variety about Peacemaker‘s place in the DCEU timeline. “There’s a moment in [The Suicide Squad] where Bloodsport talks about his father and what his father was like, and you cut to a shot of Peacemaker, and Peacemaker nods. That’s the seed of the entire Peacemaker series.”

In addition to Cena, Peacemaker is set to star Danielle Brooks as Leota Adebayo, Robert Patrick as Auggie Smith, Jennifer Holland as Emilia Harcourt, Steve Agee as John Economos, Chris Conrad as Vigilante, Christopher Heyerdahl as Captain Locke, Chukwudi Iwuji as Clemson Murn, Lochlyn Munro as Larry Fitzgibbon, and Annie Chang as Sophie Song.

The Suicide Squad is currently playing in theaters and is available to watch on HBO Max. Peacemaker is expected to debut on the streaming service sometime in January 2022.