James Gunn’s DC Series “Peacemaker” Debuts January 2022
John Cena is one of the most in-demand actors in Hollywood today. The erstwhile WWE superstar is set to be the main antagonist in the next mainline Fast & Furious film, while also being featured in the ensemble for James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad, which is a follow-up to David Ayer’s profitable, but dismally received Suicide Squad. In that superhero sequel, Cena will be playing Peacemaker, a self-proclaimed pacifist who will do anything to ensure peace, even kill. Shortly after the team-up film completed production, it was announced that Cena’s Peacemaker would be getting his own spin-off series on HBO Max, and the show now has a set January 2022 premiere date.
Cena was certainly an inspired choice to take on the role, as years in professional wrestling helped him to become an identifiable action star, but he’s got superb comedic timing, as well, and his sensibilities seem like a perfect fit for a character like Peacemaker. Even with all the hype surrounding the film, and his casting, in particular, it was still a little odd when the series was announced, especially because of the whole Suicide Squad schtick, with any character at risk of being killed off.
But the anticipation for this project has built steadily in the months since it was announced. With James Gunn having written all of the scripts and returning to direct some (if not all) of the episodes, Peacemaker, could prove to be a unique blend of dark humor and action that the superhero cinematic world hasn’t really seen yet. In fact, while speaking with Collider about the series, HBO content chief Casey Bloys commented that:
I just started to get involved with the DC content in August, Peacemaker is one of the first shows I greenlit and one of the first shows coming out, in January 2022. It’s a great example of what HBO Max can do with DC content in that we’re producing at a level we haven’t seen DC content on TV do thus far.
It’s clear that there is a high level of excitement for Peacemaker and it could be something special for DC audiences to experience. The first season is set to be eight-episodes long, but there have been no story details provided as of yet.
