The first season of the American television series Peacemaker is based on the DC Comics character of the same name. It is the only television series in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) and a spin-off from the 2021 film The Suicide Squad. Set after the events of the film, the season further explores jingoistic vigilante Chris Smith / Peacemaker as he is assigned to Project Butterfly, a project that sees him assassinate people who have been taken over by aliens. It was produced by the Safran Company and Troll Court Entertainment in association with Warner Bros. Television and with James Gunn as showrunner.

John Cena stars as the title character, reprising his role from The Suicide Squad, with Danielle Brooks, Freddie Stroma, Chukwudi Iwuji, Jennifer Holland, Steve Agee, and Robert Patrick also starring. Gunn conceived the series after noting Cena's strength as a dramatic actor while filming The Suicide Squad, and wrote all eight episodes while completing the film during the COVID-19 pandemic. Peacemaker was ordered straight-to-series in September 2020, and additional casting took place over the following months. Filming began in Vancouver, Canada, in January 2021, with Gunn directing five episodes. Production on the season wrapped in July. Gunn chose to use hair metal songs for the season's soundtrack, including "Do Ya Wanna Taste It" by Wig Wam for the opening titles; the title sequence features cast members seriously and stoically performing a choreographed dance number.

The season premiered on the streaming service HBO Max on January 13, 2022, with its first three episodes. The other five episodes were released weekly until February 17. Each episode received higher viewership than the last, and the finale broke the record for highest single-day viewership of an HBO Max original episode. The season received positive reviews from critics, with praise for Gunn's writing, story, characters, performances (particularly Cena's), emotional weight, themes, and opening title sequence. It was nominated for several awards including a Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Award for stunt coordination. A second season was ordered in February 2022. It integrates the series with Gunn's new DC Universe (DCU).

Episodes

Cast and characters

Main John Cena as Chris Smith / Peacemaker:A jingoistic vigilante who believes in achieving peace at any cost. Showrunner James Gunn described Peacemaker as a "piece of shit" and a "superhero/supervillain/[the] world's biggest douchebag". Gunn did not want the series to remove Peacemaker's worst qualities, but attempted to explain some of them by exploring Peacemaker's relationship with his father. After Peacemaker killed Rick Flag in The Suicide Squad (2021), Flag's final words—"Peacemaker, what a joke"—have a big impact on him in the series. Danielle Brooks as Leota Adebayo:The daughter of A.R.G.U.S. leader Amanda Waller and a member of Project Butterfly. Gunn described her as a co-lead with a different political view from Peacemaker's, and said their friendship is the heart of the series because they are the only characters that like each other despite the differences in their personalities and backgrounds. Gunn added that both characters are defined by their parents. Adebayo is an original character created by Gunn, and her first name is taken from his mother. Freddie Stroma as Adrian Chase / Vigilante:A self-proclaimed crimefighter who looks up to Peacemaker like an older brother. Unlike his comic book depiction as a superhero, Peacemaker Vigilante is a foolish sociopath, willing to kill any lawbreaker regardless of the severity of their crime. Gunn felt this approach was what a real-life vigilante would be like: "a guy who dresses up in a costume, and goes around and kills people he says are doing something wrong ... he's a sociopath, but he's got this sort of sweet aspect to him." Chris Conrad, who was originally cast as Vigilante, is uncredited for physically portraying the character in the opening credits, as well as in the first through fifth episodes, and part of the eighth episode. Chukwudi Iwuji as Clemson Murn:A mercenary and the leader of Project Butterfly who reports directly to Waller. He is revealed to be a Butterfly himself called Ik Nobe Lok. Iwuji explained that the original mercenary was a bad person, similar to Peacemaker at the start of the series, but Ik Nobe Lok who possessed Murn is trying to use his body for good by stopping the rest of the Butterflies. The actor developed a backstory for Murn since he does not exist in the comics, and vocal coach Kohli Calhoun helped develop the character's voice. Jennifer Holland as Emilia Harcourt:An A.R.G.U.S. agent who is assigned to Project Butterfly by Waller. Holland was grateful for the nuances that Gunn gave the character, but was concerned that she may come across as a "cold-hearted bitch"; she was glad that the character was not received this way. Holland was able to use her background in competitive gymnastics for the character's many fight scenes. Gunn said the television format meant the relationship that is developed between Harcourt and Peacemaker could be more nuanced than a film would have allowed, with it not being a "love relationship" but also "not that either". Steve Agee as John Economos:An A.R.G.U.S. agent who provides tactical support for Project Butterfly. Agee reluctantly dyed his beard when first portraying the character in The Suicide Squad, and was not happy to do so again for Peacemaker. This is acknowledged within the series as a running joke about his dyed beard, which Cena felt was offensive and unfunny, and showed how much of a bully Peacemaker is. It leads to an emotional scene in the first-season finale where Economos reveals why he dyes his beard, and Cena said this moment allowed Peacemaker to reflect on his actions and realize the harm he had been doing with the jokes. Robert Patrick as August "Auggie" Smith / White Dragon:Peacemaker's racist father who supplies him with technology to aid his mission. Gunn said Auggie was a worse person than Peacemaker and a "lost cause", executive producer Peter Safran described him as "Archie Bunker on steroids", and Cena said he was the only character in the series who does not have a character arc and journey. Gunn noted that portraying a racist character was a delicate subject and something that HBO Max expressed some concern about. The White Dragon is not Peacemaker's father in the comics but it was always Gunn's intention to make that change when he added Peacemaker to The Suicide Squad.

Recurring

Annie Chang as Sophie Song: an Evergreen police detective who investigates Peacemaker's activities. She becomes the new host of the Butterfly leader. Lochlyn Munro as Larry Fitzgibbon: Song's police partner Elizabeth Ludlow as Keeya Adebayo: Leota's wife Rizwan Manji as Jamil: a janitor who works at the hospital where Peacemaker was admitted Nhut Le as Judomaster: a bodyguard who specializes in martial arts and works for Senator Royland Goff. Gunn described him as a "dick that loves Cheetos". Christopher Heyerdahl as Caspar Locke: an associate of Murn who masquerades as the new Evergreen police captain to undermine Song's investigation

Guest

Alison Araya as Amber Calcaterra: an Evergreen citizen and Evan's wife Lenny Jacobson as Evan Calcaterra: an Evergreen citizen and Amber's husband Antonio Cupo as Royland Goff: a United States Senator and the initial host of the Butterfly leader Mel Tuck as Auggie's elderly neighbor

Viola Davis reprises her DCEU film role as Amanda Waller in an uncredited cameo appearance, as do Jason Momoa as Aquaman and Ezra Miller as the Flash. Justice League members Superman and Wonder Woman also appear, portrayed by body doubles with their faces obscured. Additionally, Dee Bradley Baker voices Peacemaker's pet bald eagle, Eagly, and Stephen Blackehart voices Charlie the Gorilla.

Production Development

While completing work on The Suicide Squad (2021) in August 2020, during a COVID-19 lockdown, writer and director James Gunn began writing a spin-off television series centered on the origins of Peacemaker, a character portrayed by John Cena in the film. Gunn said he did this "mostly for fun", and mentioned the idea to The Suicide Squad producer Peter Safran as something he would like to pursue. When DC Films later asked Safran about developing a spin-off series based on The Suicide Squad, he knew that Gunn would say yes to making a Peacemaker series. There were initial discussions about what platform the series should be released through, with the pay television channel HBO and the streaming service HBO Max being two options. The series ultimately went to HBO Max, and Gunn felt this was because it was a new streaming service that needed content and was willing to give Gunn the budget he wanted for the series. DC Films president Walter Hamada later explained that the studio was working with the filmmakers of all its upcoming film slate to try create interconnected spin-off television series for HBO Max based on those films.

HBO Max ordered Peacemaker straight-to-series in September 2020, with Gunn writing all eight episodes of the first season and directing five of them. Gunn and Safran were set as executive producers, with Cena as co-executive producer. The season was produced by Gunn's Troll Court Entertainment and the Safran Company in conjunction with Warner Bros. Television. Matt Miller joined as an additional executive producer in December.

Writing

During the filming of The Suicide Squad, particularly for the scene where Peacemaker attempts to kill Ratcatcher 2, Gunn came to feel that Cena was a much stronger dramatic actor than he was considered to be after previously being known primarily as a professional wrestler and comedic actor. Gunn felt he would be able to show more of this dramatic side to Cena in a story focused on Peacemaker, and also felt the character had not been explored or developed as much as other characters in The Suicide Squad. He eventually decided to write a television series starring the character. Gunn had never worked in television before and approached the project using his experience of writing film scripts and his knowledge of television series that he had seen. He saw the difference between film and television as the former needing to be "more cut and dried" due to the limited runtime while the latter has more time to explore complicated characters and relationships. A particular influence was the AMC series Better Call Saul (2015–2022), with Gunn drawing parallels between that series' protagonist, Saul Goodman, and Peacemaker.