James Gunn clearly enjoyed his time making The Suicide Squad – that glee was evident in his recent DC FanDome panel for the movie. And he's looking to stay in that world, signing up to make a spin-off prequel series about John Cena's Christopher Smith, AKA Peacemaker, to launch on streaming service HBO Max.
"Peacemaker is an opportunity to delve into current world issues through the lens of this superhero/supervillain/and world’s biggest douchebag," says Gunn. "I’m excited to expand The Suicide Squad and bring this character from the DC film universe to the full breadth of a series. And of course, to be able to work again with John, Peter [Safran, producer], and my friends at Warner Bros. is the icing on the cake."
"I have said before that it has been a tremendous honor and an incredible opportunity to be part of The Suicide Squad and to work with James on what is going to be a fantastic movie," says Cena. "I am unbelievably excited to have the chance to team up with him again for Peacemaker. We can’t wait for fans to see this."
Gunn will write the entire first fun of the series, and is aiming to direct several episodes, with work kicking off early next year, before he heads back to the Marvel universe for the third Guardians Of The Galaxy film (and given all the recent release date shifts, it'll be later than planned anyway).
While there's a vague, cart-before-horse concern about doubling down on a character we've not met outside of a reveal reel and behind-the-scenes featurette, Gunn inspires a lot of trust. The Suicide Squad itself, meanwhile, lands on 6 August next year. As for when UK audiences might see the show? That'll depend on HBO Max launching here, or some channel picking up the series.