Long before James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad hit theaters in 2021, it was announced that Peacemaker, a character in the film played by John Cena, would get his own spin-off series on HBO Max. So it should have come as no surprise that the character survived the movie. Now, Cena is taking center stage with the first season of Peacemaker arriving on HBO Max on January 13.
Set not too long after The Suicide Squad, Peacemaker picks up with the titular character–also known as Christopher Smith–leaving the hospital only to find out he’s being called back into top-secret service to kill even more people. Rather than joining a group of ragtag fellow supervillains, though, this time he’s flanked by a team of operatives that include a fellow vigilante, someone who probably should have stayed behind a desk, one person trained to work in the field, and of course someone with no experience in this line of work.
Before we get too deep, it’s important to note that if you hated the violence and raunchiness of Gunn’s Suicide Squad film, this is not the show for you. In fact, the writer/director whose next movie is Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 pushes the envelope even further in Peacemaker than he did in the film. The violence and vulgarity are off the charts, there are several scenes with nudity, and it’s all treated just as goofily as it was on the big screen.
In a world of ridiculously serious superhero movies and TV shows with massive stakes and often very little sense of humor, Peacemaker is here to blow things up and make you laugh while doing it–starting with the hilarious opening credits sequence set to an ’80s heavy metal song that kicks off each episode. In some ways, the series plays like an incredibly graphic workplace comedy. That’s just the beginning, though, as the mission pretty quickly goes off the rails.
There’s plenty of over-the-top action and ridiculous fight scenes that you would expect from a TV series spun off from The Suicide Squad. It’s all very entertaining and brings and brings Gunn’s action sensibilities nearly perfectly to the series. However, it’s the moments in between those sequences, in which viewers get genuine character development, that stand out the most.
The Suicide Squad had many characters to introduce, and it did that well for the most part. However, with the running time of a movie and such an extensive roster of antiheroes, there was simply not enough room to dive too deep into them. With eight episodes, seven of which were provided by HBO Max for review, Peacemaker does not have that problem.
The series examines Smith’s backstory and what made him into the unstoppable, peace-loving killing machine he is now. Beyond that, his team gets various levels of depth and development that make you care about them so much more than you would, were this a movie.
While Gunn deserves a lot of credit for that, the cast he’s assembled knocks it out of the park. From Jennifer Holland (Brightburn) as hard-as-nails NSA agent Emilia Harcourt to Chukwudi Iwuji (John Wick: Chapter 2) as super-serious team leader Clemson Murn to even Steve Agee reprising his The Suicide Squad role as Amanda Waller’s underling and the constant butt of Peacemaker’s jokes John Economos, the chemistry between these characters is practically perfect.
The standouts on the team, though, go above and beyond. Danielle Brooks (Orange Is the New Black) plays team newbie Leota Adebayo, who doesn’t quite understand Peacemaker’s penchant for killing and who, herself, is figuring out her place in the team. Having her as the fish out of water character on the team works so well, especially in the moments when the shooting begins, and it’s clear she doesn’t know what she’s doing.
Meanwhile, Freddie Stroma (The Crew) plays the hilarious Vigilante, a masked “hero” who considers himself Peacemaker’s best friend, even if Smith doesn’t see it that way. It is incredibly entertaining to watch him work his way into the team, seemingly against all of their wishes.
Then there’s Auggie Smith, the racist, homophobic scumbag of a father to Peacemaker. Playing the role is Robert Patrick (Terminator 2: Judgment Day) and, to be completely honest, he’s perfect as one of the show’s villains. Early on, there are so many moments of Peacemaker desperate for his father’s approval, only to know he’ll never get it. Watching the divide grow between them as Season 1 moves forward is heartbreaking. Peacemaker knows his dad is horrible, but he also realizes this awful human is the only family he has left, which is a hard thing to let go of.
And, of course, we can’t ignore the star of the show, Peacemaker himself. While Cena was undoubtedly hilarious and devious in The Suicide Squad, he’s upped his game here. He’s funnier and more brash but also gets to show some much-needed emotional depth. Seeing who Peacemaker is when nobody else is around to verbally spar with makes the character mean so much more, as you get to know the man under the mask. He’s broken, he’s conflicted, he’s angry, and he’s looking for acceptance. Sure, he’s also a jerk, but he’s trying to be better. It’s easily the best role Cena has played to date, between the film and this TV show, and one we would be lucky to see him in again.
Hopefully, there is a plan for many more seasons of Peacemaker on HBO Max. After introducing this team and making viewers care about them, there has to be more stories to tell–and people to kill–down the road. In the meantime, the first season of this series is one of the absolute best DC TV shows yet (possibly even better than Doom Patrol).
Source: GameSpot
