Director James Gunn has accomplished the unlikely. Not only did he effectively redeem theSuicide Squadname with his absolutely excellent 2021 sort-of-reboot/sequelThe Suicide Squad, but he also pulled off a possibly even more beloved spinoff with his HBO Max seriesPeacemaker. But what brought on the idea to make a whole series based on such a relatively obscure character?
It turns out the decision to makePeacemakerstemmed from a single shot inThe Suicide Squadthat not only displayed the character’s depth, but also demonstrated John Cena’s acting chops as the conflicted vigilante.Peacemakerwas recently confirmed for a second season, but the first centers on the titular character’s internal conflict regarding his own stated mission of preserving peace, regardless of how many people (including children) he has to kill to get it. But what many saw as a darkly funny throwaway line inThe Suicide Squadturned out to be something that haunts the wannabe hero.
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When speaking with Vulture about the now-completed first season ofPeacemaker(including topics likeCena playing the piano himselfin a certain scene), Gunn revealed the exact scene inThe Suicide Squadthat inspired the entire series. “There’s one really specific moment with me and John that I can trace the origin of this show back to,” Gunn explained. “It’s the moment inThe Suicide Squadwhere Peacemaker is holding his gun on Ratcatcher 2 and he’s about to kill her. I went into this tight closeup of his eyes. On set, I’m always on the microphone talking over everything while we’re shooting. So I’m talking to John on the God Mic about what he’s feeling, and I see his eyes switch. I see him go to this incredibly sad, vulnerable place. We realize this character is a guy who’s doing something he doesn’t want to do at all, but that he’s going to do anyway, which is shoot a young girl.”
Aside from the question of whether the early-20s Ratcatcher 2 (Daniela Melchior) counts as a “young girl,” that was definitely a defining moment for Peacemaker as a character. Viewers of thePeacemakerseries will remember the character’s (real name Chris Smith) sudden declaration that maybe he doesn’t want to keep killing people, and it seems like this specific scene inThe Suicide Squadmight have been the catalyst for it.Gunn certainly keeps familiar themeslike that in a lot of his works. As for Cena’s performance, Gunn seems to have a knack for finding actors like that, as seen with Dave Bautista inGuardians of the Galaxy.
“When I saw that moment in him,” Gunn continued, “I knew John was not just a performer who was funny, which is why I hired him, but a guy who had this other layer. At that moment, I knew John had that thing. It’s a thing a lot of big actors don’t have, and that most wrestlers turned actors don’t have. Dave Bautista also has it. That’s the reason I hired him forGuardiansin the first place. A big part of me wanting to doPeacemakerwas to sculpt away all the other stuff, all the juggling and entertaining John does, and focus on that vulnerable sector.”
That quality of Cena’s is likely one of the many reasonsfans took toPeacemakerso well, and that performance combined with the rest of the show’s stellar cast shot it from a simple spinoff to one of the most popular streaming series. Here’s hoping season 2 keeps things at that same level of quality. But come on, this is Gunn. Odds are it will be just as good, but in a radically different way that nobody expected.
Peacemakeris available to stream on HBO Max.
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