James Gunn’s rowdy Peacemaker offers vulgar counterprogramming for the superhero set
John Cena stars in an HBO Max superhero series that skips the schmaltz and brings the pain.
TV Reviews Peacemaker
The first major action sequence of James Gunn’s Peacemaker, the HBO Max spin-off and sequel-of-sorts to 2021’s The Suicide Squad, features John Cena in a pair of tighty-whities and little else. He’s thrown through the wall of an apartment that belongs to a Crüe-cut rocker babe who matches the jingoistic mercenary blow-for-blow and even respects his dress code. Her gear? Pink bra and panties. And, whoo, is she pissed. The fight lasts for a while and is incredibly stabby and takes place, it should be noted, post-coitus.
The fight is awesome, and funny, and almost as violent as the staggering amount of body parts and viscera that went flying in Gunn’s first ferocious foray into the DC Universe last year. Cena starred in The Suicide Squad as Christopher Smith, a.k.a. Peacemaker, a.k.a. “the other guy with guns” who 1) wasn’t Bloodsport (Idris Elba) and 2) turned out to be an undercover operative for Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) who dutifully betrayed Task Force X and killed Col. Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman) for his country. Flag’s parting shot to Smith as the light left his eyes: “‘Peacemaker.’ What a joke.” Not the most promising leading man TV has seen of late. And here he is, punching a half-naked lady.
But wait! Cena was a stand-out in The Suicide Squad, an impressive feat considering the stacked deck that was its cast, and he’s even better in Peacemaker. It’s a bewildering thing to watch its first three episodes, all of which are available to stream on HBO Max right now. It’s a show that feels like it could have been made in the raunchier ’80s—or possibly the ’90s, when Gunn was working in the grungy trenches of Troma Entertainment alongside schlockmeister extraordinaire Lloyd Kaufman—and if the action-cheese gods were good it might have even starred Dolph Lundgren, too. The body count of Peacemaker is certainly on its way to passing the muster of the grodier action romps from that particular time, a ludicrous brouhaha of hyperviolence doled out by the thyroid cases who thrive from it. Think Cannon Films+.
Of course, Peacemaker, or Christopher, is in a different place in this series than he was in The Suicide Squad. When we last saw him, he was nursing a hole in his neck (courtesy of Bloodsport) and a crushed collarbone (courtesy of the building that collapsed on him). He’s still nursing his wounds in the first batch of episodes, and Cena’s storied tenure as a professional wrestler lends a bit of worrisome legitimacy to the moments when he has to stop whatever he’s doing to grab his injured arm and grimace with agony. You believe Cena knows what it’s like to suffer similar injuries and so you believe that Christopher Smith is in actual pain, too.
It’s just one of a couple surprising moments in Peacemaker where you begin to feel sorry for the murderous bastard. “[He’s] sexist… probably racist,” Danielle Brooks’ Leota Adebayo observes of Peacemaker in the latter half of the first episode, titled “A Whole New Whirled.” “Yeah,” another character replies. “You know who his father is?” We do, and he’s played by Robert “T-1000” Patrick, who sports a sublime mane of untamed bed-head and really leans into the bold-faced cruelty of a father who definitely shouldn’t have been. As Auggie Smith, Patrick is at a perpetual simmer as the wildly racist former soldier-of-fortune who remains on law enforcement’s radar and treats his son like two tons of dried-out shit. He gets framed for Christopher’s crimes and sent to prison in episode two, but before you go saying “good,” just know that it looks like he really wants to be there. Auggie’s gonna keep simmering for now, and the smart money says he’s bound to raise all sorts of hell before long.
And when Auggie does show up again you can bet that it will affect Christopher—and the show!—in a profound way. That’s the real shocker of Peacemaker: This patriotic quasi-maniac is just a mush of emotions, and if prodded correctly, he will crack like a Fabergé egg. There’s an emotional bit in episode two, titled “Best Friends Never,” where Christopher kicks his own ass in an especially brutal manner—you know the one, that pity party we throw ourselves whenever we fuck up beyond repair and have no one to lean on anymore. Cena is there in this episode, and the way he carries on you get the impression that he’ll be there again, the poor lump.
Christopher’s pain is interrupted in comic fashion by Vigilante, as portrayed by Freddie “Dickon Tarly” Stroma (er, not that one). Stroma’s interpretation of the character (Adrian Chase, co-created by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez) is manic and also possibly insane. (He cuts in on Christopher’s first major post-Squad mission for Amanda Waller and murders what looks to be a nice, happy family with a whistle on his lips.) He also kind of sounds like Ryan Reynolds in a Deadpool mask at times, which isn’t necessarily Stroma’s fault (he is British, after all); the popularity of Deadpool was unprecedented for a multitude of reasons, chief amongst them being the rampaging success of Ryan Reynolds smart-assing inside a pretty cool mask designed by Rob Liefeld and people finding that amusing anyway. Nobody saw that one coming.
Still, Stroma is the right kind of insane for Peacemaker, a squirrely x-factor who may just have something to contribute to the series before it’s all over—besides his pinky toe, and also possibly his ability to procreate. (There’s a bit in the third episode, titled “Better Goff Dead,” that involves a car battery and Vigilante’s testicles.) In the meantime, Smith has his rag-tag group of Waller subordinates to rely on, all of whom have wavering opinions about their respective station in life and even lower opinions about Peacemaker serving as the focal point of their motley crew.
This particular task force is led by Chukwudi Iwuji’s Clemson Murn and filled out by Squad regulars John Economos (Steve Agee) and Emilia Harcourt (whose name often sounds like “Hardcore” and is played terrifically by Jennifer Holland), both of whom spend an awful lot of time being especially snarky to newcomer Leota Adebayo (Danielle Brooks, who rules this series). Leota is still learning that black-ops life, and considering everything her team puts her through, Leota takes this herky-jerky ride in stride. If only her wife (Elizabeth Faith Ludlow) was having this much fun. She is not.
Leota becomes the anti-Vigilante of Peacemaker. She’s a better influence on Christopher than either of them realize at this point in the series; her penchant for dressing her dogs in stylish outfits (possibly a dog-parental no-no?) and dragging her betrothed into the shitty hotel life paradoxically establishes some domestic terra firma that might benefit Peacemaker before long. (He is, after all, giving Hardcore the serious romantic eye and she deserves so much better.) At this point in the series, all Christopher really has to lean on is a CGI American bald eagle named Eagly, which is awesome and also a little sad. (Eagly is great. More Eagly.)
Look. Peacemaker is a stacked deck of fearsome insanity and there’s a lot to accept in these first three episodes. It’s vulgar, violent, prone to non sequitur, and has more than one dance sequence in store for you. (Get ready to love the intro sequence, set to “Do Ya Wanna Taste It” by Norwegian hair metal band Wig Wam.) But don’t you dare let its ceaseless barrage of profanity, nudity, and slaughter dupe you into thinking otherwise: James Gunn’s Peacemaker comes packing, among other things, a beating heart. (With all due respect to Col. Flag.)
Stray Observations
- I genuinely love how Peacemaker’s most notable quote from The Suicide Squad, “I cherish peace with all of my heart. I don’t care how many men, women and children I kill to get it,” keeps getting thrown back in his face and he doesn’t like it one bit.
- Auggie Smith, a.k.a. Peacemaker’s dad and the white nationalist figurehead known as the “White Dragon,” is a whole new character to the DC lore. Who he is and what he’s actually capable of (besides talking heaps of trash to the law) remains to be seen.
- Doll Man is an actual superhero! He was created in 1939 by Will Eisner, one of a number of super-characters from Quality Comics that were later bought up by DC.
- Lochlyn Munro and Annie Chang play detectives for the “Charlton County Police Department,” so-named for the Charlton Comics company from which Peacemaker originated before DC acquired its catalog in 1983.
- Priceless exchange: “What’s this? Pizza?” “Officer, put that down!” “Why?” “Because I think that’s a face.” “A whaaat?” “A face! A human face!”
- Clemson Murn is clearly being telegraphed as bad news for the jobbers in Peacemaker. So far, though, he just seems misunderstood.
- Look, I don’t know how to tell you this, but: Bat-Mite confirmed.
- Another good exchange: “Just because you’re handsome doesn’t mean you’re not a piece-of-shit murderer.” “You think I’m handsome?”
- So where are you at with Peacemaker, group? What unspeakable evils will Auggie whip up now that he’s at home in the hoosegow? Will Leota’s big Waller secret be revealed at the worst possible time? Which big DC character is going to show up before the last episode wraps? Anybody have a good zoodle recipe? Sound off in the comments below.
163 Comments
Ha! This reads as if you would be allowed to vote before you are allowed to drink! Insanity.As soon as you start taking an interest in politics you will need a fucking stiff drink.
America is weird, allowed to kill (by gun or by car) by 17, vote by 18. But drink beer? Hell no! Wait until 21.
Us Canucks are a little more reasonable on ages, but pretty
illogical when looking at the country as a whole: Alberta, Manitoba,
and Quebec are 18, and the rest of the country is 19. As an Albertan I
think 19 is not much a longer wait, but realistically it seems an
arbitrary a number- what good is having adults wait just one year before
being allowed to purchase alcohol?
USA used to leave drinking age up to the states until 1984 when the nation Minimum Drinking Age Act was passed. Technically, a state could still set its own legal drinking age, but they would lose 10% of their federal highway maintenance funds.
Well, the drinking age was lowered a lot of places when the voting age was, but MADD came along and had some influence with the latter.
Eagly is the true MVP of this show.
It should be called “Eagly!!!” and nothing else.
More Comic book movies and TV shows should have animal sidekicks.
If you haven’t watched Titans (which you should as it is also HBOMax) there is Krypto Superboy’s super dog sidekick and he is also hilarious and amazing. In one scene somebody uses a rocket launcher and he catches it in his mouth like a frisbee and flings it back at the enemy. Also I am convinced he is smarter than Superboy.
Krypto totally is but only cuz Connor is a baby clone
“If you haven’t watched Titans (which you should…”Respectfully disagree.
Agreed. Take your possum.
Well good on him making peace and all, but he looks like a 6 foot golden dildo.
Go on…
you need more?
Yes, The Kinja Caffeine Spider!Give it to us — ALL of it…!
Piecemaker.
Excited. John Cena was notably funny in The Suicide Squad. He was hilarious in Blockers.Love me some violence and vulgarity in a television show, so. This should entertain me for a spell.
Blockers was the thing that showed me Cena could do comedy very easily.Butt-Chug!!!!!
I’m still annoyed by its title change, but that movie was great. Such a delightful return to the smart, heart-ful R-rated sex comedies I didn’t know I was missing so bad.
I guess it shouldn’t be a surprise that the top professional wrestlers are just great entertainers, but Cena has really set himself apart. His line deliveries in TSS had me rolling.He was also endearingly oblivious in Trainwreck.
No shade on the Rock (he’s a hell of an entertainer), but I think I prefer Cena’s “sure, I’ll do bizarre hyperviolent shit” approach to Johnson’s “gotta please everybody in all 4 quadrants” approach.
100%. I like Johnson fine but would argue Cena’s already put together a more interesting body of work.
It really isn’t fair. Between The Suicide Squad and Blockers and his small but standout roles in Sisters and Trainwreck, it’s become clear. Dude looks like he’s carved from soapstone, AND he’s funny!? C’mon. That’s all I’ve GOT, man. Let the shlubby funny guys have SOMETHING…
I’m down with Cena in this one. I also would have accepted Alan Ritchson, who is going to be in the Jack Reacher series on Amazon Prime next month. If you want a good vulgar television comedy, although without significant violence, I’d recommend Ritchson’s previous project, Blue Mountain State.
Are you Alan Ritchson’s publicist?
He was very funny in his small role in Trainwreck. “I will enter you!”
Thanks, I haven’t seen it. I’ll check it out.
I wasn’t sold on Cena’s Peacemaker until his showdown with Flag in the movie, and the one with Bloodsport later on. Cena acted the hell out of those little shifts in Peacemaker’s expression in those moments.
I feel like peacemaker is the perfect role for Cena. The character is simultaneously ridiculous, pathetic and menacing.
I hadn’t seen Cena in much beyond Blockers, where he was really good, and Suicide Squad, where he was fine with what he was given. In this show he’s shown a surprising, to me anyway, amount of range within the absurdist framework of the show. He’s totally anchoring it.
I wasn’t completely sure about this, but if Robert Patrick is in, so am I.
I’m ready for the Patrickaissance to happen. He was actually much better in ‘The X-Files’ than the rep he got.
Yep, I was a dumb fanboy back in the original run and stopped watching when DD went away, but upon rewatching the whole thing last year I actually ended up liking RP’s character more. I was actually sad they didn’t bring him back, even for a cameo, on the revival of a couple years back (even if the whole plot of that didn’t make a lick of sense).
Yeah, I’d be lying if I said I realised how good Patrick was the first time around. But I did a rewatch with my partner (who was born in 1990 so missed most of the show in its original run) and that’s when I appreciated RP’s work. He gives one hell of a performance in ‘Via Negativa’, especially in a scene where he’s fighting a supernatural urge to kill Scully.
Via Negativa is when I realized how good he is as well. He has a scene with Skinner where he’s chilling.
He was the best part of Scorpion.
He’s fantastic in this (we’ve watched the first two EPs). He’s terrible (in the best possibly way), and manages to look ridiculous but be incredibly menacing, and of course, without getting into spoiler territory, what the actual fuck?
Patrick also played alongside Cena in an episode of the criminally underrated show Psyche
“the HBO Max spin-off and sequel-of-sorts”
Nope. Just a spin-off.
Those stylish little dogs and Eagly have my heart already. Also, I can’t explain why, but Vigilante’s “The reason I’m celebrating is normal” was very funny to me, so was the entire conversation that followed.
All his rowdy blockhead friends are coming over tonight?
So lookin forward to this tonight after I get out of work! I have a feeling it will be great and glad you guys seem to like it.
Me reading the review body: “OK, I enjoyed Suicide Squad and I know what to expect from this. It’s going in the queue.”Stray Observations: Look, I don’t know how to tell you this, but: Bat-Mite confirmedMe: “I have no idea WTF this show is, and I need to watch it immediately.”
I’m in. This is the exact shit I love about DC’s back catalogue.
Im actually more shocked that AV Club gave something a really positive review for a change, lately I’ve been thinking this website cant enjoy or like anything beyond a C+ or a middling B, but that’s just my opinion, like everything else on this site.
I think having to write about something makes them hate it beyond just being critical. There are some shows that get better as seasons go on but if it is the same writer the grades always go down
Well, most everything coming out of the entertainment industry is just average. People think a C+ is a terrible grade. C+ is slightly above average. C+ is middlebrow. But middlebrow isn’t bad. I imagine if you took all the grades from this site and graphed them, it would be the typical bell curve.
Sounds perfect. Loved The Suicide Squad (just re-watched it last week), and I just finally finished the most recent season of What We Do in the Shadows, so this should fill the “vulgar and graphic comedy” void that it left.
Absolutely loved it. Was pissing myself laughing throughout. Is it too early to be hoping for a DC crossover episode where Peacemaker has to team up with Brendan Fraser’s ‘Cliff Steele’? Fuck it. Throw in Bruce Campbell as ‘Ash’ as well *and you could have the Expendables of Hilariously Idiotic Macho Arseholes.*not beyond the realms of possibility. Warner Bros. managed to throw Ash into one of the latest Mortal Kombat games and I’m forever the hopeless optimist
Peacemaker meeting Robotman in the field would be hilarious as inevitably both would think the other was a raging a-hole, without any self-awareness.And then I think Chris Smith and Cliff Steele would have a torrid bromance for the exact same reason.
“… he will crack like a Fabergé egg” Are they known for cracking? I thought they just looked fabulous and were convenient maguffins for heist movies.
Editor didn’t understand the phrase, “will crack like a safe holding a Faberge egg.”Just kidding. There is no editor.
Yeah, gold, precious metals and gems are at least tougher than the thin calcium shell of a regular-ass egg.
No, the writer just doesn’t know what they are.
Faberge is Italian for Fragile, right?
Like kinder eggs, all of the imperial eggs could be opened and revealed a tiny treasure of some kind hidden within. Nicholas commissioned the first egg as an Easter gift for his homesick new Danish wife, Maria, and – perhaps inspired by Russian nesting dolls? – Faberge surprised them by making the egg in two halves which could be separated and putting a gold yolk at the center, which could also be opened to reveal a tiny golden hen, and adorning the golden hen a tiny golden replica of the imperial crown and a ruby pendant for Maria. She loved the gift and especially the surprises inside so much that from then on Nicholas commissioned two eggs a year as Easter gifts for the women in the family, and he gave the artist virtually total *carte blanche* to design the eggs any way he felt artistically inclined, with the only stipulation: all the imperial eggs must conceal a hidden surprise within as the first one did. Very commonly the surprise was or included jewelry; miniature portraits of the royal family were also a recurring theme.
Interesting!
Important question:
Which service is HBO Max? Is it the normal HBO streaming service, or the one you have to pay extra to get?
HBO Go was the service HBO channel subscribers used to get. In the U.S., it has been decommissioned and replaced with HBO Max.HBO Now was the original stand-alone subscription service for non-channel-subscribers. HBO Max replaced HBO Now. You can subscribe directly, or as an add-on through streaming platforms like Amazon Video or Hulu.So, these days, in the U.S., either you subscribe to HBO Max directly, or as an add-on to an existing streaming platform, or you can get an account along with your HBO channel subscription. But it is now all the same service.
It’s a shame. HBO Go was really funny when it was dancing on those treadmills.
Here: https://play.hbomax.com/If you can login, you can watch the show.
Also I think most people who can get HBO through their cable provider are given complimentary access to HBO MAX. That’s how it is for me, initially I was considering dropping HBO from my cable package in favor of HBO MAX which had programming I wanted but in the end I didn’t have to do that.
At least a little while ago, if you had HBO on cable you got Max for free…so find someone with HBO on cable and login.
Still the case. My parents have an HBO subscription through their creaky old cable service (AT&T U-verse), and so we use their AT&T login to get access to HBO MAX.
Leota was the only character who did not actively annoy me in the first episode. Is it worth watching the other two?
For you, almost certainly not. For the rest of us, it’s the most fun show that’s been on in a long while.
Given that setup, no. You are just going to see the other characters going all the way to 11. So if you found them annoying already, I can’t imagine having much fun with the show in general. Indeed, I think simply enjoying the characters is intended to be a huge part of the appeal (for those of us who liked it in the first place).
That was not only a blast, but kept surprising me constantly on hard it kept earning that rating it got. Really good action scenes and while you could sense the covid restrictions in the scenes, excellent work making the sparness a fitting part of the world.Something that really helps this show is that it follows Suicide Squad. Not just because that was a fun movie that introduced us to the many aspects of the character, but because it had Bloodsport and Flagg. Because of them, there is this sense in this show that it isn’t saying costumed vigilantes are sad and dumb, but that it is very specifically Peacemaker who is sad and dumb. That allows it a focus that really improves it.
Having written all that, and as much as I loved the show, I audibly groaned and almost started to rant when they started setting up Peacemaker and Harcourt. If it was just this show, I would find simply boring and bafflingly uninspired. But after the grossness that was Starlord/Gamora from Gunn, it kind of feels almost uncomfortable.
So far it feels to me entirely one-sided. I interpreted their “moment” on watch in the third episode as fantasy by Peacemaker. At least I hope so.
My stupid morning brain kept reading the first sentence as “kept surprisingly giving me a constant hard on”…
Oh, Jennifer Holland is James Gunn’s romantic partner.
Middle school is over, sweetie.
What?
not for the entertainment industry
James gunn is famously the first director to cast someone they’re dating. Because that has never happened before now.
Seth MacFarlane approves.
I didn’t pass judgement or put him down dude, just noted something that I didn’t know and just found out.
And you thought it was worth commenting on, why?
It was new information to me, and not contained in the article, so I shared it out. Why is that a problem for you?
Because I believe you had a purpose which you are reluctant to admit.
I didn’t, but ok
just jumping in to say that I didn’t know/remember that and it’s a useful bit of trivia, and the people giving you a hard time about it are being very strange.
Lucky guy…
“James Gunn’s Peacemaker comes packing, among other things, a beating heart. (With all due respect to Col. Flag.)”That ultra-real heart still haunts me.
How has no one mentioned that insane opening credits sequence?? I was so shocked by it that I immediately had to watch it again to process it.
I read an article about the opening credits. The dance sequence was to make people watch the opening credits so they see who worked on the show instead of just hitting the skip button.
Then damn did they do their job right because I’ve watched those credits like 5 times now
I’ve insisted that we’re going to watch the entire opening credits sequence in every episode, and my family is 100% on board with that.
As well they should be!
They didn’t even need to bother adding the ‘skip intro’ button to this show.
The stone faced expressions everyone has during the opening is the funniest part. The whole opening is just a masterpiece of glorious insanity.
I like how the end credits also end by holding the shot for like three seconds too long, just long enough to see everyone sort of pant in exhaustion.
This show just might have my favorite opening credits ever
I can’t stand professional wrestling. Everything about it makes me hate it even more. It’s the one piece of pop culture/sports/whatever that I will not ever watch. Ever.
And yet, Cena, Dave Bautista and the Rock are legitimately great at what they do, to the point that if I hear any of them are in a project, I’m like “I’m in.”
Even if you don’t like the genre (and I’m with you — I haven’t bothered since I was 14 and Andre the Giant was a thing), as someone noted above it shouldn’t come as a surprise that those people are often ferociously good entertainers. They’re basically acting with their entire bodies in the ring, and knowing how to work a camera and a crowd is absolutely mandatory.
I’ve been a fan all of my life (Rock n’ Wrestling days) but tapered off a few years ago. It used to be about the charactrs and now it’s just who can move faster and do more backflips off the top turnbuckle. They’re all just uncharismatic spotmonkeys.
Go take a nap, Cornette.
Yeah pro wrestling is just stage acting for people who like fights. If Shakespeare had worked in a few more powerbombs into his plays, wrestling as we know it wouldn’t exist.
You need to get Gunn and McMahon to have a sit down before someone steals this idea.
That’s probably why there’s so many swordfights in Shakespeare. A theatre back then was basically one giant moshpit with street-food hawkers wandering through it, so it was tough to keep an audience’s attention.
Really liked the first three eps, and I feel like this is the kind of project the Rock should’ve gotten a decade ago. Not like he’s hurting for roles now, but he really could’ve leaned into the action-comedy genre a LOT more and done a really great job at it, instead of straight-up action.
The only reason I’d watch this white boy power fantasy is Danielle Brooks.
What? The white supremacist is one of the villains.
It’s clearly a parody of white boy power fantasies, and hardly subtle about it, but ok
Noted.
oh sweetie, bless your heart
“oh sweetie, bless your heart”That’s southern for fuck you isn’t it
NERD ALERT!While “Auggie Smith” seems new-ish, his politics and his “White Dragon” moniker are obscure comics stuff.One iteration of comics Peacemaker — the version from the same era as John Ostrander’s foundational reinvention of the Suicide Squad — was the son of a Nazi war criminal who was haunted by hallucinations of his dead father.White Dragon, in turn, was a costumed supervillain from Ostrander’s Hawkworld and Hawkman years. Ostander’s White Dragon was the head of a thinly-disguised take on the Aryan Nation or the real-world Order hate groups in the headlines back in the early 90s, and manipulated the media and public for a while into seeing him as a hero while mainstreaming white supremacist propaganda. Later, Ostrander merged the White Dragon costume and powers with another racist villain, William Heller, from Suicide Squad, and killed the Heller version off in the Suicide Squad: From the Ashes miniseries. Heller was also introduced as a fake vigilante — William Hell — who mysteriously only ever seemed to catch Black criminals (because he let White criminals go in exchange for their joining his hate group).
Rampant speculation here-Superman fought the KKK in his radio show AND Superman & Lois shot in Greater Vancouver just like Peacemaker. Is Tyler Hoechlin going to make an appearance?
White Dragon, the Heller version anyway (which this obviously based on), was in the Suicide Squad comics and even a member for a while. I have no idea what Jones is talking about saying he’s new to DC lore.
I’ve already bootlegged the entire soundtrack so far:Do Ya Wanna Taste It – Wig Wam
I Don’t Love You Anymore – London Quireboys
TigerTailz – Love Bomb Baby
Sister – Would You Love A Creature Like Me
Kissin Dynamite – Six Feet Under
BAND MAID – Choose Me
Bang Camaro – Push Push Lady Lightning
Don’t forget “Welcome to The Church of Rock & Roll” by Foxy Shazam! It played when he’s walking up to his dad’s house/before the confrontation with the old man
I highly recommend that Quireboys album. And Sister is a great band.
I thought that was Tenacious D
Which band?
Sisters, the one that sounds like Tenacious D
Sister is a Swedish Metal band that plays music tha would not have sounded out of place in the 80’s. Some sleaze.
These HBO DC TV shows have been knocking it out of the park. Doom Patrol, Harley Quinn, Watchmen, the gone too soon Swamp Thing, Superman & Lois, and now Peacemaker.I like how Peacemaker has a similar sense of humor to the animated Harley Quinn show. Especially in the way they make fun of other DC characters. Peacemaker even makes a joke about Aquaman fucking fishes like how Harley makes jokes about Batman fucking bats.I also love how even though they’re both very violent and raunchy shows, they still deal with some serious psychological and emotional issues with intelligence and insight.
I’m glad Doom Patrol continues and Watchmen left it there — it was a tad pretentious and really fumbled Manhattan. Would’ve preffered it to be it’s own original thing with a focus on race instead of just ticking reference boxes.
Like a lot of the recent DC movies, removing any shared universe and freeing creatives to go completely wildly has been a great decision. Watchmen and doom patrol are masterpieces and peacemaker is off to a perfect start.
Titans also is pretty violent and occasionally raunchy and takes potshots at other DC characters
Absolutely.Somewhere in here is an interesting thesis about how weird, perhaps even vulgar, “comedies” can turn out to be excellent, maybe even preferable, vehicles for exploring some serious subjects.This is a bit out of left field, but to a list including shows like Doom Patrol and Peacemaker, I would add the excellent Reservation Dogs.
Was I the only person who thought that the “butterfly” walking through the parking lot seemed like a tiny tribute to Frankenhooker? I’d assume it was only me, but James Gunn worked for Troma so you know he’s seen it.
Probably, blink and you miss it but the name on the sign outside of the office that Peacemaker’s handlers are using says “Henenlotter Video.” Henenlotter of course being the name of the director of Frankenhooker and Basket Case.
Holy shit you’re right. Okay, I’m sold: that was 100% a Frankenhooker tribute and James Gunn is my fucking hero.
pretty strong start! i was primed to dislike it but cena’s commitment is mesmerizing.‘what the fuck do they put in cheetos seriously stop’
There was an extra bit in the “Previously on The Suicide Squad” recap at the start that isn’t in the movie, the gal who whacked Waller on the back of the head is slammed down on the table and arrested
So since that seems a really random pull to include in the previously on segment since it was cut from the film I get the feeling Crawley will show up again. Maybe behind the Butterflies. Hopefully to call someone a fucking dickhead.
Love it. Was laughing my ass off the entire time. Vigilante works really well as a foil to Peacemaker and the fact that they keep him in the mask mostly makes it even better. Yes, he has Deadpool vibes but its’ different enough that the character is their own thing. The way he goes “He dude, move over for a sec” gave his character depth and then right away the humming. Just perfect.So many great moments already.
For what it’s worth, DC DOES have a white supremacist villain named White Dragon (two different people have assumed the identity) so it’s not completely a new character. Tying him into Peacemaker as the guy’s father, though, is new–although depending on which version we go with, Peacemaker’s dad was a former Nazi…
Such a weird thing for the Jones to say. White Dragon is an established character. There’s been multiple White Dragons. This one is obviously based on the William Heller white supremacist, neo-Nazi version who is basically only in Suicide Squad comics, as an actual member for a while. He’s not Peacemaker’s father in the comics, sure, but he’s a Suicide Squad comic character in a Suicide Squad adjacent property. I’m not sure what Jones is talking about.
Can’t say I love the idea of a white nationalist villain in a superhero show. I mean, it’s an apt reflection of the times to be sure, but it’s really hard it seems to keep the villains from being awesome.I mean think back to T2 (not a superhero movie sure but close enough). The T-1000 was obviously the bad guy, but he was also badass.I see though why they’ve gone fat, old and dumpy with Patrick here — to head that off coolness as much as possible.I am looking forward to this, though. Loved The Suicide Squad.
ironically the reason t-1000 was a cop was a direct reference to rodney king, so even that goes back to racism
I am not sure that’s true. The movie was only released a few months after the beating. Principal shooting had to have been done by then.
I don’t think it was because of Rodney King specifically, but James Cameron has actually gone on record to say that the T-1000 being a cop was specifically a (negative) commentary on the types of people who become copshttps://www.snopes.com/fact-check/terminator-2-commentary-policing/
So far, this show is like a hug from an eagle.
An absolute blast, so far. The Louis CK exchange between Peacemaker and Vigilante had me almost in tears.
First three episodes were great. Genuinely very funny (the needle drop over the episode two credits made me laugh out loud) with solid action to boot. I wouldn’t dispute that the show has a heart buried somewhere under the piles of bodies, but it’s not sappy like the GotG movies (of which I am not a fan), which I appreciate. Very much looking forward to the rest of the season.
Do you even know what that song is about? Murder. It is about murder.
The first three episodes are fucking awesome. Can’t wait to watch the rest of the season!
Holy fuck balls, this show is amazing! The opening credits maybe the best ever!
*Ctrl+F* “Tick” 0/0
Huh.
https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/William_Heller_(New_Earth) White Dragon
I wasn’t going to watch this – I hate saying that it ‘feels too try hard’, but that’s the feeling I had (also, I Want to find Cena funny/entertaining ever, but that just hasn’t happened) – I’m clearly wrong on all of thisHowever! Bat-mite? Now I Have to
Auggie Smith, a.k.a. Peacemaker’s dad and the white nationalist figurehead known as the “White Dragon,” is a whole new character to the DC lore.What? There’s been multiple White Dragons. None of them were Peacemaker’s father, but it is an established character. Gunn is obviously basing him on the William Heller version of White Dragon. The white supremacist neo-nazi that was in the Suicide Squad comics. White Dragon is literally a Suicide Squad character (and member for a while) and you’re saying he’s a “whole new character?”
“I’m not from Milwaukee!”
John Cena’s hitting out of the park in this and I’m thoroughly enjoying it. It was a big ask to make us root for a sociopathic antihero who seemed oblivious to his faults, but PEACEMAKER (so far) is doing a really good job of humanising the character and having him reckon with his past behaviour and mindset. Adding his dad was a nice touch in this regard. “I didn’t make these while you were in prison.”
Screenwriting 101, if you want your audience to sympathize with a character who is a legitimately awful person, give them a parent that is just so, so much worse.
This version of Vigilante is also useful as a cracked mirror for Smith.
Wow Jennifer Holland is barely recognizable as the cheerleader from that direct to DVD American Pie sequel.
“Think Cannon Films+.”Look, if I’m going to call this Cannon+, I’m going to need a hell of a lot more exposition via radio news reports.
That Quireboys album kicks ass.
Cena should have fought in the nude, like viggo mortensen did in Eastern Promises. This is HBO, right?
He lives in the zone all the time (product placement for Pizza Hut Pizzones appears in the background)
Okay so the series is actually making him deal with the consequences of murdering Rick Flagg and nearly killing Ratcatcher 2?Because after that he’s the last guy I would have wanted a series built around.Also, he’d better be coming to grips with the idea his dad is a terrible person and the show had better not be positioning him as a loveable goof.
Really enjoyed Tim Agee successfully stopping Judomaster. Loved his celebration dance. Plus, that just never happens. The support staff always beats up their doppelganger on the other side. Not a super.
Cena’s Peacemaker is hilariously oblivious to his douche baggery in an almost Sterling Archer kind of way. Make no mistake, he’s an asshole. However, we discover there are some very good explanations for him turning out that way in the first three episodes.
I was kind of disappointed to see Peacemaker’s awesome Ford Maverick bite the dust. But at least Eagly was there to comfort him.
Watched the first episode last night, and loved it. Cena is obviously great, but glad to see Holland and Agee, both of whom I loved in The Suicide Squad. And, you know, the credits are just stellar. Will watch every time.
I’ve enjoyed it overall, but think it could stand to lose a few musical montages. Cena is good and I’ve enjoyed his dynamic with Harcourt. I don’t really understand the Vigilante character. They seem to be good friends, but Cena doesn’t actually know who he is until the mask comes off?I thought Brooks had the weakest performance. When she didn’t sound like she was going to fall asleep, she just reminded me of a low-rent Rebel Wilson. Her connection to Waller also just seemed like lazy writing, as did some of the character decisions (e.g., not shooting the main bad guy first). I’ll keep watching…
The first episode and a little of this was too tryhard vulgar for me, plus all the ogling, use of “bitch,” and Vigilante just not being funny. Going for the unearned abortion joke in that scene was a crime against actual humor. But it started to get its act together halfway through the second episode (not with the ogling of harcourt). Then later it had yet another song about bitches. Parody vs. the thing it is parodying, definitely trying to have it both ways, but by the end of the third episode it’s at least not flopsweating while saying cock a million times.
Also forgot to note how terrible the sequence with the married couple was. Are we still in the Charles Atlas kicking sand on the 98-pound weakling page of the comics and rooting for the guy kicking sand? “I want the handsome one” with the “sensitive” one calling his wife a bitch over and over? It reminds me of the episodes of SNL with Cena or Chris Hemsworth where they always have Mikey Day or Kyle Mooney play the 98-pound weakling the woman leaves, so stale.
I’m late to the party, but I just wanted to drop in to say that the closing credits song from Episode 2 (the hair metal cover of “Pumped Up Kicks”) might just be the best-executed needledrop in the history of television