Peacemaker Review
Peacemaker directed by James Gunn fires on all cylinders and makes the action-comedy spinoff a truly exhilarating experience for the audience.
Violence blended with comedy – in Gunn’s true style with phenomenal music is what keeps the show interesting at all times. The DC spinoff show was well-paced, darkly humorous and overall loads of fun.
Even before The Suicide Squad was released, it was already confirmed that director James Gunn will be working on a spinoff show with John Cena’s Peacemaker in the titular role.
While Peacemaker was an interesting character in the film, an eight-episode spinoff show for the character seemed absurd. However, Gunn worked his reputed magic quite well starting from the very first episode and hooked viewers throughout the entirety of the show.
The series is set five months after the events of The Suicide Squad where Peacemaker is once again recruited for a new mysterious mission: Project Butterfly. The show serves as an origin story for the titular hero and sees him confront his tragic past surrounding his father (who is a sexist and probably racist).
John Cena’s Peacemaker was a stand out in The Suicide Squad, despite the huge ensemble cast – and he’s even better in the show. Viewers witnessed Peacemaker travel on an emotional journey that led fans to sympathize with a seemingly unredeemable character.
The inclusion of Vigilante, a Deadpool-Esque character was a surprising but fun addition to the show. The rest of the cast includes Agent Harcourt (Jeniffer Holland) Leota Adebayo (Danielle Brooks), John Economos (Steve Agee). Clemson Murn (Chukwudi Iwuji) and White Dragon (Robert Patrick).
The script is cleverly written and well-spaced that is backed by strong performances by the cast to deliver a story that is very fun to watch. Even the opening credit scene is a unique material of its own where we see that cast dancing to “Do Ya Wanna Taste It?” by the Norwegian metal band Wig Wams.
In a rather surprising move, viewers were treated to a cameo from The Flash (Ezra Miller) and Aquaman (Jason Mamoa) in the final episode.
All episodes of Peacemaker are now streaming on HBO Max. Unsurprisingly, thanks to the positive response, the show has been renewed for a second season. Speaking to Deadline about the second season, Gunn said, “I think we’re going to just continue the story of Christopher Smith, and there’s going to be repercussions for things that have happened, but also I’m not saying repercussions in bad ways. I think there’s a lot of good things that happened in season one.”
