Warning: SPOILERS lie ahead for The Suicide Squad
Writer/director James Gunn opens up about why he chose HBO Max's Peacemaker to be the first spinoff project from The Suicide Squad. Originally created by Joe Gill and Pat Boyette, the character made his comic debut in 1966 and is well-known for being a pacifist diplomat so committed to peace he took to using force as a superhero for his cause. John Cena brought the character to life in his cinematic debut in Gunn's The Suicide Squad and is set to return for the HBO Max series.
In the film, Peacemaker is one of multiple Belle Reve inmates recruited by Viola Davis' Amanda Waller to head to Corto Maltese to destroy the Nazi-era laboratory Jotunheim and the mysterious Project Starfish and any traces of it. Partnered with Idris Elba's Bloodsport, Daniela Melchior's Ratcatcher 2, Sylvester Stallone's King Shark and David Dastmalchian's Polka-Dot Man, Peacemaker would turn on his group as Joel Kinnaman's Rick Flag and Ratcatcher 2 elect to bring the revelation that the United States was behind Project Starfish to the public. After killing Flag and nearly killing Ratcatcher 2, Peacemaker is seemingly taken out by Bloodsport with Jotunheim crumbling on top of him, though the post-credits for The Suicide Squad reveals him to have survived, leading directly into Peacemaker.
In time for the film's release, ET spoke with Gunn to discuss The Suicide Squad as well as his future work in the DCEU with Peacemaker. When reflecting on why the HBO Max series is the first spinoff from the acclaimed film, Gunn felt most of the team's arcs were properly closed while Cena's has a lot of room to grow and through multiple discussions with the actor that Peacemaker would be a good place to start expanding his footprint. See what Gunn had to say below:
"Well, I think that it's a number of things. In the movie... Harley gets a really complete story about herself, she gets a complete arc. Bloodsport gets a complete story. Rick Flag gets a complete story. Ratcatcher 2 gets a complete story. They all learn something about themselves -- sometimes good things, sometimes bad things -- but Peacemaker is a douche and he stays a douche and he's an asshole in the movie. But I think there's something below that. This guy is a loud, obnoxious, bro-ey douchebag. That sucks. But why? At what point did he become such a douchebag and what does that mean? There’s a lot to dive into there."
Though the character's seeming demise in the third act of The Suicide Squad did certainly feel like a closure to his arc, the post-credits reveal of Peacemaker's survival did establish an intriguing future for the vigilante. Prior to the film's release, Gunn had kept his lips sealed about the exact timeline placement of Peacemaker in regards to the film while early reports described that the series would explore his origin story. Of course with the film now out and his fate known by those who watched The Suicide Squad, Gunn has recently confirmed the series will act as both a prequel and a sequel to the DC Extended Universe film.
John Cena's performance as the hypocritical character in The Suicide Squad was certainly plenty hilarious, but the decision to expand upon him in Peacemaker is certainly the more understandable of the group. As seen earlier in the film, Peacemaker is definitely not a great guy, but his intentions are somewhat honorable and raised fair questions as to what exactly drove him to be the way he is. Only time will tell what Gunn and Cena have in store when the series premieres on HBO Max in January.
Source: ET
