Peacemaker is The first Streaming Show set in The DC Extended Universe. It stars John Cena, reprising his role as Christopher Smith/Peacemaker from the 2021 film The Suicide Squad. It also stars several other reprising their roles from the film too. Jennifer Holland returns as Emma Harcourt, Danielle Brooks as Leota Adebayo & Steve Agee as John Economos. As well as Robert Patrick as Auggie Smith, Peacemakers father & Freddie Stroma as Adrian Chase/Vigilante.
For much of Episode 1, we get the most world building the DCEU has done than ever before. Heroes like Batman & Aquaman are well established figures by this point which the 2019 film Shazam! has already well-established.
After spending months in the hospital after the events of The Suicide Squad where Peacemaker/Chris Smith was shot in the neck by Bloodsport/Robert Dubois, Smith gets discharged & initially believes he is free from Amanda Waller & other Task Force X associates to live his own life & was freed of his crimes. After visiting his father Auggie & get his pet eagle named ‘Eagly’ he discovers that in order to maintain his freedom he must work with Waller’s associates after all on a mission called Project Butterfly.
The show’s tone is mostly comedic. If you’re familiar with comic book characters like Deadpool & Harley Quinn then one should be well versed in this type of storytelling. Both The Suicide Film & Peacemaker were directed by James Gunn (Slither and Guardians of the galaxy Vol 2) who specializes in more comedic storytelling. His past works such as Super & Guardians Of The Galaxy being his most high-profile examples.
I personally really enjoyed the irreverent humor of the show. There’s a lot to be desired. Each character has unique perspectives, identities, & personalities than what some other superhero media allow sometimes. Sometimes you have to give breathing room to the characters.
DC content seems to have a recurring theme of family & in addition to the Waller family dynamic between Leona & her mother, the Smith family dichotomy is also an interesting one. Bigoted Conservatism is such a rare commodity in today’s culture. While I’m in no way going to slander either of the major political parties, to see what looked to be like an Alex Jones type figure on Auggie’s TV really felt like a bit of a surprise. Hollywood normally tried to steer away from this type of culture. It doesn’t feel like an overexaggerating.
I’ve seen some people compare the Smiths to Archie Bunker from All In The Family. You could only get away with a character like that in modern times with an 8-Year old boy on South Park when Eric Cartman was being developed. For James Gunn to go this direction, I have to say that’s a lot of balls. I even feel some of the humor comes off more like South Park & Curb Your Enthusiasm than something that we’ve seen done in this genre. The closest is Deadpool & there is an argument that Peacemaker does have some level of morality. He’s stated to be willing to kill all sorts of people (Men, Women, & Children), but when he second-guesses their innocence, he can’t kill a family of 4.
This was the same guy who proposed casual sex to his teammate Harcourt in a bar in the 1st episode but by the 3rd episode we see a different man. The 2nd episode indicates regrets of one of his past killings, Colonel Rick Flag. Of course he shares a deep companionship to his Eagle.
His best friend Vigilante is a character that’s been established in other DC shows before. Here, he comes off more of a nerd but has no problem being a mercenary. His identity is revealed pretty fast. He has become one of my favorite characters in the show. I was not expecting to like a character I didn’t really care for before.
While I read Comics, I have no idea how accurate these characters are. I know Vigilante was given certain liberties, but I didn’t know or care much about the character before this show, so that’s something I have to accept. When they dramatically change a character for the sake of the adaptation, I have to take it that they’re reaching a broader audience. I don’t have to agree with the changes, but I can look past those changes since I enjoy what I’m watching.
So far for me this show is really good. If you like R Rated Comic Book material with good storytelling you should Like this show fine. I’m only 3 episodes in so I’m not ready to compare it to The Boys or Invincible just yet. But It absolutely belongs in the conversation as those two.
Check out the trailer here!
