James Gunn has used his genius talent to take a relatively obscure DC Comics character, dress him up in tightie whities and throw him into the limelight. Chris Smith aka Peacemaker is anything but. He’s an obnoxious, loud jerk but what being given his own tv show does is allow us to explore his character further, delve into his past and have a deeper understanding and some actual empathy for him.
His story picks up a few months after the events of The Suicide Squad and places Peacemaker in a new team who are on a top secret mission. Such a secret, in fact, that he doesn’t even know the details. This new team who have connections to A.R.G.U.S and worked behind the scenes of The Suicide Squad’s mission, introduces us to some fantastic new characters. I’ll give special mention to Orange Is The New Black’s Danielle Brooks as Leota Adebayo who forms a really special bond with Peacemaker and Freddie Stroma as Vigilante who is desperate to be Peacemaker’s side kick. We’ve seen an onscreen version of Vigilante before on Arrow, but this is a completely different interpretation. Stroma’s Vigilate is as goofy as he is deadly and just bloody adorable in a sadistic kind of way.
The show delivers a heavy tone. Yes, there are huge amounts of laughs and incredible scenes of violence but it also comes with some deeper meaning. Peacemaker’s relationship with his white supremacist father (played by Robert Patrick) is a huge element of the season but also serves in explaining the make up of his character. We also find Peacemaker battling demons as a result of his actions with Rick Flag, which I was really pleased they included. There are so many stand out moments throughout it’s 8 episode run but none more so than one between Peacemaker and Eagly after he’s badly injured. It gives you all the feels but also makes you laugh which completely sums this show up. Eagly really is the perfect companion.
John Cena is outrageously superb in every single scene in every single episode. He shines with not only the fight scenes or even with the jokes – he commits to the vulnerability of a character that appears to have the emotional depth of a pebble. His performance really sets the show aside from its peers and propels itself into one of the best tv properties of the year. This is the show we didn’t know we needed. James Gunn, I salute you!
If none of that convinces you to give this a shot, just check out the show’s intro on YouTube. Hands down – the best intro to any tv show ever made. EVER!
