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Review: We had our doubts, but Peacemaker is a cheeky, irreverent delight

    John Cena laat zien dat hij zowel dramatische karbonades als komische timing heeft in <em src=

    enlarge † John Cena shows off some dramatic chops, as well as comedic timing in peacekeeper†

    HBO Max

    We had our doubts about peacekeeperthe HBO Max spin-off series based on John Cena’s character from 2021 The Suicide Squad† But I’m happy to report that those doubts were completely unfounded. Series creator James Gunn successfully took a seemingly irreparable character and sent him on an emotional journey that made us love him – all framed in a blood-soaked, action-packed, brutally irreverent main story that makes for top-notch entertainment.

    (One big spoiler for The Suicide Squad below. Some spoilers for peacekeeperbut no major revelations.)

    Gunn wrote the series for fun during his 2020 downtime and ended up pitching it when DC Films approached him about a spin-off series for one of the characters in The Suicide Squad† HBO Max ordered peacekeeper straight to series. When the first teaser came out last year, I admitted I was a little skeptical. Cena’s performance in The Suicide Squad was great, but he wasn’t exactly a likeable character – or a particularly complex one. On the other hand, Gunn clearly felt there was more of the character’s story to tell, and that instinct proved correct.

    The eight-episode series is set five months after the events of The Suicide Squad, particularly after the post-credits scene, where we learned that Peacemaker — aka Christopher Smith — had survived what appeared to be a fatal shooting. That scene hinted that the US government still had something for him, and the show sees him recruited into a new mission: the mysterious Project Butterfly, led by a mercenary named Clemson Murn (Chukwudi Iwuji). He gets help from ARGUS agent John Economos (Steve Agee) of the Belle Reve Penitentiary, National Security Agency agent and former Waller aide Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland), and new team member Leota Adebayo (Danielle Brooks).

    Peacemaker and the Project Butterfly team, ready for action.
    enlarge † Peacemaker and the Project Butterfly team, ready for action.

    YouTube/HBO Max

    Also in the cast is Robert Patrick (Terminator 2) as Chris’ crusty father, Auggie Smith, who thinks his son is a “nancy-boy”; Freddie Stroma as Adrian Chase (aka Vigilante), a crime-fighting sociopathic prosecutor who thinks he’s Peacemaker’s BFF; Annie Chang as Police Detective Sophie Song; and Nhut Le as Judomaster, a bodyguard and martial arts specialist. And of course there’s Eagly, Chris’ beloved bald eagle companion, voiced by Dee Bradley Baker.

    Cena puts in a really standout performance; he brings a surprising sweetness and fragility to his portrayal of a character Gunn once described as “showerbag Captain America.” Chris struggles with guilt over killing Rick Flag in The Suicide Squadand he is haunted by Flag’s last words: “Peacemaker. What a joke.”

    He is also forced to work through his own tragic backstory over the course of the season, including the loss of his brother, and that backstory is surprisingly gripping. If you were raised by a white supremacist villain like Auggie Smith—who trained his son to be a murderer and didn’t miss a chance to remind Chris that he’s a worthless waste of space—you might have grown up too a jingoist mass murderer for hire .

    Chris introduces Leota (Danielle Brooks) to his signature Peace Train cocktail: gin, vermouth, vinegar, peppercorns, a dash of maple syrup and yak butter. She calls it a
    enlarge † Chris introduces Leota (Danielle Brooks) to his signature Peace Train cocktail: gin, vermouth, vinegar, peppercorns, a dash of maple syrup and yak butter. She calls it a “faecal drink.”

    YouTube/HBO Max

    Chris’ growing unease with the Peacemaker persona he created manifests early on when he refuses to kill a senator and his family on Murn’s orders. (Vigilante has no qualms about killing women and children.) The family turns out to be ‘butterflies’: an alien species from a dying planet that uses human bodies as hosts and tries to dominate the earth. Chris gets his share of butterflies as the mission progresses, but he also befriends one of them and keeps it in a jar in his trailer.

    It’s that inner mushy side that repeatedly earns his father’s ridicule, but it also makes Chris someone worth rehabilitating. After all, Eagly loves him, and if you can’t trust a bald eagle’s instincts, what can you trust? Deep down, Chris just wants to fit in, and one of the season’s best arcs ends up seeing him find some sort of family in his Project Butterfly teammates.