Peacemaker is a DCEU (DC Extended Universe) show created by James Gunn and stars John Cena as the character Peacemaker. The first episode aired Jan. 13  and the first season ended with the 8th episode, which aired on Feb. 17 on HBO Max.  

This show is a spin-off series of 2021’s The Suicide Squad, which Gunn directed as well. Gunn isn’t new to making superhero films.  He has created superhero films like Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy VOL. 1-VOL. 2, and the two greatest live-action Scooby Doo movies to date.

Peacemaker picks up where The Suicide Squad left off. Chris Smith (alias Peacemaker) will kill for peace no matter how many women and children he has to kill to achieve it… well that is what he used to say. 

He gets out of the hospital after getting shot by Idris Elba’s character, Deadshot. And in an attempt to avoid jail time/not get his head blown up from an implanted bomb, Chris has to join a not-so-elite black ops team that is given the task to prevent an alien invasion. During the duration of the show, Peacemaker struggles to make friends with his new team, and he has to question his morals as he still wants his evil father’s approval, but doesn’t want to be a bad person. 

This show is campy and strange if you couldn’t tell so far, AND I LOVE IT. Gunn has done great world-building by making obscure and odd DC characters cannon to the DCEU. Batmite, Matter-Eater Lad, and even Kite Man have been referenced.  Another oddly mesmerizing part of the show is the intro why?. 

In all likelihood, it has the best intro a show can offer. The intro is all the characters doing a well-choreographed dance sequence and Wig Wam’s  “do you want to taste it?”  playing over it. You could most definitely play it on loop and not go insane. Hey, that’s how I spend my free time…

The only problem I have with this show is some of the jokes. The material itself isn’t necessarily bad as the jokes Gunn writes could work well in a 2 hour movie. However, in  a 40-minute 8-episode show, his jokes can fall flat and can drag on unnecessarily long. To state it’s not all jokes! This show has a ton of good jokes but again just some don’t work.

This show is one of the best things DC has made in a while and I’m pleased to be giving it the praise it deserves. I would give this show a 9.2 out of 10 Peacemakers. (That 0.8 is deducted mainly due to not being able to see the character Peacemaker.)