Peacemaker

I don’t know if there has ever been a television series that surprised me more than the first season of PEACEMAKER. Created by James Gunn and featuring the bombastic character that appeared in his audacious film SUICIDE SQUAD, the show was unlike any superhero series that had preceded it.   

At the heart of the show is the revelatory performance by its star, John Cena. Through the course of the season, the professional wrestler-turned-actor brought a depth to the character that simply didn’t exist in the film. In Gunn’s original feature, Peacemaker was a man who declared, “I cherish peace with all my heart. I don’t care how many men, women, and children I kill to get it.” But, as the series illustrates, he is far more than that. All of that mayhem has taken his toll, and as the first season brushed on and the second season begins to explore, he carries a lot of baggage that molded him into the brute we originally met.

The brilliance of Cena’s performance is that he takes this despicable, closed-minded, offensive heathen and allows him to bloom into something wholly unexpected. While he continuously says and does the exact wrong thing, it feels less and less like it is coming from a place of hate, but one of egocentric naivety. Growing up in a home where you were raised by white-supremist supervillain (Robert Patrick) will do that to a person, I suppose. As he grows closer to those around him, Harcourt (Jennifer Holland), Adebayo (Danielle Brooks), Economos (Steve Agee), and Vigilante (a scene-stealing Freddie Stroma) he develops a humanity that stands in stark contrast to everything we thought we knew.

After Peacemaker’s brief cameo in SUPERMAN, it was obvious that the series and its star were going to play a huge role in Gunn’s new DC Universe. As season 2 begins, Peacemaker is attempting to be accepted into the Justice Gang, which also played a pivotal role in SUPERMAN. Frank Grillo’s Rick Flag, who also appeared in the film, will have a major role in the second season moving forward, and the interdimensional technology that Lex Luthor utilized to great effect will be equally significant here.

Whereas SUPERMAN was a wonderous celebration of light and hope, PEACEMAKER is an embrace of anarchistic comedy. It’s depravity is one of its most effective tools, going so completely over-the-top in terms of language, sex, and violence, that it hardly seems possible that Clark Kent and Chris Smith occupy the same universe. This is what makes Gunn’s world so exhilarating, you just simply never know what you’re going to get. Whereas Marvel developed a model early on and has largely stuck to it in terms of content and accessibility, the DC universe has already covered both ends of the content spectrum, serving up an air of unpredictability that will enliven each subsequent release.

PEACEMAKER

GRADE: A
RATED: TV-MA
RUN TIME: TV Series 40 min.
GENRE: Dark Comedy, Action, Superhero
STARRING:  John Cena, Danielle Brooks, Freddie Stroma, Jennifer Holland, Steve Agee
CREATOR: James Gunn

Season 2 now streaming weekly on HBO Max.

Brian Miller