Why 'Peacemaker' Is The Best DC TV Show To Date
DC movies have always been quite epic and dark and often lacking humor. Enter James Gunn and The Suicide Squad. James Gunn not only managed to keep the dark and gritty DC feel while injecting a bucket load of humor into the mix. The Suicide Squad was to DC what Guardians of the Galaxy was to Marvel. This writer was very excited when it was announced that James Gunn would be taking on a spin-off television show using the Peacemaker character.
In contrast to the movies, DC TV shows have always been a lot lighter, more colorful, and fun. Some of them may have run a season or two past their prime but they have, on the whole, been great fun to watch. Arrow, The Flash, Black Lightning, Legends of Tomorrow, Batwoman, Supergirl, and Superman & Lois all started strong and, for me, were more enjoyable than some of the movies. Some of the shows do feel like they are aimed at a younger audience, which is not necessarily a bad thing and does contribute towards why they are not as dark as the DC movie world. The latest DC TV show Peacemaker has completely upped the ante on how a superhero show should be done and is the first entry in the new DC Extended Universe (DCEU) lineup.
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The premise of Peacemaker is fairly simple. After recovering from the injuries he suffered during the events of The Suicide Squad, Christopher Smith/Peacemaker is forced to join the mysterious A.R.G.U.S. black ops squad "Project Butterfly.” They are on a mission to identify and eliminate parasitic butterfly-like creatures that overtake human hosts in the United States and around the world.
Traditionally, the characters in DC TV shows might be the same as those appearing in movies. Unlike Marvel shows, they do not go for continuity using the same actors for those portrayals. Peacemaker has changed all that by bringing the character and actor from The Suicide Squad movie directly into the television realm. Every other bit of casting just fits beautifully in the characters and their interaction with Peacemaker. In other DC TV shows, there are characters that I do not like or I do not think really work. There is none of that in Peacemaker. Just to be clear, I am not a longstanding DC comic reader but have enjoyed all of the shows to date even if I know nothing about the characters. Peacemaker has great casting, does not take itself seriously, and has a crazy storyline with lots of new revelations each week.
With Peacemaker, James Gunn delivers a show that is clearly geared for adults and is humorous to boot. Peacemaker does not take itself seriously at all while delivering an entertaining storyline with some pretty graphic violence. John Cena has never been a guy that I have rated for his acting skills. He had great mic skills when wrestling in WWE, but he is not likely to win any Oscars. In Peacemaker, he is an absolute delight. He hams up his character beautifully and delivers everything you could hope for in a James Gunn-written story.
On top of that, we have James Gunn and his team once again putting in the legwork to produce a fabulous soundtrack. We had our first taste of this with Guardians of the Galaxy. For Peacemaker, he goes all out on eighties and nineties hard rock, hair, and sleaze metal. If this is not your thing, then you might be less than impressed with the songs chosen. As someone who lived that stuff, it is an absolute treat. Saying that, even if you are not a fan of the songs, there is no denying that they fit beautifully with the onscreen action just as things worked in Guardians of the Galaxy.
I would imagine there are a lot of hilarious outtakes from Peacemaker as I have no idea how they managed to keep straight faces when filming this. Hopefully, some of these will see the light of day at some point. Even from the opening credits, the whole thing just says fun, giving you a taste of things to come.
Check out Peacemaker on HBO Max, if you haven't already. For me, this show pushes all the other TV shows into the background and sits center stage as a real lesson in how to elevate things. If this is going to be the quality of things in the DCEU, then the future is looking good!
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