James Gunn Says Peacemaker Has A Lot To Learn In HBO Max Series

John Cena’s Peacemaker was one of the many highlights from James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad, proving that the writer and director made the right call when he asked the wrestler-turned-actor to completely change the way he approached his performance on the very first day of shooting.

Christopher Smith’s deadpan dedication to peace at any cost was a fantastic running gag throughout the DCEU blockbuster and beyond. He was happy to admit he’d kill as many men, women and children as required to secure liberty, while the HBO Max spinoff’s official Twitter account blasted Superman by claiming the Man of Steel wouldn’t eat a single d*ck to attain the same goal.

That sets the Peacemaker show up as a bizarre and irreverent look at the seedier side of superhero vigilantism, and in a new interview with Deadline, Gunn admitted that the title character still has a lot to learn about what it takes to get the job done.

“Peacemaker has a lot of issues. I don’t sit down and say ‘Oh, how am I gonna make this character likable’. I make it as fully fleshed as possible, and one of the things that I wanted to tell was a story in which he’s got a lot to learn.”

Cena is evidently invested in the role having worn the costume for almost the entire press circuit, even when he showed up at the red carpet premiere with his wife, so that enthusiasm can only work in Peacemaker‘s favor. Not only is it a continuation of an acclaimed movie, but it’s the DCEU’s first official expansion into episodic storytelling, so the pressure and expectations are equally high.