Who is the Peacemaker?
The MCU has a penchant for taking relatively unknown characters from the comics and turning them into stars in their own right. Still, DCEU’s bet on the Peacemaker is taking things one step further. The Peacemaker is a superhero name initially owned by Charlton Comics, which was later acquired by DC Comics. He is a superhero so committed to peace that he is willing to resort to violent acts to achieve his goal. The pacifist diplomat has since appeared as a side character in numerous publications. As weird as it is to choose such an obscure character from DC Comics to star in a TV series, it’s not exactly a bad choice. John Cena’s name alone should draw in viewers. So will James Gunn. Not to mention, the reception has been positive from the few glimpses that we’ve gotten of Peacemaker so far.
How will the Peacemaker TV series tie into The Suicide Squad?
Of course, the most obvious thread between the Peacemaker TV series and The Suicide Squad is its actor and director. John Cena and the Peacemaker, both of which will be making their respective DCEU film debuts, will take on a starring role in the upcoming TV series. Meanwhile, The Suicide Squad’s director, James Gunn, will be the one in charge of writing for the entire series. He’ll also serve as the director for multiple episodes. Unfortunately, this is all that we know about the Peacemaker TV series right now. The currently available information, including the images released for the show, does not exactly demonstrate how it will connect to The Suicide Squad’s story. This shouldn’t be surprising. Everyone’s attention should be on The Suicide Squad right now, and rightly so, especially after its most recent TV spot and IMAX poster made waves. But, even then, this hasn’t stopped John Cena from drumming up hype for his upcoming TV appearance, which is scheduled to premiere in January 2022. Gunn and Cena recently sat down with Entertainment Weekly to talk about their DC projects. According to Gunn, it was difficult to make Peacemaker with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. However, he stressed that he is still very happy with the kind of freedom that the TV format affords him as far as John Cena’s DCEU TV show goes. Speaking of John Cena, the WWE superstar-turned-actor mentioned that he believes fans will be begging for more of Peacemaker after watching The Suicide Squad. The upcoming The Suicide Squad film is currently Rated R for brief graphic nudity, which gives it a higher rating compared to 2016’s Suicide Squad that was a PG-13 movie. Cena describes that Peacemaker all but runs away with the tone and style of The Suicide Squad, so we can’t help but salivate at the possibility of the TV show receiving a TV-MA rating on HBO Max. Because a TV-MA rating is a more severe rating than R, Gunn would have more leeway as far as gore and violence goes compared to The Suicide Squad. While Gunn has repeatedly clarified that he’s more than happy with the creative freedom DC has given him for The Suicide Squad, a “worse” rating for the TV series might let him let loose on HBO Max. As we’ve already mentioned, there remains plenty of question marks about the Peacemaker TV show. Is it going to take place before The Suicide Squad movie? Does it mean that Peacemaker will survive? Is it set years after Task Force X’s latest outing? So many questions, and yet, so very little information available. Here’s to hoping that the upcoming premiere of The Suicide Squad on August 5/6 helps provide more clarity about the Peacemaker TV show.
