Peacemaker: The Funniest, Goriest Show You’ll See On TV
Peacemaker is brilliant. If you enjoyed James Gunn’s fun, chaotic and gory Suicide Squad, you’ll love it too.
This post is for people who didn’t know about the show or were on the fence about it but toying with it now season two is coming out. Or just curious people (good for you).
What’s Peacemaker all about?
The show starts where Suicide Squad ends. I think it was a post-credit scene in the film, where you see Peacemaker being resuscitated in a hospital. Well, the show starts with him in that hospital.
The Peacemaker, aka Christopher Smith, starts the show still proudly committed to achieving peace “no matter how many men, women, and children he has to kill to get it,” he’s recruited by a mysterious black ops group for Project Butterfly—a mission involving body-snatching alien parasites. The group is part of Amanda Wallace’s purview.
What follows is part alien invasion thriller, part workplace sitcom, part dysfunctional family drama. Being a James Gunn project, it is predictably violent, funny, surprisingly touching, and has a superb soundtrack – 80s rock!
The main characters
It’s a character-driven show (but also has a great story), so let’s have a quick look at the players:
Peacemaker / Christopher Smith – John Cena A violent man-child with justifiable daddy issues, a pet eagle, and a surprising depth as the show develops.
Leota Adebayo – Danielle Brooks
A rookie on the team and Amanda Waller’s daughter. She’s the show’s heart and conscience and kind of reflects how the average person, such as the audience, would react to some of the madder stuff.
Emilia Harcourt – Jennifer Holland
A tough-as-nails agent who slowly warms to Peacemaker’s nonsense. She’s hot, so she might develop into a will-they won’t-they relationship.
Clemson Murn – Chukwudi Iwuji
The mysterious team leader who clearly has something secretive going on.
John Economos – Steve Agee
The awkward tech guy with a love of beard dye and quiet redemption arcs.
Vigilante / Adrian Chase – Freddie Stroma
A psychopathic yet strangely likeable sidekick who idolises Peacemaker and loves murdering. I found him a bit pointless when he is first introduced, but then he becomes one of the best characters.
Augie Smith / The White Dragon – Robert Patrick
Peacemaker’s racist, abusive father and supervillain in his own right. On the plus side, he has a lot of very cool and advanced tech, including Peacemaker’s helmets.
Is Peacemaker worth a watch? Or a rewatch thanks to s2 coming soon
Absolutely, yes. I’m a big fan of James Gunn and this is very James Gunn. It is rude, funny, gory, and has incredibly fun characters. The show came out in 2022 and I was intrigued by reviews (like this one) but wasn’t on any of my streaming services. It is now.
The show has a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, so I am not alone in enjoying it.
And now there is a season two coming on the 21st of August on HBO Max. Exciting times!
If you don’t have HBO Max (or whatever it is called), then you can watch Peacemaker season one here.
I might as well do the trailers for both seasons. Enjoy.
Here’s the trailer for season two:
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