Peacemaker – Season 1 (DC/HBO Max)

If you’ve seen The Suicide Squad you know who Peacemaker is, and you probably have an opinion about him. If you haven’t seen that movie, I would recommend starting there as it gives some backstory to this show. Any way, Peacemaker is an patriotic “hero” who doesn’t think twice about killing some people, as long as the end goal is peace.

The first season of Peacemaker picks up after he has been released from prison, returning to his old life. It’s not long before he gets recruited to a new black-ops mission called project Butterfly. Some of the old overseeing crew from the movie returns, as well as a couple of new acquaintances. Peacemaker is of course hired to be the teams hitman, but he struggles with his own conscience, the relationship with his father and things that have happened in the past. Is killing men, women and children really worth it, even if it’s supposedly for the greater good?

Peacemaker is by it’s heart a comedy. John Cena has proven before that he has great comedic timing and he continues to showcase this here. The show is however not afraid to take on some more heavy subjects, mainly in Peacemaker struggling with his past. Director James Gunn does a really good job with this balancing act, and we know from Guardians of the Galaxy that this is something he is quite able to do well.

There’s a good tempo in the show, each episode bringing something to the table. There are some wacky characters in here, but also some characters that plays it much more straight to balance it all out. The rest of the cast does a great job as well, and they’re riffing of each other in a nice way. The story manages to stay interesting all throughout, perhaps not giving us any huge twists and turns, but it’s enjoyable and a good premise.

I’d recommend this if you liked the The Suicide Squad movie (the one from 2021, keep in mind), Deadpool or James Gunn’s previous work. Music is heavily present in this show, much in the same way it was in GotG, but here is focused on rock. And if you don’t get a warm happy feeling in the belly from seeing the intro on this one, then we can’t be friends. It’s definitely one that I didn’t skip a single time, a great way to get in the right mind state for the show.