[Warning: The above and below contain MAJOR spoilers for Peacemaker Season 2 finale, “Full Nelson.”]
Peacemaker‘s second season has come to a close, but Vigilante’s (Freddie Stroma) best moments will live on in our hearts until we get to see him on our screens for Adrian Chase’s next adventure with Checkmate.
As viewers saw in the Season 2 finale, “Full Nelson,” Vigilante bankrolled (with his stashed blood money) the organization that sought to make the world a better place, uniting the 11th Street Kids — Chris Smith (John Cena), Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland), Leota Adebayo (Danielle Brooks), John Economos (Steve Agee), and Vigilante — with Sasha Bordeaux (Sol Rodriguez), Rip Jagger a.k.a. Judo Master (Nhut Le), and Langston Fleury (Tim Meadows).
And in a season filled with efforts on Adrian’s part to find a bestie who would entertain his animal facts fixation, among other things, he may have found that in Fleury, as the duo seemed to connect amid their new job. “They kind of worked really well together, bizarrely, because they’re both really weird,” Stroma tells TV Insider from our New York Comic Con Studio.
Jessica Miglio / HBO Max
“I thought that scene was gonna be like silent in a montage,” Stroma explains of the connection Adrian and Fleury make in the finale’s final moments as they discuss animal facts from their desk at Checkmate. “I didn’t realize they were gonna use it, and I’m surprised they had anything to use ’cause Tim is insanely funny… so every other line we did, I broke.”
While Stroma may have struggled to keep it together filming with Meadows, he admits that he did apologize to Taylor St. Clair, who plays Vigilante’s mom, as he had to deliver some pretty harsh lines her way. “I preemptively apologized. I said, ‘I’m really sorry for what I’m about to say, how I’m gonna say it to you,’” Stroma recalls. As for where that harshness comes from regarding Adrian’s dynamic with his mom, Stroma adds, “She was probably too nice to him, didn’t give him enough boundaries, and that’s probably why he gets away with what he does.”
On a less harsh and sillier note, we couldn’t help but ask Stroma what the secret to a perfect Vigilante “Butt Dance” is. “I feel like it was almost an improv moment that [James Gunn] came up with in Season 1, and it’s just like evolved into this thing. I think probably the secret now is not just gyrating, but I’ve started… I’ve put these weird flaps in, and that’s probably an element to it,” he notes, offering a demonstration, flapping his hands at his hips.
In the full video interview above, Stroma teases Vigilante’s future with Checkmate, discusses pulling double duty with Season 2’s alternate dimension Vigilante meet-up, and much more. Let us know what you think of Vigilante’s Season 2 story in the comments section below, and stay tuned for any updates about Peacemaker.
Peacemaker, Seasons 1-2, Streaming now, HBO Max