Peacemaker has “a lot to learn” in James Gunn’s HBO Max series
By Ashley Hurst
Hot on the heels of The Suicide Squad, James Gunn is already hyping up the release of his Peacemaker series in January, which sees John Cena reprise his role as the extremist “hero” who will do literally anything to achieve world peace. While he was pretty despicable in The Suicide Squad, so he has a lot of growing to do…possibly enough for the HBO Max series to last multiple seasons!
In The Suicide Squad, Peacemaker falls out with pretty much everyone. He has his own agenda and he sticks to it. In the end, his determination almost gets him killed.
“At the end of The Suicide Squad, [Idris Elba’s] Bloodsport learns a lot. He’s a better person than he was at the beginning. A lot of the characters are much better than they were at the beginning, and Peacemaker has a lot to learn,” Gunn told The Hollywood Reporter. “It’s that ability to learn that for me makes him a little bit more likable. His blindspots in some places are pretty terrible, and in some places are him being ignorant. I think that’s an important distinction to make as well. He is open at the same time, sometimes.”
Gunn wrote all eight episodes of the Peacemaker spinoff and directed some of them, too. His goal in developing this series wasn’t necessarily to redeem the character, but rather to take him on a journey. “I don’t sit down and say ‘Oh, how am I gonna make this character likable.’ I make it as fully fleshed as possible, and one of the things that I wanted to tell was a story in which he’s got a lot to learn,” he told Deadline.
"Everyone on TV is entirely good or entirely evil, although there are some great shows not like that, and it was fun to make a supervillain who has a lot of nuances."
The show will also reintroduce Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland), who worked for Amanda Waller in the movie and was tasked with overseeing the Suicide Squad as they carried out their mission. “She’s closed off,” Gunn teased. “That comes from a life of seeing a lot of death and killing of a lot of people. She also believes that close personal relationships are dangerous. I think she’s a lone wolf. But as we get to know her more, Emilia “will become a more well-rounded person and create some relationships with people throughout the season.”
Our first look at Peacemaker on HBO Max!
We got a little taste of Peacemaker in a recent HBO Max sizzle reel. It’s not much, but we do get a glimpse of Peacemaker on a night out with some friends. He’s still in his costume, or “uniform,” as he calls it. See for yourself:
Peacemaker also stars Steve Agee, Danielle Brooks, Robert Patrick, Chukwudi Iwuji, and Freddie Stroma. It is set to premiere on HBO Max in January.
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