Peacemaker found success adding layer upon layer to its titular hero

The Ringer

"Beneath all the juvenile humor intrinsic to Peacemaker’s edgelord DNA, the first season has explored how toxic ideologies are passed down to younger generations who simply want to do the right thing, and the flawed notions of peace that come with trying to be a better person," says Miles Surrey. Peacemaker, he notes marks James Gunn's "first time as a showrunner—he wrote the entire season and directed five of its eight episodes, including the finale, and is responsible for creating one of the best opening credit sequences of all time. With that extra runway, the show hasn’t just expanded on a tragic backstory—including how Peacemaker accidentally killed his brother and was blamed for it by his father—but has also added layers to its villains, and thus, its centerpiece character study." Surrey adds: "With the series officially renewed on Wednesday, the antihero’s surprisingly profound and unsurprisingly profane journey of introspection has more twists in store. Peacemaker may no longer feel the need to kill as many men, women, and children as necessary in the bloody pursuit of peace, but inner peace remains out of reach—like an eagle soaring through the sky."

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• Peacemaker showed the importance of strong characters without a connected universe: "The show started in a way that made me think my hatred of Peacemaker in The Suicide Squad was justified, and yet, by the end of this series, I was crying and rooting for him, and it shocked me," says Rachel Leishman. "It’s the magic of this show and James Gunn’s approach to the character of Chris Smith that brought us into his life and this mismatched team to take down the Butterflies. What season 1 managed to do was show us that even these unlikely coworkers can find a way to work together and care about one another without making a mess of things. When their adventure starts, Peacemaker is only brought on because he still has a chip in his brain that will kill him if he doesn’t comply with whatever Amanda Waller wants him to do. Pair that with Waller’s daughter Leota on the case, along with their very own Butterfly, Peacemaker’s best friend Vigilante, an eagle named Eagly, John Economos, Harcourt, and more, and the group of them on paper wouldn’t look like people who would get along long enough to mail a letter. And yet, they found a way to work together. The group put aside their initial hatred of one another to find common ground and prove, at least to me, why superhero shows like Peacemaker work in showing that we don’t always need to call in the big names to get the job done."
• James Gunn says "yeah, they kind of let me do whatever I want": "I had a few questions from DC," including about calling Batman a p*ssy," said Gunn. But, he adds, "it was all good." Gunn also discussed balancing taking Peacemaker's emotional journey seriously while portraying him as an idiot. "I think it’s really just being authentic to myself and to who the characters are," he said. "People all the time say, 'Why mix such dark sh*t with such funny sh*t?' That’s just how I see life. I see life as humorous and joyous, but I also see life as very dark. And so, I’m just writing what I experience outside of the giant cow kaiju. It’s really who I am as a human being. When I first started writing, I wrote a novel in the year 2000. I really loved it, thought it was great, it got good reviews, and everyone talked about what a great black-comic novel it was. I was like, 'Oh, I guess it is comic, because I was laughing a lot as I was writing it. But I had never thought of it as comic.' I really don’t go for the comedy. It’s just happening as I’m writing it."
• Gunn gives credit to Marvel for Peacemaker's finale twist
• Gunn credits John Cena with developing Peacemaker to be bisexual
• John Cena thought the season finale twist was a "big gamble": "I remember a moment that will certainly have the internet talking," he says. "I still don't want to spoil anything for anybody. I just remember the evening that we filmed that moment and knowing that it gave a certain validity to Peacemaker. I felt very proud of that moment. I thought it was a big gamble by James, but he gambles big a lot, and I'm really glad it paid off. I'm really thankful for everyone, knowing they didn't have to be involved. I haven't had a chance to meet everybody involved and thank them in person but I'm so very grateful for us to be able to capture that moment, because that (lifted) Peacemaker up quite substantially in the superhero hierarchy."