John Cena and James Gunn team up for Peacemaker show on HBO Max

John Cena plays Peacemaker in James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad. Now, they’re teaming back up for an HBO Max show about the twisted superhero.

Not to be outdone by Marvel, which is building hype for its WandaVision series, HBO Max has announced that it’s making a series about Peacekeeper, a relatively little-known DC superhero (I mean, his Wikipedia entry doesn’t even clear 5,000 words) so dedicated to peace he will kill anyone who stands in his way.

Peacekeeper is going to show up in James Gunn’s upcoming movie The Suicide Squad, played by actor and WWE superstar John Cena. Cena and Gunn will both return for the series, with Gunn writing all eight episodes of the first season. He’ll also direct the pilot, plus a few more.

“Peacemaker is an opportunity to delve into current world issues through the lens of this superhero/supervillain/and world’s biggest douchebag,” Gunn said in a statement. “I’m excited to expand The Suicide Squad and bring this character from the DC film universe to the full breadth of a series. And of course, to be able to work again with John, Peter, and my friends at Warner Bros. is the icing on the cake.”

Cena weighed in, as well. “I have said before that it has been a tremendous honor and an incredible opportunity to be part of The Suicide Squad and to work with James on what is going to be a fantastic movie. I am unbelievably excited to have the chance to team up with him again for Peacemaker. We can’t wait for fans to see this.”

As you can tell by Gunn’s remarks, it sounds like they’re going for a bit of campy tone here. The logo, too, is pretty funnY:

PEACEMAKER series key art. Image courtesy HBO Max

The whole idea of the character — a hair-trigger death machine dedicated to peace — is delightfully twisted, and depending on what part of the comics they adapt, it could get even weirder. In one version, Peacemaker’s peace-through-violence methods are the result of a severe mental illness, and he hears the voices of the people he killed in his head, believing them to live in his helmet as they offer him commentary and advice. Things could get strange.

But that sounds about right for our current superhero moment; have you seen the new WandaVision trailer? Strange is in.

This is also a move on WarnerMedia’s part to counter some of the many Marvel superhero shows coming to Disney+, from The Falcon and the Winter Soldier to Loki to She-Hulk and beyond. I wouldn’t be surprised if we heard about more DC shows coming to HBO Max before long.

Peacemaker will go into production early next year, before Gunn starts work on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. The Suicide Squad is coming out on August 6 of 2021.

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