Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Suicide Squad.

Writer/director James Gunn’s upcoming The Suicide Squad spinoff series, HBO Max’s Peacemaker, will be set in both the past and present. The Suicide Squad introduces John Cena’s Christopher Smith, aka Peacemaker, as a “douchey version of Captain America” whose father was a soldier who trained him how to kill from the moment he was born—which is essentially the same backstory as Bloodsport (Idris Elba). However, Bloodsport is the more rational type, whereas Peacemaker doesn’t care how many innocents he has to kill in the name of liberty.

The pair and their dueling/very dangerous egos join Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman), Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Ratcatcher 2 (Daniela Melchior), Polka-Dot Man (David Dastmalchian), King Shark (Sylvester Stallone) in the mission to destroy Project Starfish on Corto Maltese. While promoting the film, Gunn advised audiences not to get attached to any particular character as The Suicide Squad has a high body count. That said, when it was announced that Gunn wrote a Peacemaker spinoff and directed five of its eight episodes, it wasn’t clear whether it would take place in the past or present. Many assumed the series would be a prequel due to its vague synopsis referring to Peacemaker’s origins.

Related: How Similar John Cena's Peacemaker Really Is To MCU Captain America

In an interview with Variety, Gunn talked about his career, The Suicide Squad, and the upcoming Peacemaker series. Although the series is reportedly an origin story, the director was asked about how The Suicide Squad’s post-credits scene sets it up as a sequel. Read what he said below:

“Well, through the story, you learn where Peacemaker came from. There’s a moment in the movie where Bloodsport talks about his father and what his father was like, and you cut to a shot of Peacemaker, and Peacemaker nods. That’s the seed of the entire “Peacemaker” series. So we get to see Peacemaker with his father, who’s played by Robert Patrick, where he came from, what he’s done, what that means to him, and where he’s going after all of this. Because he’s not an evil person, he’s just a bad guy. He seems sort of irredeemable in the film. But I think that there’s more to him. We didn’t get a chance to know him [in “The Suicide Squad”] in the way we get to know some of the other characters. And so that’s what the whole show is about. I needed eight episodes to do it, at least.”

Peacemaker lies in a hospitl bed in The Suicide Squad Post Credits Scene

The moment in The Suicide Squad Gunn is referring to sees Bloodsport talk about how his father punished him whenever he didn’t successfully complete a task; specifically, a time in which Bloodsport had to spend an extended period in a rat-filled crate—the origin of his rat phobia. In addition to this moment, Task Force X’s surviving members also bond while at the bar, La Gatita Amable, halfway through the film. In the same interview, Gunn describes this experience as one of the first times Peacemaker doesn’t feel like an outsider. Unfortunately, Peacemaker prioritizes his twisted sense of patriotism over this connection to cover up America’s involvement in Project Starfish.

Following Rick Flag’s last words, “Peacemaker, what a joke,” Peacemaker goes after Ratchercatcher 2 as he is “thorough.” Thankfully, Bloodsport drops in just in time to shoot Peacemaker through his own bullet. The Suicide Squad’s post-credits scene reveals that Peacemaker survived Corto Maltese and will now work with John Economos (Steve Agee), Vigilante (Freddie Stroma), and Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland) to save the world. Peacemaker will also star Danielle Brooks (Orange Is the New Black) and Chukwudi Iwuji, and explore Peacemaker’s ideals, origins, and eventual incarceration via flashbacks. Despite Peacemaker turning on his squad members, he shows a fair amount of remorse. It’ll be interesting to see how the character develops on HBO Max as the series presumably leads into other projects.

More: The Suicide Squad's Peacemaker Twist Was Spoiled In The First Trailer

Source: Variety

Key Release Dates