Will James Gunn tone things down for television with his new Peacemaker series for the HBO Max streaming service? If the director’s statements are any indication of what to expect, it doesn’t seem very likely!
While he is very well known for his hilarious but tame and family-friendly Guardians Of The Galaxy films for Disney and Marvel, writer and director James Gunn is also widely known by his fans as a provocateur with a mind for graphic violence and dark twisted humor in many of his projects.
When it was announced that he was taking over writing and directing duties for Warner Bros sequel/reboot of the Suicide Squad franchise (simply titled The Suicide Squad), fans were elated to see Gunn tackling a franchise that would allow him to get away with quite a bit more than he could under the Disney umbrella. The film set out to cross as many lines as it could by checking off every box on Gunn’s wishlist with heavy use of graphic violence and obscenities.
After the first teaser trailer was released for The Suicide Squad, it was announced that Gunn would also be working on a spinoff prequel television series for HBO Max. The spinoff would follow John Cena’s Peacemaker character prior to the events of the upcoming film and is also expected to follow in the film’s footsteps and aim for a hard R-rating (or TV-MA in the case of a television series) and would push the limits of what can be done for a television series. The initial promo art and marketing materials are already covered with the show’s tag line “F#ck! It’s Peacemaker!“, which lets fans know right out the gate that this show is being made for an adult audience.
Recently a rumor began circulating on social media that a heavily edited “censored” version of Peacemaker may be making its way to The CW network where a number of other live-action DC Comics adaptations like The Flash and Legends Of Tomorrow air. James Gunn himself was quick to shoot this rumor down and to reassure fans that the show wouldn’t be airable on primetime television. You can see his full Twitter response below.
Lol. No. If we edited it for broadcast TV it would be forty seconds long. https://t.co/cVfKP8iFLz
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) December 28, 2020
In addition to John Cena in the titular role, Peacemaker will also bring Jennifer Holland and Steve Agee from The Suicide Squad along for the ride as Emilia Harcourt and John Economos, respectively. Sadly, it seems unlikely that Steve Agee’s other character from The Suicide Squad, the CGI fan-favorite character King Shark, will be appearing in this series.
It should definitely be interesting to see exactly what kind of insanity James Gunn will be bringing to the table in a weekly television show. We can definitely expect plenty of blood, guts, graphic violence, and gratuitous language, but knowing Gunn we can probably also expect a lot of heart and great jokes.
James Gunn’s Peacemaker stars John Cena, Jennifer Holland, Steve Agee, Danielle Brookes, Chris Conrad, Christopher Heyerdahl, Chukwudi Iwuji, Robert Patrick, and Lochlyn Munroe. A release date for the series has yet to be confirmed, although it is expected to air in 2021; likely sometime after The Suicide Squad releases.
The series is a prequel to James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad, which stars Margot Robbie, Viola Davis, Taika Waititi, Alice Braga, John Cena, Sylvester Stallone, Joel Kinnaman, Idris Elba, Jaimie Courtney, Pete Davidson, Nathan Fillion, Michael Rooker, Mikaela Hoover, Sean Gunn, Peter Capaldi, David Dastmalchian, Storm Reid, Jennifer Holland, Steve Agee, Mayling Ng, Joaquin Cosio, Juan Diego Botto, Marisol Correa, and Daniela Melchior. The Suicide Squad is scheduled to release both in theaters and on HBO Max on August 6th, 2021.
Are you excited for Peacemaker? With the show being a prequel, do you think John Cena’s character will survive The Suicide Squad? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below and stick around Geek Anything for all of the latest DC movie news!
