New Orleans native and NOCCA/Julliard graduate Anthony Mackie, who most fans know and love as Falcon/Captain America in the Marvel series will star this summer in the Peacock series, “Twisted Metal.” Based off the PlayStation game of the same name, the series which also stars Neve Campbell, was filmed in New Orleans during the summer of 2022. Mackie, who also served as executive producer, will play the role of John Doe, a milkman with amnesia who gets the chance of a lifetime: if he can survive vehicular combat in a post-apocalyptic world. (Fans of the video game know that “Twisted Metal” revolves around a demolition derby type game whose ghastly participants utilize ballistics and more to be the last villain standing.) Mackie’s character will face off against a slew of adversaries as he drives across a barren wasteland.
Showrunner, EP, and Writer Michael Jonathan Smith (“Cobra Kai”) said of the project, “The year was 2001. Weezer had welcomed fans to an Island in the Sun. Shrek was an all-star at the box office. Pizza Hut had delivered a salami pizza to the International Space Station. And I was a sixteen year old nerd who had just purchased ‘Twisted Metal: Black.’ The second I inserted that disc into my PlayStation 2, I was transported to a chaotic demolition derby that left me cackling with glee at the chaos of it all. That inescapable feeling of joy is what I wanted to bring to life in our show.”
Music is a huge factor in the production, something surely not to be lost on ’90s kids or the New Orleans set.
Wrestler Joe Seanoa (AKA Samoa Joe) portrays the video game franchise’s star, Sweet Tooth, alongside Mackie in the teaser clip released by Peacock this week. Actor Will Arnett (“BoJack Horseman,” “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” “Ratatouille”) provides the voice of the hulking clown. A throwback to the 1999 Sisqó hit, “The Thong Song” plays as Mackie and Joe fight tooth and nail. No word yet on whether or not the Rolling Stones’s “Paint It, Black,” a song that factored heavily into the “Twisted Metal Black” game, will be a part of the soundtrack. (An earlier teaser showed Mackie driving along to the sounds of Len’s “Steal My Sunshine.”)
Regarding working with the All Elite Wrestling sensation, Mackie spoke to Rolling Stone earlier this month and compared the physically imposing actor to Dave Bautista of Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy.” “I’ve been a fan of Samoa Joe’s for a while now, just for wrestling, and he’s just a nice guy,” said Mackie. “He’s one of those guys that’s so huge that he just has to be nice, because nobody’s trying to try him. [He’d] break you in half. He doesn’t have any natural predators! So, he’s just a nice guy.”
Assistant Costumer Tamika Jackson said she could feel the energy of the wrestler transform in him his leather harness. “That really brought him to life on set for us, something so subtle yet so powerful.”
“Twisted Metal” premieres on Peacock July 27, 2023 and will air for 10 episodes. Check out the first clip from the series below.
