James Gunn has confirmed his Peacemaker series remains slated to premiere on HBO Max in early 2022.
Replying to a follower on his Instagram account, Gunn said the show is still on-course to arrive in "January 2022." This aligns with the premiere window HBO and HBO Max Chief Content Officer Casey Bloys mentioned near the start of 2021. "I just started to get involved with the DC content in August," Bloys said. "Peacemaker is one of the first shows I greenlit and one of the first shows coming out, in January 2022."
Developed by Gunn, Peacemaker will center on John Cena as the titular character, following his debut in the DC Extended Universe movie The Suicide Squad. The Peacemaker character was created by artist Pat Boyette and writer Joe Gill and first appeared in 1966's Fighting' 5 #40. A self-declared pacifist, Cena's Peacemaker is described as "a man who believes in peace at any cost -- no matter how many people he has to kill to get it."
“Peacemaker is an opportunity to delve into current world issues through the lens of this superhero/supervillain/and world’s biggest douchebag," said Gunn, when the series was officially announced in Sept. 2020. More recently, the writer/director cited "the shitty 1970s Captain America TV shows that I loved when I was a child" as a primary source of inspiration for the series. "And I think Peacemaker exemplifies a lot of things about society that are going on politically, and what people’s beliefs are about America and the world," he added. "So being able to tell those stories that are slightly more socially conscious in their essence, but also outlandish, he lends itself to that."
Assuming it sticks to its current premiere window, Peacemaker will arrive about five months after The Suicide Squad premieres simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max. Also written and directed by Gunn, the DCEU film has received an official R-rating for factors that include "strong violence and gore" and "brief graphic nudity," among other things.
Produced by James Gunn, Peacemaker stars John Cena, Steve Agee, Danielle Brooks, Robert Patrick, Jennifer Holland, Chris Conrad, Chukwudi Iwuji, Lochlyn Munro, Annie Chang and Christopher Heyerdahl. The series premieres on HBO Max in January 2022.
Source: Instagram, via ComicBook.com