With all of the episode’s now streaming on HBO Max I can do a full review of the series and discuss why it’s one of the best new series in 2022 and the best new series on HBO Max. For those who haven’t seen The Suicide Squad you don’t need to watch it to watch Peacemaker. Minor Spoilers.
PROS
John Cena ‘s Chris Smith/Peacemaker is a well written character as the series explores his relationships with his family, friend and what made him what he is today. The series is not a redemption story for the character. He finds himself in another ugly situation related to ARGUS. He continues to fights for peace no matter how people view his idea for what peace is. If you love animals you will love his relationship with his pet Eagle name Eagly.
The supporting characters around Peacemaker is why the series is a huge success. The biggest standout character of the series was Adrian Chase played by Freddie Stroma. Vigilante is different from hid comic book counterpart, but James Gunn gives him a personality and energy that makes him unpredictable and that was a smart move. Daniel Brooks as Leota Adebayo was the heart of the series. Her character wasn’t define because she was a LGBTQ+ character, but she had personality and like Peacemaker she was define by her parents too. She a few standout moments especially in episode eight.
Jennifer Holland as Emila Harcourt and Steve Agee as John Economos the IT guy, was also standouts for the series. John Economos I thought was the other guy who had a few bug moments that were cool character moments. Robert Patrick as Auggie Smith/White Dragon was a good villain and how he was imagined as Peacemaker father made sense. The series had a great balance of humor and action. Using obscure villains from the DC Comics and making something special like the Butterflies shows James Gunn still got the talent to write good characters and stories.
Having a consistent writer with only James Gunn shows how consistent the series was and that some series out there do not need multiple writers for one series. Warner Brothers needs to allow more of this as it shows consistency.
CONS
Not all the jokes worked for the series. There are moments when the kid jokes don’t land well. Like in episode eight with the fart jokes towards Adebayo. I thought Chukwudi Iwuji as Clemson Murn was the weakness of the series. He was the only one that I found predictable.
OVERALL 9/10
Warner Brothers should bend over backwards for James Gunn and allow him to do whatever he wants with unknown characters. He took lesser characters like Peacemaker, Vigilante, Butterflies, with White Dragon and made them very profitable characters and made them recognizable like he did with Guardian’s of the Galaxy.
My Comic Book Opinion 