When America needs saving, there’s only one man to call. Unfortunately he’s pretty busy, so once again we’ll need to rely on MacGruber instead. Not great for the country or the rule of law. But perfect for comedy lovers. As Will Forte’s reckless hero with questionable tactics and a crass vocabulary is set to return. And this time he’s on a suicide mission—with his trusted allies, of course. The trailer for the new Peacock series features our titular hero facing off against an awful man from his past.
The most decorated service member in US history has spent ten years in jail for murdering Val Kilmer’s Dieter Von Cunth at the end of 2010’s MacGruber. Did he deserve his punishment? By any reasonable standard, yes. By any unreasonable standard, also yes. But like he says in this interview, the time will come when America needs him again. And that time is now. Here’s the show’s official synopsis from Peacock:
“After rotting in prison for over a decade, America’s ultimate hero and uber patriot MacGruber is finally released. His mission: to take down a mysterious villain from his past—Brigadier Commander Enos Queeth (Billy Zane). With the entire world in the crosshairs, MacGruber must reassemble his old team, Vicki St. Elmo (Kristen Wiig) and Dixon Piper (Ryan Phillippe), in order to defeat the forces of evil.”
A MacGruber show without Wiig and Phillippe would feel incomplete. (Especially Wiig, who also starred in the original SNL sketches.) Having them both onboard makes the ceiling for this show even higher. And the rest of the cast—including the perfect choice to have Billy Zane play an evil villain—is just as loaded. It also stars Sam Elliott as Perry, Laurence Fishburne as General Barrett Fasoose, Joseph Lee Anderson as Major Harold Kernst, and Timothy V. Murphy as Constantine Bach.
The trailer comes just a few weeks after Peacock teased the series with a handful of images and a special jailhouse interview with the legend himself. MacGruber’s spent ten years locked up for killing one little super villain. A decade behind bars has done nothing to calm him down, though. And it definitely hasn’t made him reflect on how he does his job. But he’s just as funny as ever.
Note: This video is very, very, very NSFW. It’s not even suitable for some homes.
Peacock also released the first official images from the series. Which despite not showing much are hilarious. We can basically hear MacGruber swearing in all of these, even when he’s not in them.
Forte serves as co-showrunner, writer, and executive producer on the series. As do John Solomon and Jorma Taccone, both of whom also direct. The entire eight episode first season debuts at Peacock on December 16. That’s if America can survive that long.
With MacGruber on the job, whether it survives after is an even bigger question.
Originally published on November 22, 2021.
