Why Is Peacemaker the First Suicide Squad Spinoff, According to James Gunn?

Writer/director James Gunn discusses why HBO’s Max’s Peacemaker was chosen as The Suicide Squad’s first spinoff movie.

The character was created by Joe Gill and Pat Boyette in 1966 and is well-known for being a pacifist diplomat so dedicated to peace that he used force as a superhero to further his cause. John Cena made his film debut as the character in James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad, and he is expected to reprise his role in the HBO Max series.

Peacemaker is one of several Belle Reve inmates selected by Viola Davis’ Amanda Waller to travel to Corto Maltese in order to destroy the Nazi-era facility Jotunheim as well as any trace of Project Starfish. Peacemaker, who was partnered with Idris Elba’s Bloodsport, Daniela Melchior’s Ratcatcher 2, Sylvester Stallone’s King Shark, and David Dastmalchian’s Polka-Dot Man, would turn on his group when Joel Kinnaman’s Rick Flag and Ratcatcher 2 chose to reveal to the public that the US was behind Project Starfish.

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First Suicide Squad Spinoff

Peacemaker is apparently taken out by Bloodsport with Jotunheim falling on top of him after killing Flag and nearly killing Ratcatcher 2, yet the post-credits for The Suicide Squad indicate he has survived, leading right into Peacemaker.

ET chatted with Gunn about The Suicide Squad and his future work in the DCEU with Peacemaker before of the film’s release.

When asked why the HBO Max series is the first spinoff from the popular film, Gunn explained that he felt most of the team’s arcs were properly concluded, but Cena’s had a lot of potential to develop, and that Peacemaker would be a wonderful place to start spreading his presence.

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