John Cena doesn’t just keep the peace, he makes it, in the first footage from upcoming The Suicide Squad spin-off, Peacemaker. Debuting as part of a sizzle reel for the streaming platform HBO Max, the brief look at the show offers a good idea of what’s to come, with Cena sitting down at a diner in full costume (take note, it’s a uniform), as well as taking to the woods to fire a variety of big guns.
Introduced to audiences in director James Gunn’s recently released DC outing, The Suicide Squad, Peacemaker was given a straight-to-series order of eight episodes for the first season, with John Cena set to reprise his role as the unstable DC superhero. The show will continue the misadventures of the character, who has been described by Cena himself as being “like a douchey Captain America.”
Set after the events of this year’s The Suicide Squad, the series explores the origins of Peacemaker and his subsequent missions, with John Cena joined by the likes of Steve Agee as John Economos, the warden of the Belle Reve penitentiary and an aide to Amanda Waller; Danielle Brooks as Leota Adebayo, who has been described by James Gunn as a co-lead of the series with a different political view from Peacemaker’s; Robert Patrick as Auggie Smith, Peacemaker’s father; Jennifer Holland as Emilia Harcourt, n NSA agent who is an aide to Amanda Waller; Freddie Stroma as Adrian Chase AKA Vigilante, a district attorney and crimefighter who can quickly heal from injuries; and Chukwudi Iwuji as Clemson Murn, a mercenary who in the past has worked for Amanda Waller.
James Gunn has also teased potential cameos from other members of Task Force X, saying simply on social media that “It will be done,” when asked by a fan whether other Squad members would be showing up in the Peacemaker show. This could of course include any number of characters from The Suicide Squad, with DC fans no doubt hoping that the likes of Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Viola Davis as Amanda Waller, Idris Elba as Bloodsport, Daniela Melchior as Ratcatcher, or perhaps even fan-favourites Weasel or King Shark could be persuaded to make an appearance.
Peacemaker is just one of several major projects set to stream exclusively on HBO Max, with the latest sizzle reel also debuting footage from the Sex and the City sequel series And Just Like That…, as well as first looks at the upcoming seasons of returning shows Euphoria, Insecure and the latest escapades of Larry David in Curb Your Enthusiasm. The footage also gave audiences a tease of Mindy Kaling’s upcoming teen comedy series, The Sex Lives of College Girls, which follows the lives of four 18-year-old freshmen roommates at Essex College in Vermont.
James Gunn will write all eight episodes of Peacemaker, as well as direct a few himself, and serves as an executive producer alongside Peter Safran, with Cena as co-executive producer. Peacemaker is set to premiere in January 2022.