After watching The Suicide Squad, the question on every one’s mind is — is the Peacemaker series a prequel or a sequel? According to James Gunn, The Suicide Squad spin-off starring John Cena is a both a prequel and a sequel to the DC Extended Universe movie that was released last Thursday. WarnerMedia announced last September that Peacemaker will be on HBO Max where the action-comedy series will “explore the origins of…the master of weapons” from James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad.
The Suicide Squad Spoiler Alert
After being shot by Bloodsport (Idris Elba) in the neck, a post-credit scene sets up the Peacemaker series when ARGUS agents Emilia (Jennifer Holland) and John (Steve Agee) are sent to the hospital where Peacemaker was being taken cared of and to report for the “douchebag’s” next mission: “Just to save the f#cking world.”
“Through the story, you learn where Peacemaker came from,” Gunn told Variety about Peacemaker‘s place in the DCEU timeline. “There’s a moment in [The Suicide Squad] where Bloodsport talks about his father and what his father was like, and you cut to a shot of Peacemaker, and Peacemaker nods. That’s the seed of the entire Peacemaker series.”
The series will explore Cena’s Christopher Smith revealing “where he came from, what he’s done, what that means to him, and where he’s going after all of this.” He is the son of Auggie Smith (Terminator 2’s Robert Patrick). And perhaps where he got the design for his toilet seat-looking chrome helmet.
Peacemaker did some nasty things and betrayed his team in The Suicide Squad, but Smith is “not an evil person, he’s just a bad guy,” Gunn said. “He seems sort of irredeemable in the film. But I think that there’s more to him. We didn’t get a chance to know him [in The Suicide Squad] in the way we get to know some of the other characters. And so that’s what the whole show is about. I needed eight episodes to do it, at least.”
Peacemaker is a true believer in peace — “no matter how many men, women, and children he has to kill to get it.”
“So that moment in the bar, when he’s dancing with the team, and they’re becoming connected to each other for the first time — that is an unusual feeling for him,” Gunn explained. SPOILER WARNING – Peacemaker even feels some remorse when he was forced to kill fellow soldier Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman) to prevent him from exposing the truth about Project Starfish and to protect the American government.
“When he goes with his ideals over that sense of connection — his weird ideals, admittedly — he’s making that choice over his own emotions,” Gunn said. “The show is about that.”
Gunn previously told Entertainment Tonight that Peacemaker has “more action than any superhero show ever,” calling The Suicide Squad spin-off “a big science fiction movie” that is like the film, but “even more grounded, more natural, and more real.”
Along with John Cena, Peacemaker cast includes Robert Patrick, Danielle Brooks, Chukwudi Iwuji, Jennifer Holland, Steve Agee, and Freddie Stroma. Peacemaker premieres January 2022 on HBO Max.
