Peacemaker is back! As the most significant asshole in James Gunn’s The suicide Squad, John Cena’s Peacemaker (alias: Christopher Smith), is a fanatical pacifist who believes so strongly in keeping the peace that he’s prepared to use force and violence to make it happen. The Peacemaker official trailer from HBO Max gave us a much more nuanced view of the complicated character and yesterday, the first three episodes of the Peacemaker series premiere dropped. read on for a review of the Peacemaker premiere episodes!
Peacemaker Ties directly Back Into The suicide Squad and The DCEU
image through Warner Bros. Pictures
Peacemaker begins best after the events of The suicide Squad and it all fits together nicely. Gunn wrote all eight episodes of the series and directed five, so the plot and overall aesthetic feel like a natural transition. We see Peacemaker getting treated for a broken clavicle, despite being shot at and then having a building fall on top of him. He’s released from the medical facility and immediately, Amanda Waller’s ex-team, John Economos (played by Steve Agee) and Emilia Harcourt (played by Jennifer Holland) start tracking him. joining them are new task force X members Clemson Murn (played by Chukwudi Iwuji), a mysterious mercenary who takes on a leadership role, and Leota Adebayo (played by Danielle Brooks), a new recruit. The entire team is seemingly punished by Amanda Waller for rebelling at the end of The suicide Squad and now should take on a new task called project Butterfly. much like Waller, Murn provides Smith a get-out-of-jail-free card if he helps them take on these “butterflies.”
x
Mario Kart DLC Gold Rush.mp4
0 seconds of 12 minutes, 40 seconds
Live
00:00
12:40
12:40
The Peacemaker series Premiere gives us much more insight into The Anti-Hero’s Childhood
image through HBO Max
Viewers got a sense of Smith’s fraught relationship with his dad in the official trailer, but the Peacemaker premiere episodes gave us even more. Smith’s dad (played by Robert Patrick) criticizes and verbally abuses his child at every turn. There’s one scene where Smith attempts to bond with his dad by talking about Bloodsport’s phobia of rats, only to be shut down when his dad says, “This f– that was scared of the rats…please God don’t tell me he was the one who shot you.” It’s uncomfortable to watch, but also humorous, something that Gunn has always done well. We also learn that his dad is the one that outfitted him with his helmets and weapons, which even more discusses why Peacemaker has so numerous daddy issues. When your dad is actively pushing violence on you, that’s all you know.
Episodes 1-3 also shed some light on Peacemaker’s douche-y attitude. He puts on a difficult façade to cover his vulnerability and to keep from talking about his emotions. He’s been rejected his whole life by his father, so being cast aside by others is something that weighs heavily on him. As Murn says in one scene, “(Peacemaker’s) stubborn, but he also has a deep need to belong.” some of the most emotional scenes in the premiere episodes were Peacemaker’s interactions with his pet eagle, Eagley. similar to numerous pets, animals offer unconditional love, and Eagley does just that, even giving Peacemaker a hug. While it offers some comedic relief to see an Eagle coming along on task force X’s mission, Eagley also gives Peacemaker a reason to keep going. The bald eagle is protective of the anti-hero, something that his dad never was.
A colorful supporting Cast Elevates the Premiere Episodes of Peacemaker
image through HBO Max
It wouldn’t be a James Gunn film if there weren’t a host of quirky characters and the new task force X is no exception. Each character has their own demons to deal with (for example, Harcourt was given a glock by her dad when she was a young girl so she has some issues with her dad too), but Gunn handles them all with the dark humor that he’s known for. It turns out Adebayo is the daughter of Waller and has been brought on to act as her eyes and ears. Adebayo is married and has three dogs, but it appears that her mother has been trying to get her to work for ARGUS for a long time. While task force X all seem to think Peacemaker is an idiotic, misogynistic racist, there are moments of deeper understanding. could Peacemaker finally make some real friends?
Speaking of friends, one of the funniest characters is Peacemaker’s “best friend,” Vigilante (played by Freddie Stroma). He’s essentially a fanboy of the anti-hero, but also acts as a pillar of support, taking Peacemaker on a shooting spree when he’s feeling down or taking over for him when he can’t kill the butterflies. He’s naive when it concerns the superhero stuff, but he has heart and genuinely wants to help.
And Of Course, There’s other strange DC Comics Villains
image through HBO Max
The suicide Squad gave us Starro, who was an actual villain inthe comics. In the Peacemaker series premiere, we’re introduced to “butterflies,” which seem like evil butterflies that take over a person’s body? They’re not actually villains from the comics, but they seem similar to Starro in that they’re parasitic and are in full control of a human’s body. At the end of Episode 3, we see that the butterflies are popping up all over the world, which makes us wonder how task force X is going to deal with this.
There’s another villain to keep an eye out for though: Peacemaker’s father, who we learn is someone called the White Dragon. There have been a couple of iterations of the White Dragon, but they’re all villains who have been associated with white supremacy and are based on the KKK’s Grand Wizard. We already know that Peacemaker’s dad was a Nazi, but having him outed as an actual villain tied to white supremacy? We’ll have to see if this gets fleshed out and how that’ll play into the role of the killer butterflies taking over the planet.
Overall, the Peacemaker series premiere is a fun and nuanced look at DC’s anti-hero. Gunn has done a terrific job of fleshing out much more of his backstory and creating an interesting supporting cast.
You can currently view the Peacemaker series premiere episodes 1-3 on HBO Max.
What did you think of the Peacemaker series premiere and the other episodes? Are you going to continue viewing the rest of the series? let us know in the comments below!
Featured image through HBO Max