It’s the DCEU’s (DC Extended Universe) first television series, “Peacemaker.” This show has gotten some traction in the past few months for its shady characters, bizarre setup, and inappropriate sense of humor. Through all of this, I have heard people question why they chose to center their first show on this character. With all the characters in DC’s lineup such as Superman, Shazam, and even Harley Quinn, Peacemaker is one of those characters that not a lot of people have heard about. Though with the constantly changing landscape of lesser-known characters getting the spotlight on both the big and small screen, it’s not impossible to see why people would want to make a show like this. That is to say, if there is a story worth telling to back it up. Do they have one? Let’s look it over and see.

Taking place after the events of “The Suicide Squad,” we see Peacemaker return to his hometown. Before he has a chance to settle down, he is then forced to join an A.R.G.U.S. black-ops squad Project Butterfly, where they have to track down and eliminate parasitic butterfly aliens who have taken over humans across the world. This task is easier said than done. Not only is Peacemaker a difficult person to socialize or get along with, but he’s also dealing with traumatic events from his past. From here on, the team has to deal with numerous threats such as the local police force, Peacemaker’s white supremacist father/supervillain “White Dragon,” and insect aliens in this bizarre but still enjoyable series.

The DCEU has gone in a wide array of directions in the past several years. Some of their films have been dark, while others were more light-hearted. They had plans for future movies/shows, only for a lot of them to be canceled or reworked into other projects. For a lot of people, this has been a confusing time as the studio doesn’t seem to have a grand plan and is more focused on letting directors do their own thing. This latest show is a prime example of this, as this is coming off the heels of James Gunn’s “The Suicide Squad,” and it shows because this is pure James Gunn craziness slathered all over the screen. To give you an idea, each episode starts with a dance number sequence where all the characters dance to Wig Wam’s “Do you Wanna Taste It.” They do these elaborate dance moves while maintaining serious expressions to this loud rock music. It sounds strange and downright random, but I will admit I never skipped the intro. Honestly, much like with Gunn’s other works, this show has a killer soundtrack.

I didn’t know what I was expecting when watching this series as when I saw Peacemaker in the movie, I mostly thought he was a fine character. He was crude, violent, and fit the story as sort of a jerky Captain America. When I heard they were making a show about him, I was confused as I didn’t think there was much to be done with this character. But I also understand if the people behind this show saw something that could be done with this premise. 

When you hear that the guy who did “Guardians of the Galaxy” is doing an anti-hero show starring John Cena, you feel doubtful but still intrigued by the premise. We’ve definitely seen big-name wrestlers like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Dave Bautista move on to successful acting careers, so I was curious to see what John Cena would bring with this performance.

I’ve seen him act well in decent films, and I’ve also seen him act in terrible films. Despite knowing this going in, I was surprised by Cena’s acting here as he genuinely feels like an actual character. I say this because usually when movies/shows bring in a major star, you can’t help but see the actor and not so much the actual character doing these scenes. I hardly got that here because they actually manage to give this guy personality as well as some depth. Even though it was clearly John Cena on screen, I truly felt I was watching this Peacemaker character. He has a lot of bad qualities, but he’s not evil. He has a lot of funny scenes, but there is also this sense of tragedy to him. You can tell that they’re putting a lot of effort into giving this character an arc, instead of writing him off as another mean-spirited protagonist like a lot of films/shows do.

The rest of the supporting cast is also a lot of fun. Danielle Brooks, as Leota Adebayo, and Jennifer Holland, as Emilia Harcourt, have a lot of great scenes as their respective characters. Chukwudi Iwuji, as Clemson Murn, and Steve Agee, as John Economos, do well playing their scenes straight while also getting across some good comedy. Freddie Stroma, who plays Vigilante, got numerous laughs out of me as he’s this light-hearted sociopath who has this likable aspect to him. Also, Eagley is the best partner/sidekick to have. Nuff said! These characters may not latch onto you immediately, but they work because everyone here has a distinct personality that makes them both likable as well as funny. 

I also like how a lot of the characters here aren’t portrayed as entirely good people, because there are a lot of moments where they have to do some shady things to complete their mission. There is not one person here who is completely innocent. In fact, there are some straight-up despicable scumbags to be found here. The most notable example is Peacemaker’s father, played by Robert Patrick, who is essentially everything wrong with humanity infused into one character. 

I can imagine it must have been difficult portraying some of these scenes and characters as a lot of them deal with sensitive subject matters that you wouldn’t normally see in comic book films/shows. Although, the show manages to convey them in a way that’s easy to understand so you can see why they are included here. I feel like these types of characters could only be done on the TV side of the DC Universe as it allows for more screen time for the characters to develop. It also helps that they are written by people who have history-writing films/shows revolving around shady characters.

While the comedy in this series is not meant for everyone, I can see a lot of people laughing at it. Much of it relies on verbal humor, physical humor, and visual humor. Basically a wide variety of jokes that revolved around anything that the characters are talking about. There are humorous moments such as ridiculous rumors surrounding certain DC characters and character traits that become running gags throughout the series. It is definitely a show that pokes fun at itself as well as other properties but not to the point where it feels like a parody. It’s pretty clear that this is a departure from the tone that most people are familiar with when they think about DC movies and shows. If there are jokes here that you feel may go on for too long, or make you feel like the characters are being silly for the sake of being silly, I understand that. But I didn’t mind as I liked these characters enough to where I wanted to see where the story was going.

Overall, if you are the type of DC fan that’s attached to the dark/brooding tone from the films, then this series is not going to sway you. But if you’re looking for a change in style and tone than what you are familiar with, I have a feeling you’ll enjoy this show. Who knows? Maybe this will lead to other well-known or lesser-known characters getting their own series with each one paying homage to the universe while still being their own thing. A second season has already been announced, so it’s safe to assume we’ll see more of these characters down the road. Bottom line, “Peacemaker” is a series that gives everything it’s promised, while also making the viewer question the crazy things going on in Gunn’s head. It’s bizarre and ridiculous in all the right ways.

Spinnaker rates this series 4 out of 5 Spinnaker Sails.

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