James Gunn Will Write and Direct a Second Season of ‘The Suicide Squad’ Spin-Off ‘Peacemaker’
John Cena, Danielle Brooks, Jennifer Holland, and more star in the anarchic series.
John Cena in HBO Max's 'Peacemaker'
James Gunn’s HBO Max-based spin-off to his ‘The Suicide Squad’ movie from last year has been a big success for the streaming service. And the company has moved quickly to order a second season, as announced by Gunn on twitter.
‘Peacemaker’, which Gunn created shortly after finishing work on the ‘Squad’, was announced even before the movie was released. It stars John Cena as Christopher ‘Peacemaker’ Smith, the lunkheaded man of action who believes he must kill anyone to achieve his aims.
In the series, he’s joined by ‘Squad’ veterans Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland) and John Economos (Steve Agee) plus new faces Leota Adebayo (Danielle Brooks), Clemson Murn (Chukwudi Iwuji) and Vigilante (Freddie Stroma). There are also a variety of cops, alien bug creatures, troublesome civilians and Smith’s father, White Supremacist Auggie Smith (Robert Patrick). And then there’s breakout star Eagly, Peacemaker’s pet eagle/best friend, who has stolen scenes from his human co-stars.
It's a violent, vulgar, funny, and heartfelt show, which manages to dig deeper into Peacemaker’s character and background without changing what made him work.
Though HBO Max executives were noncommittal during the company’s Television Critics Association panel on Wednesday morning, Gunn’s tweet signaled that the show would return, and official statements quickly followed.
(L to R) David Dastmalchian, John Cena, Idris Elba and Daniela Melchior in 'The Suicide Squad.'
“The brilliance of James Gunn once again shines with ‘Peacemaker’. He took this character, brought to life by the inimitable John Cena, and created an exceptional series that’s simultaneously thrilling, hilarious and heartfelt, showcasing the humanity beneath this team of misfits living in a superhuman world,” says HBO Max original content head Sarah Aubrey. “As the first original DC show to have its series premiere on HBO Max, we are thrilled that the viewers agreed to give peace a f***ing chance.”
Gunn himself is also happy that people have embraced the series: “Creating ‘Peacemaker’ has been one of the true highlights of my life, both professionally and otherwise, with John Cena and the incredible creative team around me, as well as our partners at HBO Max. To have something we all love so much be loved by the audience in turn has been a wonderful experience. I can’t wait for folks to see where Team Peacemaker goes in Season Two!”
As for Cena? “I am incredibly honored and humbled by the response to Peacemaker and the experience of playing this character,” he says in a statement. “Thank you to James Gunn, [producer] Peter Safran, HBO Max, the crew, and my castmates who worked tirelessly to make this unforgettable series.”
‘Peacemaker’s first season wraps up this week with the finale. Gunn wrote the entire first run and directed five of the eight episodes (Brad Anderson, Jody Hill and Rosemary Rodriguez handled the other three. For Season 2, Gunn will be writing and directing the whole thing.
When he’ll start work will depend on his duties around ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’ for Marvel, which he’s shooting now, and the holiday special featuring the ‘Guardians’ characters, which is in progress. There’s also his other planned ‘Suicide Squad’ spin-off show, about which he’s revealed very little other than it won’t be as comedic as ‘Peacemaker’.
‘Peacemaker’s whole first season is – or will be from midnight Thursday – available on HBO Max.
