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Peacemaker (TV series)
2022 superhero series by James Gunn From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Peacemaker is an American superhero television series based on the eponymous character from DC Comics. Created by James Gunn, the first season is a spin-off from the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) film The Suicide Squad (2021), further exploring jingoistic mercenary Chris Smith / Peacemaker. It was produced by the Safran Company and Troll Court Entertainment in association with Warner Bros. Television and with Gunn as showrunner. The second season is the second series in the DC Universe (DCU), a "soft reboot" of the DCEU, and takes place after the events of the DCU film Superman (2025). It was produced by DC Studios with Gunn returning as showrunner.
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John Cena stars as the title character, reprising his role from The Suicide Squad, with Danielle Brooks, Freddie Stroma, Chukwudi Iwuji, Jennifer Holland, Steve Agee, and Robert Patrick also starring. Gunn conceived Peacemaker after noting Cena's strength as a dramatic actor while filming The Suicide Squad and wrote the first season while finishing the film. HBO Max ordered it straight-to-series in September 2020. Filming took place in Vancouver, Canada, from January to July 2021, with Gunn directing five episodes. He chose to use hair metal songs for the series' soundtrack, including "Do Ya Wanna Taste It" by Wig Wam for the opening titles dance sequence. A second season was ordered in February 2022, with Gunn again writing all episodes. The season was integrated with the DCU after Gunn was named co-CEO of DC Studios. Filming took place at Trilith Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, from April to November 2024.
Peacemaker premiered on January 13, 2022, with its first three episodes. The other five episodes of the first season were released weekly until February 17. Viewership increased with each episode and the season received positive reviews. The second season is set to premiere on August 21, 2025. The series has been nominated for several awards, including a Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Award. A spin-off series, Waller, is in development as part of the DCU.
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Premise
The first season follows Chris Smith / Peacemaker after he recovers from the injuries he suffered during the events of the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) film The Suicide Squad (2021). Peacemaker is forced to join the mysterious A.R.G.U.S. black ops squad Project Butterfly,[1] who are on a mission to identify and eliminate parasitic butterfly-like creatures who have taken over human bodies around the world.[2] The second season is set in the DC Universe (DCU) and follows the events of the DCU film Superman (2025).[3]
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Cast and characters
- John Cena as Chris Smith / Peacemaker: A jingoistic mercenary who believes in achieving peace at any cost. Showrunner James Gunn called him a "piece of shit" and said he was a "superhero/supervillain/[the] world's biggest douchebag".[4][5] In the second season, Gunn said the character was no longer a "total asshole" and had become less obnoxious and aggressive.[6]
- Danielle Brooks as Leota Adebayo: The daughter of A.R.G.U.S. leader Amanda Waller and a member of Project Butterfly[1][7]
- Freddie Stroma as Adrian Chase / Vigilante: A self-proclaimed crimefighter who looks up to Peacemaker like an older brother[8][9]
- Chukwudi Iwuji as Clemson Murn: A mercenary and the leader of Project Butterfly who reports to Waller.[1][10] He is revealed to be Ik Nobe Lok, a rogue Butterfly.[11]
- Jennifer Holland as Emilia Harcourt: An A.R.G.U.S. agent who is assigned to Project Butterfly by Waller[12]
- Steve Agee as John Economos: An A.R.G.U.S. agent who provides tactical support for Project Butterfly[13]
- Robert Patrick as August "Auggie" Smith / White Dragon: Peacemaker's white supremacist father who supplies him with technology to aid his mission[12][14]
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Episodes
Season 1 (2022)
Season 2
Production
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Development
While completing work on the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) film The Suicide Squad (2021) in August 2020, writer and director James Gunn began writing a spin-off television series centered on the character Peacemaker portrayed by John Cena.[4][21] DC Films president Walter Hamada approached the filmmakers of the studio's film slate about creating interconnected spin-off television series for the streaming service HBO Max,[22] and the service ordered Peacemaker straight-to-series in September 2020. Gunn was writing all eight episodes of the first season and directing five. He and Peter Safran were set as executive producers, with Cena as co-executive producer.[4] The season was produced by Gunn's Troll Court Entertainment and the Safran Company in conjunction with Warner Bros. Television.[23] Matt Miller joined as an additional executive producer in December 2020.[24]
HBO Max announced a second season of Peacemaker in February 2022, with Gunn set to write and direct all episodes.[25] That April, Discovery, Inc. and Warner Bros.' parent company WarnerMedia merged to become Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), led by president and CEO David Zaslav. The new company was expected to restructure DC Entertainment and Zaslav began searching for an equivalent to Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige to lead the new subsidiary.[26] Gunn and Safran were announced as the co-chairs and co-CEOs of the newly formed DC Studios at the end of October 2022.[27] A week after starting their new roles, the pair had begun working with a group of writers to develop an eight-to-ten-year plan for a new DC Universe (DCU) that would be a "soft reboot" of the DCEU.[28][29][30] Gunn and Safran said some cast members would return from The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker in the DCU, and a "rough memory" of those events would remain in the new universe.[31] Because Gunn was busy with his new responsibilities, the second season of Peacemaker was put on hold by January 2023.[32]
Later in 2023, Gunn said the second season was his next project after the DCU film Superman (2025),[33][34] and said it would be part of the DCU's Chapter One: Gods and Monsters slate of content.[35] He stated that the first season was not canon to the DCU,[3] but later clarified that most of the first season's events are canon to the DCU except for specific moments such as the appearance of the DCEU's Justice League.[36] In March 2024, Gunn said filming for the second season would take place simultaneously with Superman later that year, in the interest of getting the season ready as soon as possible, so he was no longer able to direct all of the episodes.[37]
Casting
With the series order in September 2020, John Cena was confirmed to be reprising his role as Peacemaker from The Suicide Squad.[4] The next month, Gunn's close friend Steve Agee joined the series as John Economos, also returning from the film.[13] In November, Gunn's girlfriend Jennifer Holland joined as her The Suicide Squad character Emilia Harcourt, alongside Danielle Brooks as Leota Adebayo, Robert Patrick as Auggie Smith, and Chris Conrad as Adrian Chase / Vigilante.[7][12] Holland was surprised that Gunn brought her character back for the series, believing that her part in The Suicide Squad would be a short one-off role.[38] Chukwudi Iwuji joined the cast as Clemson Murn in December.[10] In late May 2021, Freddie Stroma was cast to replace Conrad as Adrian Chase / Vigilante, after Conrad left the series due to creative differences.[8] Conrad portrayed the role for the first five episodes before being replaced, with Stroma ultimately dubbing over his dialogue.[39]
Cena confirmed that he would be returning for the second season when it was ordered in February 2022.[25] In July 2023, Gunn said Stroma would reprise his role as Vigilante in the DCU.[40] Also reprising their roles from the first season are Brooks, Holland, and Agee.[41] In May 2024, Frank Grillo joined the cast for the second season as Rick Flag Sr., reprising his role from the DCU animated series Creature Commandos (2024–present).[17] Sol Rodríguez, David Denman, and Tim Meadows were cast the following month, with Rodríguez portraying Sasha Bordeaux and Meadows cast as Langston Fleury.[42][43] Michael Rooker was revealed in May 2025 to be appearing as an original character named Red St. Wild. Rooker previously had small roles in The Suicide Squad and Creature Commandos.[6]
Filming
Filming for the first season began on January 15, 2021, in Vancouver,[21] under the working title The Scriptures,[44] with Michael Bonvillain as cinematographer.[45] Gunn directed five of the season's episodes, with Jody Hill, Rosemary Rodriguez, and Brad Anderson each directing one.[46] Production lasted 131 days total, and wrapped on July 11.[47]
Filming for the second season began in April 2024, taking place simultaneously with production on Superman at Trilith Studios in Atlanta, Georgia,[48][49] and concluded in November 2024. Sam McCurdy was the cinematographer.[50] Gunn directed three of the season's episodes,[17] with Greg Mottola, Peter Sollett, and Alethea Jones also directing.[18][19][51]
Music
Gunn revealed in June 2021 that Clint Mansell and Kevin Kiner were composing the score for the series,[52] after The Suicide Squad composer John Murphy was busy writing the score for Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023).[53] A soundtrack album featuring Mansell and Kiner's score was released on February 18, 2022.[54] The first season also features hair metal songs that Gunn selected and wrote into the scripts.[5][55]
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Release
Peacemaker premiered on HBO Max on January 13, 2022,[59] with its first three episodes.[60] The series was released in the United Kingdom on March 22, on Sky Max and Now.[61] The second season is scheduled to premiere on HBO Max on August 21, 2025.[62]
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Reception
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Viewership
Deadline Hollywood reported that each episode of Peacemaker received higher viewership than the last,[63] and HBO Max stated that the season finale's viewership was 44 percent higher than the series premiere's. According to the service, the finale broke the record for highest single day viewership of an HBO Max original episode.[64] In the UK, where Peacemaker was not released until after it had finished airing in the US,[61] the series was the third-most pirated for the first quarter of 2022 after HBO's Euphoria and Disney+'s The Book of Boba Fett.[65]
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 93% of 90 critics' reviews are positive, indicating "a bloody good time that gives writer-director James Gunn full permission to let his freak flag fly."[66] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 70 out of 100, based on 26 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[67] The title sequence was praised,[68][69][70] with critics also highlighting Gunn's sense of fun and "raunchy humor", and Cena's performance. Some found other characters and story elements to be underdeveloped.[71]
Accolades
The first season was nominated for a Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Award,[72] an Annie Award,[73] three Critics' Choice Super Awards,[74] two MTV Movie & TV Awards,[75] and two Saturn Awards,[76] among others.
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Podcasts
HBO Max and DC worked with production company Rooster Teeth to produce an official, aftershow-style video podcast titled Podly. Hosted by Rooster Teeth's Fiona Nova and Ify Nwadiwe, each episode includes a recap of one of the first season's episodes as well as interviews with cast and crew. The video podcast was made available to stream on HBO Max and YouTube, with an audio-only version available via audio platforms.[77]
Gunn announced Peacemaker: The Official Podcast with James Gunn in July 2025, a new companion podcast for the series featuring himself and the cast. It begins with a rewatch of the first season, including discussion of what parts of the first season are DCU canon, followed by a new podcast episode after each of the second season's episodes. The podcast is being made available on HBO Max, YouTube, and audio platforms.[78]
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Spin-off
In January 2021, Gunn said he had ideas for more The Suicide Squad television spin-offs beyond Peacemaker,[79] and confirmed that he was working on another one a year later.[80] In May 2022, a series featuring Amanda Waller was revealed, with Viola Davis in negotiations to reprise her DCEU role. Christal Henry was writing the series, which was expected to build off Waller's guest appearances in Peacemaker.[81] The next month, Gunn said the series that he had revealed earlier was separate from a potential Amanda Waller project though there would be "some blending" of characters from Peacemaker in both.[82] On January 31, Gunn and Safran unveiled the first projects from their DCU slate, which begins with Chapter One: Gods and Monsters. The second project in the slate was Waller, with Davis confirmed to be reprising her role. Henry was revealed to be working on the overall story for the DCU with Gunn and some other writers, and was set as co-showrunner of Waller alongside Jeremy Carver.[32] The spin-off is expected to be made after the second season of Peacemaker.[37]
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References
External links
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