James Gunn took this seemingly irredeemable character on a journey that made us love him.
Read the whole story
Read the whole story
Review: We had our doubts, but Peacemaker is a cheeky, irreverent delight
- Thread starter JournalBot
- Start date
Upvote
77
(79
/
-2)
"Freddie Stroma as Adrian Chase (aka Vigilante), a sociopathic district attorney"
District Attorney? He's a bus boy. You did watch the series, yes?
District Attorney? He's a bus boy. You did watch the series, yes?
Upvote
115
(117
/
-2)
Wasn't Chase a district attorney in Arrow? Seems like a crossed wire.
[edit] Yup, former district attorney: https://arrow.fandom.com/wiki/Adrian_Chase
Upvote
34
(38
/
-4)
This is truly, a surprising show. I hav gigantic doubts, but it ended up being a funny show.
The pilot and intro messed with my mind so much.
The pilot and intro messed with my mind so much.
Upvote
39
(40
/
-1)
Am I a bad person for wanting to submit to our insect overlords to save the Earth? The Butterflies may have been Earth's last, best hope.
Upvote
29
(36
/
-7)
Poaching James Gunn from the MCU (for a while anyway) paid off in one incredible series, and one unforgettable opening theme. I'm really going to look forward to Season 2. Cena is absolutely brilliant in the role.
IMBD has Gunn and Cena working on a Wile E. Coyote animated movie (set in the Looney Tunes ACME warehouse). Why not?
Upvote
31
(34
/
-3)
John Cena's performance is stand up. He's really good and he bring a lot of color and presence to the episodes. He seems to have sparked something in the rest of the cast. He's not afraid to try anything.
Upvote
46
(48
/
-2)
Awesome show. John Cena is a perfect match. The hilariously crazy style is well thought out. There are so many great, weird scenes!
Upvote
26
(28
/
-2)
John Cena’s performance was a fucking shock to the system. Like, big dumb fucker playing a dumb killing machine in The Suicide Squad, sure. But then they go deeper with him in a way that a writer might go, but you wouldn’t expect an actor working the previous characterization to be able to follow. It’d be George Clooney successfully following up Batman and Robin with The Dark Knight somehow.
…I did feel like Vigilante was maybe a bit too stupid to also be a successful… vigilante. Mindless application of capital punishment to any breaking of the law, okay, but why is one knock for yes, two knocks for no confusing?
…I did feel like Vigilante was maybe a bit too stupid to also be a successful… vigilante. Mindless application of capital punishment to any breaking of the law, okay, but why is one knock for yes, two knocks for no confusing?
Upvote
27
(30
/
-3)
He was just moonlighting there to pay for his girlfriend’s abortion.
Upvote
30
(31
/
-1)
Upvote
25
(27
/
-2)
MedicinalGoat
Ars Centurion
I started watching it not really sure what'd I think. Ultimately it just clicked and the performance of all the actors involved was great. I also had a really fun WTF moment when I saw Eagley had a human voice credit with Dee Bradley Baker. Cena was really phenomenal though. This show is sort of like The Boys in that it shouldn't work, but because reality has become so stupid, it just works as more normal that what we're all dealing with day to day.
Spoilers:
Spoilers:
When Eek Stack Ik Ik as Song stopped fighting with Peacemaker and said the line that was something like, "...treating simple prophylactic procedures to protect others as a heinous violation of personal freedoms" I was so hoping she'd look right at the camera.
Upvote
38
(40
/
-2)
Hey, it's the once in a blue moon when my opinion actually coincides with Jennifer's! 
Definitely enjoyed it - well written and acted characters all around. Quite the change for a DC property.
One of the random bits I liked was the tabloidesque rumors about other superheroes that Peacemaker legitimately believed.
Definitely enjoyed it - well written and acted characters all around. Quite the change for a DC property.
One of the random bits I liked was the tabloidesque rumors about other superheroes that Peacemaker legitimately believed.
Upvote
20
(24
/
-4)
It's surprising how many ex-wrestlers are totally charming onscreen, despite being complete super-ham maniacs in the ring. It's almost like acting is just as important for that job as knowing how to get beaten over the head with a folding chair.
Upvote
73
(74
/
-1)
The Arrow version matched the comics for the D.A. job part but the Peacemaker one had a much closer costume to the comics version. He was absolutely my favorite character in the series.
https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Adrian_Chase_(New_Earth)
Upvote
10
(11
/
-1)
I'll pile on, I've enjoyed the crap out of it. Cena is brilliant, as is the rest of the cast, and Eagly is my favorite uncanny-valley CGI animal to date by a mile.
Upvote
28
(30
/
-2)
I had no idea what to expect going into this show; I had serious reservations from the trailers, but the moment those opening credits hit I was fully in love with it.
It was fast, fun, and almost pitch perfect throughout except for a few stumbles here and there, and I feel like every character on the main team was really well developed.
My main disappointment was:
I also really enjoyed seeing Todd as a mad fixer (hitman?) masquerading as a cop.
It was fast, fun, and almost pitch perfect throughout except for a few stumbles here and there, and I feel like every character on the main team was really well developed.
My main disappointment was:
Detective Song dying.
I really like her character and hoped she'd find out that Peacemaker was actually on the right side for once; but I guess that's also partly what made the moment hit hard at the time.
I really like her character and hoped she'd find out that Peacemaker was actually on the right side for once; but I guess that's also partly what made the moment hit hard at the time.
I also really enjoyed seeing Todd as a mad fixer (hitman?) masquerading as a cop.
Upvote
25
(27
/
-2)
It's worth watching just for the intro. Funniest ever. But the rest of the series lives up to it.
Upvote
18
(20
/
-2)
The blank expressions on everyone's face kinda freaks me out, to be honest. But a choreographed musical number starting out of nowhere is a great laugh all by itself, so I let it slide.
Upvote
17
(18
/
-1)
Cap'nAwesome
Ars Centurion
As a life-long metalhead I love that Gunn went for some pretty deep cuts with his song choices for the older songs rather than the same old tired 80's metal hits that show up every time a show wants to invoke that 80's vibe, and he didn't shy away from using newer bands from the same genre. I never expected to hear Wig Wam, Dynazty, Sister Sin or any of the other bands he used showcased in an American series! Oh, and I loved the story and characters and whatnot too.
Upvote
33
(33
/
0)
Without the dramatic speech by Song/Butterfly, the reaction of JudoMaster has less impact.
And ties back to the beginning when they took out the Senator’s family, captured JM, etc.
This is not hard.
And ties back to the beginning when they took out the Senator’s family, captured JM, etc.
This is not hard.
Upvote
18
(21
/
-3)
The series was simply a delight, one I found myself waiting for each episode to "drop" and there aren't too many of those these days
Upvote
8
(9
/
-1)
Yes, District Attorney. He was a DA in the comics as well, although the comics presented more than one Adrian Chase over the years. I got the impression in this series he was moonlighting as a busboy. (and vaguely remember a throwaway line about it) Granted, it's hard to believe someone who appeared to be as stupid as Adrian could make it through law school, but perhaps that's a further commentary as well.
Hopefully season 2 will resolve this.
Upvote
4
(9
/
-5)
I mean Peacemaker is still a badass. Granted he gets way more screentime being a goober, but he gets time being a badass as well (especially episode 5). Disclaimer: haven't seen every episode yet.
Upvote
17
(18
/
-1)
I mean, part of the whole point of the show is that he massively regrets what he did and no longer wants to just kill indiscriminately anymore, and explores why he even did it in the first place. But when there are legitimate enemies to be killed he fully does it.
Personally I thought it was a really good transition; and I loved the juxtaposition between the conflicted Peacemaker who's trying to laugh everything off but is actually in deep denial about who he is, and Harcourt who is every bit the hardened agent, especially since the whole reason he was assigned to the team is to be a relentless killer who can ultimately take the blame for everything.
Upvote
38
(38
/
0)
This is the first show that I can think of which took a world & a story started on the big screen & brought it to the small (aside from marvel).
Ever since I saw Independence Day as a kid in 1996 I’ve always wanted to see deeper stories told in the worlds movies established, as opposed to bigger & louder sequels.
This isn’t that, but it’s closer than we have been before. With streaming platforms mass manufacturing content, an aversion to original IP and most importantly massive consolidation easing licensing issues we might see a lot more of it.
Maybe I’ll get to see Independence Day After where society has to accept we are not alone & deal with the influx of alien technology, philosophy, ideology. Aliens had Shields to protect from nukes right? What happens when nukes are a non-issue, who knows what alien weapons are scattered around the globe & any random schmoe might be impervious to bullets.
Thanks for enduring this ramble.
Ever since I saw Independence Day as a kid in 1996 I’ve always wanted to see deeper stories told in the worlds movies established, as opposed to bigger & louder sequels.
This isn’t that, but it’s closer than we have been before. With streaming platforms mass manufacturing content, an aversion to original IP and most importantly massive consolidation easing licensing issues we might see a lot more of it.
Maybe I’ll get to see Independence Day After where society has to accept we are not alone & deal with the influx of alien technology, philosophy, ideology. Aliens had Shields to protect from nukes right? What happens when nukes are a non-issue, who knows what alien weapons are scattered around the globe & any random schmoe might be impervious to bullets.
Thanks for enduring this ramble.
Upvote
15
(17
/
-2)
He definitely has dumb moments, but he also has an undercurrent of intelligence and cunning in some of the episodes, including when he captured Goff and didn't tell the team, for example, because he rightly knew he couldn't trust them.
The show did play up the idiot angle a little bit too much, but overall I think they kept his character basically intact to how it was in Suicide Squad (other than the character development).
Upvote
15
(16
/
-1)
I wound up enjoying the show more than I thought I would. I mean, I had high expectations early on, given it was James Gunn and a spinoff from his Suicide Squad film, which was FANTASTIC! Early on, it was just so... juvenile. I'm no prude, mind you, but I felt they dwelled too much on dick jokes in the first few episodes. But they did move on from that (mostly) and in the end, it was an enjoyable romp. I'm looking forward to season 2.
Upvote
2
(2
/
0)
In the movie he did lot of dumb things too (more than the show tbh) but he became more serious near the end guessing to make the plot twist work.
Upvote
12
(12
/
0)
I can't fault anyone for liking it but it's just not my style. The comedy level in the movie was enough as it was but this tv show blows past the movies attempted amount of comedy to an insane degree. I guess they are trying to make their own Deadpool which is fine but its just didnt work for me. While watching the show I specifically recall bouncing back and forth between 'actively' disliking it and straight up boredom like during the back yard shooting montage which bored me to tears and had me thinking to myself "..why am I watching this"
Upvote
-18
(4
/
-22)
He’s obtuse, not dumb. Vigilante is dumb. Peacemaker definitely shows he is not an idiot through the course of the series.
Upvote
38
(39
/
-1)
To the surprise of every member of the family, it became the family watch event of the week, displacing Boba Fett.
Shockingly good, and Eagly...awesome.
Best part? James Gunn's continued excellence in music selection. Wig Wam went from nearly breaking up and their agent quitting on them to being a top stream on Spotify based on Gunn picking out a 12 year old (!) tune that is a serious banger .
Shockingly good, and Eagly...awesome.
Best part? James Gunn's continued excellence in music selection. Wig Wam went from nearly breaking up and their agent quitting on them to being a top stream on Spotify based on Gunn picking out a 12 year old (!) tune that is a serious banger .
Upvote
23
(23
/
0)
Great article, Jennifer. My one quibble is that I think the speech you object to does in fact work because while I thought the arguments irrefutable and irresistible, I was then astonished that Peacemaker was apparently unswayed. The scripts just never telegraphed anything. It's so rare when the next scene isn't a foregone conclusion. I loved the show
Upvote
6
(8
/
-2)