THE TOXIC AVENGER

THE SUICIDE SQUAD’S PEACEMAKER IS GETTING A WHOLE SERIES TO UNPACK HIS MANY, MANY ISSUES. PRODUCER PETER SAFRAN TELLS US MORE

- TARA BENNETT

HOW DOES THE “biggest douchebag in the universe” get his own TV series? That might sound like a trick question, but the particular douchebag being referenced is the one specifically labelled as such by writer/director James Gunn: Christopher Smith, aka Peacemaker.

Known simply as The Peacemaker when created in 1966 by writer Joe Gill and artist Pat Boyette, the Chris Smith iteration didn’t appear until DC Comics bought the character in the ’80s and turned him into a zealot vigilante for peace. After being used as a member of the Suicide Squad in some comic runs, it was Gunn who plucked him from the pages to join the ensemble of miscreants in his theatrical redo The Suicide Squad.

As embodied by professional wrestler/actor John Cena in the film, Peacemaker is a provincial, himbo bro-dude who follows orders to ensure peace, even if he has to kill women and children to make it happen. Technically, he is without a doubt a villain. But in the hands of Gunn and Cena, he kind of wasn’t. With major daddy issues seeded in his past (and the character revealed to have survived in a post-credits scene), Gunn knew there was plenty of story left on the table to fill an eight-hour TV series, which he agreed to write and direct for streamer HBO Max.