‘Peacemaker’ will debut first three episodes at once

Good news for everyone looking forward to the upcoming Peacemaker show on HBO Max – the first three episodes of The Suicide Squad spinoff will be available right off the bat.

Following the three-episode drop on January 13, new episodes will premiere weekly. The show stars actor and professional wrestler John Cena as the titular character, a big gun-toting addition to the DC extended universe.

Peacemaker is a tongue-in-cheek name for a man that will basically kill everything and everyone in the name of “peace.” MCU fans found out about the show in September of last year, and James Gunn, who’s directed both DC and Marvel movies, wrote all the episodes and will direct a few. This season will have eight episodes.

A number of different characters from The Suicide Squad will make an appearance, including John Economos, played by Steve Agee, and Emilia Harcourt, played by Jennifer Holland.

In the latest trailer for the show, we get a closer look at Peacemaker’s sidekick – a bald eagle. There are also a number of explosions and some light plot details about a task force put together by the government featuring the red, white and blue killer.

It’s fairly typical for a streaming series to release more than an episode at a time, but three at once is a pretty big deal and doesn’t happen often.

Cena said the show is going to blow away all expectations.

“The Peacemaker is an interesting character because his ego seems contradictory,” Cena told EW. “He is this guy who has developed this philosophy and he can use it as a blanket to behave badly: ‘I am doing this thing that is morally wrong but I am doing it in the name of peace so it’s okay.’ He views himself as a superhero but I think a lot of us would watch his actions and think that they’re morally wrong. In WWE I always try to get people to describe their characters in one sentence and I think that one sentence [for the Peacemaker is] ‘He wants peace so much he’s willing to kill for it.'”

Gunn said that he initially eyed Guardians of the Galaxy star Dave Bautista for the role but ended up picking Cena after Bautista decided to play the lead character in Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead.

“He was a bit of a risk,” Gunn said about casting Cena in Peacemaker. “I’m hiring someone without auditioning. But he came in on the first day and just slayed and ended up being the best improvisational actor I’ve ever worked with in my life.”