SPOILERS FOR PEACEMAKER E1

“Chapter 1: A Whole New Whirled”

James Gunn is at it again and he may have found a character that works perfectly for his brand of humor and storytelling. John Cena has always embraced the cheese and he has found a role that allows him to do so with a wild abandon. Peacemaker debuted with the first three episodes dropped on HBO Max with a new episode every week to follow.

To begin with, the opening credits are absolutely off the charts. A dance routine with the whole cast involved, especially with John Cena leading the way. It was truly a James Gunn master stroke to kick off the series. I wonder if it will be the opening credits for every episode and if that joke will get old? Either way, it was fantastic at this moment.

And They introduced what is sure to become the most popular character on the show, if not in the entire DC Universe, Peacemaker’s erstwhile sidekick, Eagley. The scene where Peacemaker, aka Chris Smith, returned from his near death in The Suicide Squad and five years in prison to his father’s house where Eagley was at and the eagle hugged him was maybe one of the best moments in super hero shows ever.

I was under the impression that this series was intended to be a prequel to The Suicide Squad, but perhaps that was done just to make people think that he could have died in the movie.

Peacemaker gets approached by a group of people who were working for Amanda Waller in the film, and who were involved in the revolt to help stop Starro, against Waller’s wishes. Amanda Waller, still played by the exquisite Viola Davis, has planted a mole on the team to keep an eye on everyone, a mole who just happened to be her daughter, played by Danielle Brooks from Orange is the New Black.

Another part of the team was Harcourt, played by Jennifer Holland, and she is there to handle the situations. She showed that she was very capable of dealing with threats during a scene in the bar. Peacemaker wanted to talk with her, but Harcourt was anything but interested.

Instead, Peacemaker picked up another woman at the bar, which led to a rousing night of sex, singing and knife fighting.

The scene where John Cena sang along in his tighty-whiteys with the song by The Quireboys called “I Don’t Love You Anymore.” Apparently, this was shot on day one of filming and it is completely off the wall.

So was the vicious fight that followed this dance/singing scene. It was so brutal that Peacemaker barely survived.

Another standout is Robert Patrick appearing as Auggie Smith, Peacemaker’s mean, racist, cruel father. You can see where Chris gained some of his attitude from, but Auggie did not seem to care much for his son, calling him terrible names and wondering how his own semen could create someone like Chris. Auggie has a bigger role to play here as he was referenced by the government workers too.

This was a great pilot episode and I am really looking forward to continuing this as we go. And I love Eagley!.