John Cena's Peacemaker Series Just Cast Some Incredible Actors

James Gunn's The Suicide Squad is one of the most highly anticipated movies of 2021, promising to bring the acclaimed director's trademark weirdness to DC's explosive ensemble of antiheroes. Details on the plot have been kept characteristically mum for the duration of the sequel's production, but the scraps tossed in the direction of the series' fans have pointed to a bizarre outing featuring an anthropomorphic weasel, a shark with thumbs, and Pete Davidson.

Among the many, many names attached to the project is John Cena, portraying Charlton Comics-native Peacemaker, "the man who loves peace so much, he's willing to fight for it." In September of 2020, Warner Bros. announced that Peacemaker would be receiving his own HBO Max series as part of the studio's push for an onscreen multiverse. Today, fans got their first big glimpse at the forthcoming Suicide Squad spinoff series' star-studded cast via a press release.

Joining Cena for the eight-episode program will be Danielle Brooks, best known for her work on Netflix's Orange is the New Black where she played Tasha "Taystee" Jefferson. Her character, Leota Adebayo, appears to be an original creation for the show. Another new character, Auggie Smith, will be played by Robert Patrick, a.k.a. the T-1000 from Terminator 2: Judgement Day.

And that's not all! Reuniting with the Gunn gang will be Jennifer Holland, who fans will recognize from 2019's Brightburn, reprising her The Suicide Squad role as Emilia Harcourt. Chris Conrad of Perpetual Grace, LTD joins the cast as Adrian Chase, better known as the antihero Vigilante. Steve Agee of The Sarah Silverman Program had already been announced, playing John Economos, warden of the Belle Reve penitentiary.

There were a few other tidbits to be gleaned from HBO's press release. Peacemaker is being written exclusively by James Gunn, and he'll direct an indeterminate number of episodes as well, with production scheduled to begin before he takes the reins on Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

James Gunn took to social media at the time of the announcement, expressing his excitement about the show's freshly minted cast list. "So stoked to be working with @thedanieb, an actress I've admired for a long time, and can't wait for all of you to meet her character in #Peacemaker," the director tweeted, following the sentiment with an enthusiastic welcome to Robert Patrick, Chris Conrad, and Jennifer Holland.

Peacemaker hasn't nailed down a release date yet, but fans now have less than a year to wait for his big screen debut. The Suicide Squad is scheduled for release on August 6, 2021.