SPOILER WARNING
Last year, the superhero world was introduced to John Cena’s Peacemaker, who made his DC Extended Universe debut in the superhero flick, The Suicide Squad, and won over audiences everywhere, so much so that a new HBO Max series was ordered focusing on the superhero himself.
The question was, could Cena carry over his superhero to a new solo outing, without the Suicide Squad by his side, successfully? Well, the answer, after just a couple episodes, was a resounding yes. Not only is the plot fittingly ludicrous, with Chris Smith/Peacemaker teaming up with some of his cohorts from the Squad movie, as well as some fresh new faces, to take down a group of butterflies that take over human bodies and impersonate them, but the series is also gut-bustingly hilarious.
Cena is at his all-time best in this show, firing off joke after joke and looking right at home in the DCEU, almost as if he’s been here the whole time. It’s not just Cena, however. Characters like Leota Adebayo and Vigilante, who form part of the team that Cena reluctantly joins at the beginning of the series, are hilarious, especially Vigilante, whose rapid-fire jokes and goofy voice remind one of Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool. Not saying that he’s as revolutionary or transcendent a hero as Deadpool, but he is incredibly hilarious almost every time he comes on screen, just like Wade Wilson, and, when he starts talking, you’ll probably be thinking that it’s Reynolds in disguise.
Even through all of the humor, however, this show does manage to pack in some dark material, as well, which adds a whole new layer to Peacemaker’s character and gives some valuable insight into why he became the killer that he is. This comes in the form of his father (played by Robert Patrick), who turns out to be a racist, narcissistic supervillain who trained his son to kill, so much so that Chris accidentally killed his brother during a fight.
As we see throughout the series, Smith tries to stray as far away from the killer’s life as possible, deciding he doesn’t want to kill anyone anymore, and coming to terms with the fact that his father is such a monster that he may be beyond saving, no matter how much he loves him. The turmoil and grief Cena expresses throughout the series as he ponders the mistakes he has made throughout his superhero career is perfectly done, and should ensure Cena an Emmy nomination by the time the year comes to an end, because he gives a great performance all throughout the show.
This really makes Smith a character worth rooting for by the end of the series, because you understand why he became the way that he did, because his father really did mess him up, and, at the end of the day, all Smith wants to do is become a hero and protect people, a far cry from who he was in The Suicide Squad. The fact that you have an actor like Cena doesn’t hurt, either.
I wasn’t sure how to feel about how the series ended, because, while, on one hand, the butterflies did take over humans and kill people, it is revealed that the reason why they took over the humans is because they observed that humans were abusing the resources at their disposal, and, so, they wanted to save them by providing another food source. Even Smith responded to how it all resolved by pondering whether or not he killed the planet. In turn, Adebayo tells him that he may have, but, on the other hand, he may have given humans another chance to start over. Still, it does feel kind of dirty, but the way it wraps up didn’t totally let me down, especially with a particularly huge cameo once the final fight wraps up (go watch the series to know what I’m talking about).
Also, it was just recently announced that Peacemaker will be getting a second season soon, and I am more than ready for it, as the first season, to me, is hilarious, fun, and an overall good time for any superhero fan.
