HBO Max’s Peacemaker Series Will Feature Commentary On Society Says James Gunn

John F. Trent |

Aug 9, 2021

James Gunn, the creator of the upcoming HBO Max series Peacemaker recently revealed the show will feature commentary on society.

Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter in a wide-ranging interview about The Suicide Squad and DC Films’ future plans, Gunn was asked about the upcoming HBO Max series Peacemaker.

The Hollywood Reporter’s Brian Davids asked, “Now that you’re probably in the editing room for Peacemaker, what is it shaping up to be, genre wise?”

Gunn answered, “There are a lot of similarities to The Suicide Squad in that it’s no holds barred, but there are also a lot of things that are very different, in that it’s quieter in some ways.”

He then detailed it will feature commentary on society saying, “It’s very specifically about a different group of people, so it’s a little bit more about society.”

Gunn explained, “One of the leads is Peacemaker and one of the leads is Danielle Brooks, who plays Leota Adebayo. And she has a very different political view of the world than Peacemaker does. So it’s just a little bit about what’s going on in the world, but also being a TV show, you really do have more time to delve much deeper into these characters and much more deeply into the drama and comedy of them.”

“So it has a lot of similarities, but it’s even more grounded, more natural and more real. But it’s still within a big science-fiction storyline that lasts for one season,” Gunn continued.

He then teased that Peacemaker might go on for more than one season, “The main storyline lasts for that season, so that doesn’t mean there’s only one season of Peacemaker.”

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the Peacemaker show will feature commentary on society as the comics have done so since the 1960s.

The character first appeared in Charlton Comics’ Fightin’ 5 #40 in a backup series in 1966. After Fightin’ 5 was cancelled with issue #41, Charlton created their own Peacemaker series that lasted five titles and ran from March to November in 1967.

In his first appearance, Peacemaker is revealed to be a man named Christopher Smith who is described as a “man who detests war, violence and the dreadful waste of human life in senseless conflicts between nations.. a man who loves peace… so much so, that he is willing to fight for it!!”

In his first appearance, Peacemaker involves himself in putting a stop to an international weapons dealer named Emil Bork who is trying to provoke a war between two South American countries.

When DC Comics acquired the character, Peacemaker would still be a character who killed to keep the peace and he would also involve himself in international disputes. However, they also made him a descendant of a Nazi soldier Wolfgang Schmidt as well as a Vietnam veteran who led a massacre of an entire South Vietnamese village.

He had also been part of Pentagon military program called the Peacemaker Force that was supposed to combat Middle Eastern terrorism. While the Force didn’t come into existence, he embraced the idea and became the Peacemaker in order to do penance not only for his own actions, but for the actions of his father as well.

Not only have the comics had social commentary, but when the show was first announced Gunn claimed the show would “delve into current world issues through the lens of this superhero/supervillain/and world’s biggest douchebag.”