WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Peacemaker Season 1, Episode 8, "It's Cow or Never," now streaming on HBO Max.
Peacemaker writer/director James Gunn shared which moment from the Season 1 finale of Peacemaker made the show's star, John Cena, cry.
"In the hospital scene, [John Cena] broke out in tears when he took [Jennifer Holland]'s hand & she started crying," Gunn said. "The camera wasn't on him. Probably the most vulnerable moment in [Harcourt]'s life." The relationship between these two characters had been contentious for most of the first season. However, following the final battle with the Butterflies in Peacemaker's Season 1 finale, Holland's character Emilia Harcourt is severely wounded. When Christopher Smith/Peacemaker visits her in the hospital as she recovers from her injuries, the closed-off Harcourt reaches out to hold his hand in a "vulnerable" moment for both characters.
Emilia Harcourt is introduced to Peacemaker as a highly trained ARGUS agent and an equally skilled fighter, who slowly opens up to her teammates throughout the season. However, in an interview with CBR, Holland revealed that, at first, she was worried audiences wouldn't fully understand her character. "I was afraid they'd think she was just a bitch because I think I didn't give enough credit to society and how far we've come in being able to watch strong female characters on screen and being okay with it," she said.
"I was a little afraid that people wouldn't understand the nuance of the character and would just think that she was really a cold-hearted bitch -- and that's not the way people see her," Holland continued. "I'm so grateful for that because I didn't want to pull back. I wanted to make sure that she started as closed off and I wanted to make sure she had that full arc throughout the series."
After first appearing as Christopher Smith/Peacemaker in 2021's The Suicide Squad, Cena reprised his role as the character in the HBO Max original series. Peacemaker picks up directly after the events of The Suicide Squad and sees Christopher Smith drafted into an off-the-books mission known as Project Butterfly. He is joined by ARGUS agents Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland), John Economos (Steve Agee), Clemson Murn (Chukwudi Iwuji) and Leota Abedayo (Danielle Brooks), as well as Adrian Chase/Vigilante (Freddie Stroma).
When the show was first announced, Gunn called it "an opportunity to delve into current world issues through the lens of this superhero/supervillain/and world's biggest douchebag." Peacemaker's Season 1 finale saw Chris and the ARGUS agents complete their Project Butterfly mission and, following its premiere, became the best-performing episode for an HBO Max original series with the largest single-day performance on the streaming service.
Peacemaker has since been renewed for a second season and Season 1 is now streaming on HBO Max.
Source: Twitter