The Suicide Squad boasted a number of odd villains, yet it was Peacemaker who was given his own spinoff series, and writer/director James Gunn explained why.
In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Gunn was asked why John Cena's ideologically confused elite soldier was the one character to be given more of a story. "Well, I think that it's a number of things," Gunn answered. "In the movie... Harley gets a really complete story about herself, she gets a complete arc. Bloodsport gets a complete story. Rick Flag gets a complete story. Ratcatcher 2 gets a complete story. They all learn something about themselves -- sometimes good things, sometimes bad things -- but Peacemaker is a douche and he stays a douche and he's an asshole in the movie. But I think there's something below that."
"John and I talked a lot about the character," Gunn continued. "Where he is, how he feels -- you think that Polka-Dot Man's the one who's the outsider, but Polka-Dot Man starts to feel a part of the group. Peacemaker has a harder time with that. He's actually the most disconnected of all those characters."
He added that the chance to work with Cena again was another factor that drew him towards the project. "We scratch the surface of John's ability to act dramatically in this movie. It's mostly comedy and silly stuff. And I saw that ability in him and I wanted to explore that further, and the comedic stuff, and to give him a full forum." Cena himself stated that the show will explore Peacemaker's backstory, saying, "This guy is a loud, obnoxious, bro-ey douchebag. That sucks. But why? At what point did he become such a douchebag and what does that mean? There’s a lot to dive into there."
"Peacemaker has a lot to do with where we are politically in this country and that's part of what the show is about," Gunn concluded. "We have Danielle Brooks, someone who in the show is very, very different from Peacemaker, and a lot of the show is about their friendship or lack of a friendship." Brooks will play Leota Adebayo in the series, who Gunn described as the co-lead with a different political view than the titular antihero.
The Suicide Squad is currently in theaters and available to stream on HBO Max. Peacemaker will premier on the streaming service in January 2022.
Source: YouTube