Peacemaker season 1

James Gunn's The Suicide Squad didn't exactly win me over; it wasn't the worst thing DC has produced in recent years but it felt overlong for what it was. The cast did their best, there were some good moments throughout but I found myself feeling oddly exhausted by the end. Yet Gunn wasn't finished with DC before setting course to return back to Marvel for he had planned the spin-off show Peacemaker up his sleeve that he would write, direct and produce for HBO Max. John Cena's turn in TSS was one of the film's stronger aspects but I wouldn't stay I was convinced at the time whether this would work for me.

Following the events in TSS (spoilers!), Peacemaker awakes in hospital and has been reassigned to a new mysterious team by Amanda Waller to investigate a mysterious project in America. The team aren't exactly keen to have a self-styled superhero with questionable attitudes working alongside them but see him as a necessary force to complete their mission even with all of his quirks, which includes a pet eagle. 

I went into this sceptically fearing a show that was overly padded with filler episodes to help advertise future shows as we have seen with Disney but I was very wrong and came away highly impressed by what Gunn has carefully achieved here. This eight episode season really feels like a passion project that boasts a fine cast, funny dialogue, engaging action sequences and great direction from everyone involved making for a true surprise. John Cena proves he has range too going way above and beyond the expectations of a wrestler turned actor.

Peacemaker season one really is a great show that puts all of Gunn's talents on display and I look forward to seeing where this series goes to next. There are some moments though where the comedy falls flat or feels a little repetitive towards the end but these are easy to forgive as Gunn nails the character beats that give the show its heart and it's great to see DC continuing to take risks as they learn from their mistakes. I think they will be looking to keep Gunn around for a while longer at this rate.