Deluded “superhero” Peacemaker has survived his brush with death following the events of The Suicide Squad. Looking to redeem himself Peacemaker swears to bring about world peace by any means necessary. However when family, allies, and new friends get involved he soon questions his own philosophy of what’s required to be done for true peace. 

Peacemaker is a 2022 superhero, dark comedy series, it is produced by Troll Court Entertainment & WB Television, and is distributed by WB Direct. It airs exclusively on HBO Max and season one is available in its entirety.

Editor’s Note: Medium to near complete spoilers for Peacemaker season one may be present within this review. 

Taking place immediately after the events of The Suicide Squad a near dead Peacemaker awakes in the hospital. He is tasked by Harcourt & Economos to deal with the beginning of a possible alien invasion on behalf of Amanda Waller. As he recovers from his injuries prior to the mission beginning he reunites with his estranged white supremacist father and old friend Adrian Chase who has a superhero alter ego of Vigilante. These meeting in addition to his new team featuring Harcourt, Economos, Chase, leader Clemson Murn, and Waller’s own daughter Leota Adebayo shape Christopher Smith’s character as not only himself but the Peacemaker in ways he never imagine.

THE GOOD: Christopher Smith has awaken from his injuries after the events of The Suicide Squad. Following the disbandment of Task Force X he returns home to his trailer to heal. Smith is give the choice of going to Bell Reeve prison or join the mission of Project Butterfly led by Clemson Murn on behalf of Amanda Waller. He reunites with agents Harcourt & Economos who brief him on the job. Also new to the team is Leota Adebayo who was desperately searching for a job to provide for herself & wife before accepting the job by her mother Waller. Smith visits his estranged white supremacy Auggie to recover his pet eagle Eagly and obtain a new suit & gear. After attempting and failing to seduce Harcourt, Smith leaves the bar with another woman.

They sleep together but she soon turns extremely violent forcing Smith to kill her in self-defense. Police investigate the sonic boom from Smith’s helmet who is attempting to flee the scene. He enlists the help of Harcourt & Adebayo with his escape and leaves with the duo and Eagly. Detectives Sophie Song & Larry Fitzgibbon investigate the death of the woman Peacemaker killed and arrest his father when Economos frames him. Smith reunites with his old friend Adrian Chase who has the superhero alter ego of The Vigilante. After doing some target practice Smith realizes that the device he found in the woman’s apartment is actually a miniature spaceship. While in prison Auggie’s past as the supervillain White Dragon is revealed and he’s worshipped by a group of white supremacists. Smith and the others are given the mission to assassinate Senator Royland Goff due to him being an alien.

Upon realizing that the rest of the family would have to be killed due to also being possessed by aliens Smith is unable to complete the job. Chase lacking any sort of emotional reluctance takes over and kills the wife & children but miss Goff. Smith, Chase, and Harcourt are all attacked by Judomaster who’s working for the butterflies. Judomaster incapacitates Harcourt and he & Goff capture Smith & Chase. Goff begins torturing Chase as Smith watches but they’re saved by Harcourt, Adebayo, and Murn. Judomaster looking for any allies of Smith is knocked out by Economos and taken captive. Smith returns to Auggie’s house to get new equipment where he learns of his arrest. Angered he goes off to prison to see his father but is stopped by Adebayo who tries to remind Smith of who his father is. Smith goes inside anyways to explain things to his father but is refuted. Chase gets arrested in an attempt to assassination Auggie but ultimately fails returning to the team. 

Judomaster escapes and fights Smith but is shot by Adebayo before he can reveal a secret about the butterflies. Smith returns home where he has a butterfly kept in a jar and reminisces about the death of his brother & killing Rick Flag. Adebayo learns more about the butterflies and when messing around with an x-ray helmet of Smith learns that Murn is a butterfly. Harcourt arrives revealing she had known for awhile and Murn explains that he had disdain for the other butterflies due to what they had planned for the human race choosing to defect. After a proper investigation & his own information Auggie is met go but re-arrested by Caspar Locke who is working with Murn. Smith and the others investigate a factory full of butterflies and eliminates them. Smith who had been antagonizing Economos for framing his father bonds with him over their shared love of hair metal and the latter saving his life. The butterfly Smith capture tries to communicate with him & Chase back at home as Auggie is once again freed by Song due to her connections. Song, Fitzgibbon, and an army of police invade Smith’s home and he & Chase flee. During the escape they’re caught by Song but Chase breaks the jar keeping the butterfly and it takes over Song. Locke aides Smith & Chase in their escape with the former’s methods disgusting Smith. The police acquires a diary which was previously owned by Adebayo in regards to Smith. Economos learns that the butterflies have a food source located at a ranch which must be destroyed to stop them.

Auggie gathers a small army and puts on his White Dragon gear to prepare to kill Smith. The possessed Song is the leader of the butterflies and her people invade possessing the entire police force & prisoners including Fitzgibbon & Locke. Locke reveals the contents of the diary during a televised press conference and has Smith and his allies wanted for a number of charges. Murn is killed while the now possessed police force search for Smith and the others. Smith feeling betrayed by Adebayo goes with the others to find the “cow”, but are stopped by Auggie. Smith & Chase allow the others to escape ad they take on Auggie and his forces. Chase recovering from his wounds damages Auggie’s shit and Auggie chastises Smith who kills him. Smith recovers Eagly at a clinic and heads towards the ranch. Time runs out as Adebayo reaches her mother for back up and the group is forced to act. Smith, Harcourt, and Vigilante attack the butterflies.

Harcourt & Vigilante are downed leading to Adebayo to save them as Harcourt is nearly possessed. Smith confronts Song who tells him that they did what they felt was necessary to protect the human race wanting Smith to be the savior of mankind. He refuses and destroys Song’s body. Adebayo kills the cow with Smith’s human torpedo helmet. The Justice League arrives to the scene too late and is berated by Smith. While everyone recovers at the hospital Smith finally forgives Adebayo revealing her as his best friend next to Chase & Economos. Adebayo reveals a fictionalized version of what Project Butterfly is clearing Smith’s name. Smith returns home with Eagly haunted by his father and living with the freed  Goff/Song butterfly. 

It’s incredibly rare for a TV series to feel like it was meant for greatest from the start. However, the moment you hear Peacemaker’s intro theme “Do Ya Wanna Taste it” by hair metal band Wig Wam you know you’re in for something beautiful almost immediately. James Gunn possesses a unique ability to make humor and darker storytelling go together as if their cousins who visit each other every weekend. And to have that skill implemented into a superhero story is even more impressive. Ordinarily I’d be pretty upset for any director tackling a comic/superhero adaptation telling the lead not to brush up on the source. Gunn’s natural gift for telling these types of stories just shines through so effortlessly that I think he’s doing this on purpose just for the sake of challenging himself & his abilities. 

 John Cena & Danielle Brooks kill it with their performance thanks to an unforeseen amount of on-screen chemistry. Having been familiar with Cena since his days in the WWE and his first film The Marine (also under WWE Studios) it’s kind of surreal seeing his ever increasing talent as an actor in real-time. His ability to emote and bring about a sense of realism is rather surprising for the big and small screen roles he takes. I can only imagine how shocking it is for those not familiar to him outside of memes. Going back to Gunn, his writing here is just as superb as it is anywhere else from his past superheroes efforts. Though I will admit that the overall story of the butterflies is probably the weakest of the season. It never really feels as impactful as it should be and I always found myself more interested in the individual arcs of each character. 

THE BAD: Peacemaker’s worst element is that it’s over before you know it. Rarely does a spinoff warrant a desire for more, but the excellent direction by Gunn and the team he’s surrounded himself with does just that. The butterfly arc at times can also be rather weak compared to the larger story and world building of Peacemaker. 

OVERALL THOUGHTS: James Gunn is quickly becoming a fan-favorite name when it comes to working within the superhero genre. He clearly understands and loves the world of superheroes with what he’s done for Guardians of the Galaxy, The Suicide Squad, and now Peacemaker. Though certain areas of its story drag, Peacemaker wins with a well performed cast, excellent script, and engaging surrounding world. Otaku Dome gives Peacemaker season one a 95 out of 100.