It’s a big day for HBO Max; in addition to unveiling the first teaser for the Game of Thrones spinoff House of the Dragon, a new clip from the third season of Succession and a special look at the Sex and the City revival, the streamer has debuted a clip from the upcoming Peacemaker series. The bounty arrives courtesy of the HBO Max Europe launch event.
A spinoff of this year’s The Suicide Squad, Peacemaker stars John Cena as the titular character, once described by director-creator James Gunn as “the world’s biggest douchebag.” The one-minute clip is an extension of the footage that premiered in the HBO Max sizzle reel from last month.
But there’s one major highlight. The clip introduces Peacemaker’s pet/sidekick, an eagle that he has decided to name Eagly. After momentarily joking about the fact that Peacemaker has shown up to a diner in full costume — “This is a uniform,” he explains, with a hint of impatience — the others take turns at poking fun at Eagly, but mostly at him. “Is your dog named Doggy?” Jennifer Holland’s character asks, and Steve Agee’s character jumps in, “Is your daughter named Daughter-y?”
Having an eagle for a pet/sidekick is perfect for a character that has very clearly deluded himself into believing that he is America’s greatest patriot. No doubt Gunn and his team will continue to satirize the idea of patriotism in the context of the modern world in the show.
Gunn seems genuinely pumped about the series, despite the lackluster box office performance of The Suicide Squad, in which Peacemaker was introduced. The antihero sequel/reboot failed to recover its reported $185 million budget, but part of the reason for the underwhelming returns could have been Warner Bros’. controversial decision to release it day-and-date on HBO Max.
But as far as the future goes, Gunn recently revealed that he’s putting together other DC projects “besides Peacemaker,” which arrives in January. Gunn wrote all eight episodes and directed five. The other three episodes have been helmed by Jody Hill, Brad Anderson, and Rosemary Rodriguez. Besides Cena, Agee, and Holland, the series also stars Freddie Stroma, Danielle Brooks, Robert Patrick, and Chukwudi Iwuji. Lochlyn Munro, Annie Chang, Christopher Heyerdahl, Elizabeth Ludlow, Rizwan Manji, Nhut Le, Alison Araya, and Lenny Jacobson have been announced as recurring cast members. You can watch the clip here: