The Russian invasion of Ukraine continues to tragic effect on our TV screens as one man, Vladimir Putin, pushes to move back into 19th century imperialism. Early on during this war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy displayed instant folk-hero status by refusing a ride out of the country, and a Ukrainian grandmother became a legend while showing off her own molotov cocktails that she fashioned for when “those Russian sh*ts” arrived. There’s been some levity involved as well, like when people rediscovered that Zelenskyy once voiced Paddington, but some people on social media went too far by dreamcasting Jeremy Renner as Zelenskyy.
Sure, Twitter is gonna Twitter, but it’s something that Last Week Tonight took on while John Oliver saluted the people of Ukraine and declared, “Maybe wait for the actual war to end before we start casting the f*cking movie.” Specifically about Renner, though, Oliver did hand out a barb:
“Spare a thought there for Volodymyr Zelenskyy, he has got enough going on right now without being described as a ‘Jeremy Renner type.’ That’s not a nice thing to say about someone.”
Ouch. Oliver did, however, suggest that Renner could at least step into a future movie while picking up a role in this Kremlin propaganda clip. Soooo, yeah, we can gather that John Oliver is not a Hawkeye fan, but I’m already curious to hear him slip back into TV critic mode with his thoughts on Bridgerton‘s second season when it arrives later this month.
Here’s a clip of Oliver, who also expressed his appreciation for “Molotov Grandma,” proclaiming that “Ukraine citizens have continued to show incredible signs of resistance, proving that they truly are the ‘f*ck around and find out’ country of Eastern Europe” while “total f*cking d*ckhead” Putin continues to push his troops to overtake the country.
Some tasty clips from John Oliver’s recent segment on Ukraine & Russia pic.twitter.com/4oTWXYZMUI
— Sean Roberts (@Seankichu) March 7, 2022