James Gunn’s Peacemaker premiered yesterday and immediately delivered on the shock value. The series, which serves as a direct follow-up to Gunn’s The Suicide Squad, follows the titular character, once again played by John Cena, as he begins another highly secretive mission under Amanda Waller’s orders.
Peacemaker is full of Gunn’s trademark mix of unrestrained humor and surprisingly heartfelt moments. During its first three episodes, the show features a slew of genuinely shocking moments that surely made audiences gasp, laugh, and maybe even turn their heads away, already making it one of the best superhero shows on streaming.
Amanda Waller In The House
It’s no secret that Viola Davis’ Amanda Waller is one of the best parts of the Suicide Squad movies. The revered actress brings a level of dignity into the otherwise subversive material, creating a clever and intriguing portrayal of an already complicated woman. Waller has plenty of great comic book storylines, but she’s just starting to receive equally interesting material on screen.
In episode 1, Waller makes a cameo appearance, revealing that she sent her daughter, the otherwise sweet and unassuming Leota, into Project Butterfly to be her eyes and ears. The cameo is short but effective, and it’s always a pleasure to see Davis on screen. It also increases Leota’s importance for the overall story, hinting that there’s more to the character than meets the eye.
Three’s Company
Episode 2 features Peacemaker reuniting with Vigilante, his former crime-fighting companion who has an unabashed admiration for him. After the two reconnect and shoot some appliances and each other in the forest, they engage in a threesome with a woman Peacemaker had previously flirted with while technically holding her hostage.
The scene isn’t graphic, but it’s still surprising to see Peacemaker being so flexible with his sexual experiences. It’s unclear if the three will engage in a polyamorous relationship, although it seems somewhat unlikely.
Escaping The Apartment Building
This installment also features a prolonged chase sequence involving Peacemaker trying to escape from a cop-surrounded building. After briefly holding a married couple hostage, he jumps out of a series of balconies, severely injuring himself in the process.
The chase goes on for quite a while, but it remains tense and exciting. Cena gives a standout physical performance, which, coupled with remarkable work from his stunt doubles, creates the perfect action setpiece. In the end, Peacemaker manages to evade the police, but he doesn’t come out of it unharmed.
Shooting The Bodyguard
Episode 3 revolves around the team’s mission to kill Senator Royland Goff, a suspected butterfly. Things go south when his bodyguard, Judomaster, discovers and attacks them, knocking out Harcourt and capturing Peacemaker and Vigilante. Goff’s non-superpowered bodyguard gets cornered by Harcourt and Leota and tries to appeal to them to save his life. However, Harcourt shoots him on the spot.
Comic book fans know the Suicide Squad includes some of the most notorious criminals and murderers in DC, so logically, the backup team will be equally ruthless. Still, it was shocking to see her kill the man, especially after he talked about his wife and children.
Heil The White Dragon
Robert Patrick plays Peacemaker’s father, August “Auggie” Smith, a notoriously racist, sexist, homophobic bigot who treats everyone around him with barely-concealed contempt. Although much of his backstory remains mysterious, Auggie is the man behind Peacemaker’s suits and weapons. Episode 3 sees the team framing him for the events of episodes 1 and 2, and he gets sent to jail. However, he’s clearly at home there because multiple prisoners kneel before him while yelling, “Heil the White Dragon!”
Patrick, an actor so good at playing villains he’s now typecast in the role, embodies the part with wicked glee. It’s unclear if he’ll be the main antagonist or a supporting character, but his storyline shows great promise.
Taking Out The Berenstain Bears
The third episode focuses on the team’s attempt to kill Senator Goff, and Murn also suspects Goff’s wife and children, nicknamed the Berenstain Bears by Agee and Leota, of being butterflies and orders Peacemaker to kill them once he has confirmation. However, Peacemaker can’t bring himself to kill the children, so Vigilante does it for him.
The show wisely doesn’t show their deaths. Still, hearing Vigilante casually humming while killing the family is quite unnerving. The scene is brief and surprisingly restrained because Gunn understands that sometimes, imagining something is far more effective than outright seeing it.
Naughty Pictures
One of the show’s most crass moments comes in episode 3. As Murn briefs the team on the Goff mission, Leota displays pictures of the Senator and his family. However, she accidentally shows a photo of her wife’s genitals, much to everyone’s amusement.
The photo flashes briefly, and Gunn is famous for his raunchy humor; indeed, this is hardly the only sexual joke in the show, although it is the most unexpected. The joke goes on for a bit too long, but it still has enough funny quips to justify its existence.
Vigilante’s Pinky Toe
Freddie Stroma, who rose to prominence playing Cormac McLaggen, one of the richest Gryffindors in Harry Potter, plays Vigilante, AKA Adrian Chase. He is an awkward but highly effective rogue wanted on multiple counts of murder. In episode three, he joins the team on the Goff mission but ends up being captured by Judomaster.
Goff tortures Vigilante with electric shocks to get Peacemaker to talk; when that fails, he attempts to cut Chase’s pinky toe. However, his tools aren’t sharp enough, and the scene goes on for a while as Chase screams while Goff unsuccessfully cuts the finger. Stroma really sells the scene, accurately conveying Chase’s pain without forgetting the show’s comedic aspect.
Butterfly Reveal
From episode one, Murn and the team are deliberately vague about what the butterflies are. Chris eventually learns the truth on his own, but several pieces of crucial information are still missing. Episode three sees Peacemaker fight another butterfly, Senator Royland Goff.
Eventually, Chris shoots him in the face, revealing an alien-looking butterfly-like creature inside the body. The camera then cuts to the team’s van’s computer showing multiple butterflies being detected worldwide. The reveal is effective and suitably surprising while still providing a satisfying punchline to Peacemaker’s earlier joke about the operation names being overly literal. It’s also a perfect way to raise the stakes for future episodes.
Mutated Hook-Up
Episode one of Peacemaker sees Chris hooking up with a woman he meets at a bar. After having sex, she takes him by surprise while he’s carelessly singing and attacks him. It’s a brutal fight scene that sees her beating him senseless and nearly killing him. To make things even funnier, they are both in their underwear during the fight.
Chris eventually reaches his helmet and fires a sonic boom at her, literally disintegrating her in one of the most shocking scenes in the DCEU so far. The fight has hectic but excellent choreography, and the show does a brilliant job with the music and the camerawork. Peacemaker is one of the best fighters in the Suicide Squad, so seeing this woman nearly kill him makes it very clear that the butterflies are a serious threat.