Peacemaker (TV series)

• John Cena as Peacemaker: A ruthless killer who believes in achieving peace at any cost. Gunn described the character as a "superhero/supervillain/[the] world's biggest douchebag".[1]
• Steve Agee as John Economos: The warden of the Belle Reve penitentiary and an aide to Amanda Waller.[2]
• Danielle Brooks as Leota Adebayo[3]
• Robert Patrick as Auggie Smith[4]
• Jennifer Holland as Emilia Harcourt: An NSA agent who is an aide to Amanda Waller.[4]
• Chris Conrad as Adrian Chase / The Vigilante: A district attorney and crimefighter who can quickly heal from injuries.[4]
• Chukwudi Iwuji as Clemson Murn[5]

• Lochlyn Munro as Larry Fitzgibbon[5]
• Annie Chang as Detective Sophie Song[5]
• Christopher Heyerdahl as Captain Locke[5]
• Elizabeth Ludlow as Keeya[6]
• Rizwan Manji as Jamil[6]
• Nhut Le as Judomaster[7]

While completing work on The Suicide Squad (2021) in August 2020, during lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, writer and director James Gunn began writing a spin-off television series centered on the origins of the character Peacemaker, portrayed by John Cena in the film.[9][1] He said this was "mostly for fun".[9] The next month, HBO Max ordered Peacemaker straight-to-series, with Gunn writing all eight episodes of the first season and directing several of them. Gunn and The Suicide Squad producer Peter Safran were set as executive producers, with Cena as co-executive producer.[1] Gunn later explained that DC Films had asked him what The Suicide Squad character he would want to make a television series spin-off about first, and at that point he already had his idea for Peacemaker.[10] In December 2020, Matt Miller joined as an additional executive producer.[11]

Peacemaker extends the world that Gunn built for The Suicide Sqaud,[1] though he would not reveal when the series was set in relation to the film until after the film's release.[12] He said the series was an opportunity to explore current world issues through the title character.[1] Gunn took eight weeks to write the first season, using the time that was allocated for him to have a break between his work on The Suicide Squad and Marvel Studios' Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023). He chose not to take a break due to the pandemic.[9][13]

With the series order in September 2020, John Cena was confirmed to be reprising his role as Peacemaker from The Suicide Squad.[1] The next month, Steve Agee joined the series as John Economos, also returning from the film.[2] In November, Gunn's girlfriend Jennifer Holland joined the series as her The Suicide Squad character Emilia Harcourt, alongside new cast members Danielle Brooks as Leota Adebayo, Robert Patrick as Auggie Smith, and Chris Conrad as Adrian Chase / The Vigilante.[3][4] Chukwudi Iwuji joined them as Clemson Murn in December, and several recurring guests were cast: Lochlyn Munro as Larry Fitzgibbon, Annie Chang as Detective Sophie Song, and Christopher Heyerdahl as Captain Locke.[5] Elizabeth Ludlow, Rizwan Manji, and Nhut Le were added in the recurring roles of Keeya, Jamil, and Judomaster, respectively, in February 2021.[6][7]

By early November 2020, Gunn had arrived in Canada for a two-week quarantine before starting production on the series.[14] Filming began on January 15, 2021, in Toronto,[9][15] with Michael Bonvillain serving as cinematographer.[16] Filming will also occur in Burnaby, Vancouver, and is set to end on June 9.[17][14]