Peacemaker - What We Know So Far

James Gunn's "The Suicide Squad," as was clarified numerous times in the lead-up to its release, is neither a sequel to nor a reboot of the previous David Ayer "Suicide Squad" film. While James Gunn reused actors from Ayer's film, like Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn and Viola Davis as Amanda Waller, for example, he has specified that their inclusion isn't indicative of its being a sequel but rather the result of a respect for Ayer's casting and a desire to retain actors who already fit into the roles he'd be reprising for his film.

While some components of "The Suicide Squad" may look familiar, the fact that Gunn's film is entirely untethered to the "Suicide Squad" that came before it allowed Gunn to rewrite the squad's history in a sense. His version of the team thus includes plenty of newcomers, including Peacemaker (John Cena), a hero so committed to achieving peace he'll resort to whatever violent methods he deems necessary.

Following his turn in "The Suicide Squad," John Cena will soon return as Peacemaker in a TV series based entirely around his character. Here's everything we know about "Peacemaker" so far.

Even though "The Suicide Squad" was only just released on August 5, the premiere of "Peacemaker" is already imminent, due to the fact that the entirety of its first season was filmed prior to the release of "The Suicide Squad." On July 12, James Gunn revealed on Twitter that filming of "Peacemaker" Season 1 was complete, which should, at the very least, indicate that any possible future pandemic complications will most likely not cause a hindrance to the eventual release of the series.

A release date for "Peacemaker" was first revealed in a Hollywood Reporter interview with Casey Bloys, the Chief Content Officer for HBO and HBO Max. He offhandedly mentioned, in response to a question about HBO's original DC Comics content, that "Peacemaker" would be released in January 2022. This was later corroborated in a tweet that James Gunn himself posted shortly after the series finished filming.

John Cena will be returning to the titular role of Peacemaker, following his turn as the hero in "The Suicide Squad." Seasoned comedic actor Steve Agee will likewise be reprising his role from "The Suicide Squad" as John Economos, who works as a warden at the Belle Reve Federal Penitentiary for superpowered villains and as an aid to Suicide Squad team organizer Amanda Waller. Jennifer Holland is also returning from "The Suicide Squad" as Emilia Harcourt, who also works with Waller as one of the Suicide Squad's staff members of sorts.

New faces in "Peacemaker" will include Danielle Brooks as Leota Adebayo, Christopher Heyerdahl as Captain Locke, Robert Patrick as Auggie Smith, Chukwudi Iwuji as Clemson Murn, and Nhut Le as Judomaster as part of its recurring cast. Most of these characters were newly-created for the "Peacemaker" TV series, so little is known about them thus far, beyond Auggie Smith being Peacemaker's father. Judomaster is the one exception, with a comic book history dating back to the 1960s.

As detailed early on in the production of "Peacemaker," the series will not be a sequel to "The Suicide Squad" but function as an origin story for the character, delving into, in the words of James Gunn himself, how the hero became an "obnoxious, bro-ey douchebag." Along the way, Peacemaker will also have to confront his core philosophy of achieving peace no matter what the cost may be. While further plot details at that time were relatively slim, on-set images also revealed that Peacemaker lives in a red-white-and-blue trailer, seeming to suggest a less-than-charmed everyday life.

Cena also told Entertainment Weekly that "Peacemaker actually turns up the volume on anything that you see in The Suicide Squad," suggesting that the extremities of "Peacemaker" will, in fact, exceed the over-the-top violence of "The Suicide Squad." With so many new characters and most of its plot specifics under wraps, it's hard to know exactly what to expect from "Peacemaker," but based on how Cena describes its violence, it's likely to resemble "The Suicide Squad" to what sounds like a significant degree.