Peacemaker (peace-making show)

[Ant Farm Keyboard]

First three episodes are up where HBO Max is available (or where episodes released on HBO Max go to leak). Written and directed by James Gunn, starring John Cena, with some of the supporting cast from The Suicide Squad returning.

I've only seen the first episode. It's crass and vulgar, and even closer in tone to his Troma work than The Suicide Squad. It also has some pacing issues. And boobs.
Given that Michael Rooker had already been used in this universe, the part of the dad is played by a very similar name actor.

[mothman]

Thanks for the heads-up. I think I'll give this a go - it looks like it suits the mood I'm in right now. Or this whole year so far.

[letsgobrian]

Enjoyed it a lot, but I can see why they put 3 episodes out to begin with, as only the third has traditional action television pacing.

[Mister Six]

Putting out the first 3 episodes seems to be the standard HBO Max procedure. They do it with Doom Patrol and Search Party, too.

[bgmnts]

Thank fuck it has tits in it.

[Ant Farm Keyboard]

Releasing two or three episodes as the premiere seems to be a way for dramas released on streaming platforms to build momentum. That's an issue for Netflix. As they usually release seasons, or half-seasons, people will "binge-watch" them over a couple of weeks, and then they don't get any more coverage in the entertainment section of websites or start conversations on social media, because people have moved on to other shows. That's for instance why Netflix makes an announcement about a new season after something like two months, even if they made their choice much earlier, to put the show in the spotlight again.

By having this hybrid format, other streaming services can hook people up with a show, then get some weekly coverage.

[Dr Rock]

Lovin' this

[phantom_power]

I am really enjoying this, and it made me think the other day that in trying to ruin Gunn's career by disingenuusly being offended by past tweets, all the right wing arseholes have done is make him even bigger. He is now a leading light in the DC universe as well as Marvel

[Ant Farm Keyboard]

They've caused him to go back to his Troma roots in comedy, which hadn't been obvious since Super (I think you've noticed that the HQ is above the "Henenlotter videostore").

This is a lot of fun so far, especially the conversation in the van about hair metal, and the long-teased song that stops ten seconds in because they've reached their destination. Or the bit about Deep State (which matches the description of every conspiracy in a good thriller). Tons of childish humor and poop jokes, and one main caveat so far – the pace of the episodes is quite off.

[Famous Mortimer]

There's a few St Louis things I get, too - like the restaurant being on Manchester Avenue, and the love of hair metal being a reference to famous local radio station KSHE (Gunn mentions it on Twitter every now and again). I presume most people do this, but I don't live in their towns so I don't get them.

[Ant Farm Keyboard]

Renewed!

https://deadline.com/2022/02/peacemaker-season-2-hbo-max-james-gunn-john-cena-1234935052/

Gunn will write and direct all episodes.

And a second Suicide Squad spin-off, based on a different character also appears to be in development.

[phantom_power]

I thought that was a great season finale

Spoiler alert

Justice League cameo!

[close]

[elliszeroed]

Great series. Probably better than the film that preceded it. If nothing more than a John Cena showcase, this was fantastic.

Also:

Spoiler alert

"Go fuck another fish, asshole"

[close]

Shows either WB/ DC's confidence in Gunn, or their don't give a shit attitude.

Either way, looking forward to season 2. I imagine Gunn is done with Marvel after GOTG 3, anyhow, so I can easily see him taking control of a Suicide Squad style DC universe in future.

[phantom_power]

Spoiler alert

"Go fuck another fish, asshole"

[close]

Spoiler alert

I was convinced they would stay as silhouettes so it was great when those two were revealed

[close]

[phantom_power]

And that final speech by the head butterfly is bound to piss off all the right people

[Mister Six]

Haven't read the thread yet, but we watched The Suicide Squad last night and loved it - although we were less taken with Peacemaker than some of the other characters. Does the show hit the heady heights of that film? Is it as bonkers? It looked a bit mundane and bound down by family drama and workplace comedy schtick when we really want a daft, slapstick-violent action-comedy.

[Mobius]

It's pretty mad and silly, yeah.

Peacemaker doesn't do a great deal in the movie, but the series is genuinely good and I'm not a comic book super hero guy at all.

My partner really enjoyed it too and she has zero interest in this sort of shit

[Ant Farm Keyboard]

Peacemaker looked like the worst possible choice for a character to be revived among the casualties in the film, but that's exactly what makes the show riveting. It develops and explains why the guy acts like that, and you tend to side with him, regardless of his past.

[Mister Six]

Ooh, cheers, we'll add it to The List.

[Famous Mortimer]

Just finished it, and it was great.

Perhaps because I'd never seen him in Harry Potter or the HG Wells thing, this felt like a star-making turn for Freddie Stroma. Also, kudos on the American accent, which completely fooled the American I was talking to about it.

I think I preferred this to the Suicide Squad movie, and it looks like everyone was very happy with how it performed, given we're getting a season 2.

Spoiler alert

Loved the cameos too. Jason Momoa came from trashy genre entertainment, so good on him for showing up. I would hope that Cavill would be down for an appearance too, chap seems to have a good sense of humour, but perhaps DC were like "maybe having Superman actually appear in this show is not the greatest idea".

[close]

[evilcommiedictator]

Surely a lot of the WWE money is coming in for season 2, it haven't even started showing here in Australia yet lol

[Mobius]

Surely a lot of the WWE money is coming in for season 2, it haven't even started showing here in Australia yet lol

It's on Binge.

[phantom_power]

Surely a lot of the WWE money is coming in for season 2, it haven't even started showing here in Australia yet lol

It's not on in the UK either for some reason

[AsparagusTrevor]

I'm just past halfway through the series and loving it so far.
Like many I enjoyed THE Suicide Squad but didn't expect an expansion of that particular character to be of much interest til I saw the positive reviews coming out.

I'm really impressed by John Cena, I was surprised at the range of the dude. A pro-wrestler's always gonna have the physical stuff down, and we've seen plenty of his comedic stuff but I wasn't expecting him to nail the emotional stuff so well. I'm happy that they've seen some mileage in the character and we'll get at least another season to chuck alongside Doom Patrol as brilliant DC adaptations.

[phantom_power]

He has such a malleable, expressive face. Almost Jim Carrey-like sometimes

[letsgobrian]

It's not on in the UK either for some reason

HBO Max can't launch until 2025 in the UK, Germany & Italy due to an existing deal with Sky. And presumably Sky weren't interested in airing this.

[Magnum Valentino]

Surely a lot of the WWE money is coming in for season 2, it haven't even started showing here in Australia yet lol

I could be wrong but Big Match John doesn't work for WWE any more - he very quietly sort of retired a few years ago and only pops in very irregularly for showcase matches. I don't think they would be funding this at all. This is not like the days of WWE funded rubbish like The Marine 4 and The Chaperone.

[phantom_power]

HBO Max can't launch until 2025 in the UK, Germany & Italy due to an existing deal with Sky. And presumably Sky weren't interested in airing this.

Lots of HBO Max things end up on Sky. No idea why they would choose not to take the spin-off to a successful DC film

[Ant Farm Keyboard]

There are two sorts of original programming on HBO Max in the US. It is promoted as an expansion of HBO, some streaming service with the full HBO catalog accessible on any device, but there's a second category of shows labeled "Max Originals", that don't air on HBO, and which are most of the time handled by the Warner side of the conglomerate, instead of the HBO division (they were united because of the Time Warner merger in the early 90s, but had remained quite autonomous and are separate legal entities). They also don't carry the classic HBO logo with the snow pattern at the beginning. By the way, DC and DC Films are mostly on the Warner Bros side of the conglomerate (even if HBO handled the Damon Lindelof Watchmen miniseries through coproduction).

Among the Max Originals, there's Raised by Wolves, the Gossip Girl reboot, Station Eleven, The Flight Attendant, Hacks (a great show btw), the later seasons of Search Party, Doom Patrol or Harley Quinn, and Peacemaker.
And Just Like That is a weird situation, given that it's the sequel to an HBO show, but didn't air on HBO, as it was produced as a Max Original.

The distinction might just be semantics and legal (apart from the fact they're not directly overseen by the heads of programming at HBO), but it has implications for foreign markets. The all-encompassing existing deals, with Sky for instance, only apply to the HBO original programming. So, Sky will get about as many fresh shows as three or four years ago, and they don't automatically get the increased number of productions that fall out of the HBO umbrella.

These Max shows are negotiated on an individual base, with the apparent rule of thumb that WarnerMedia will try to find a deal with a network or a service for a miniseries or for new seasons of a finishing show (like Search Party), as the buzz about them will die out by 2023 or 2025, while they want the HBO Max launch line up for a country to get as many exclusive and unreleased hot shows as possible. So, they're willing to accept piracy for Peacemaker if it means that, by the time HBO Max makes it to the UK, they can brag about having Peacemaker, for the first time ever.

[phantom_power]

I would have thought the slime cache of having Peacemaker for the first time ever, in three years when most people will probably have watched it, isn't really worth the loss of revenue of flogging it to Sky or Ch4, Starz or any of the other places the Max shows end up