DC Producer Peter Safran Reveals Why Peacemaker Is the Perfect First TV Spinoff

01/12/2022 11:23 pm EST

Peacemaker is about to shake up the live-action DC world as we know it, with the HBO Max series making its three-episode premiere on Thursday. The series, which follows Christopher Smith / Peacemaker following the events of The Suicide Squad, has the honor of being the first television spinoff spinning out of a modern-day DC movie. While a number of additional DC television and film spinoffs are set to head to HBO Max, the kismet of Peacemaker being the first series might surprise fans of the unconventional character. As executive producer Peter Safran told ComicBook.com during the Peacemaker press tour, the decision to start with the series — which creator James Gunn wrote and pitched during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic — had a lot of positive elements to it.

"I think we love the idea that the character, as introduced in The Suicide Squad, he did not have a significant arc over the course of that," Safran explained in our interview, which you can check out above. "Some of the characters like Bloodsport or Ratcatcher had real evolution over the course of The Suicide Squad, but Chris Smith was pretty consistent through it. So James knew that there was a lot to explore with him, and he knew that there was certainly more than eight episodes in which to do it. He's an incredibly toxic character in The Suicide Squad, and James wanted to explore both his origins and how he could evolve over the course of a season. So that was why it was so exciting to do it. And plus, the opportunity to do it with John Cena. He'd shown himself over the course of The Suicide Squad to be this extraordinary actor, who had so much more depth and humor and dramatic abilities than I think anybody had ever given him credit for. So to be able to explore that over eight episodes was really a joy."

As Safran explained later on in the interview, the unexpected way Peacemaker came together means that future seasons might be possible, if the story ends up coming together.

"We weren't going to make even a first season, unless James felt like he could do something unique that was not like anything else on television," Safran told us. "I don't think there's going to be a season two unless James can come up with the creative on it that would really flip the script, that would really be something different. He really does not want to repeat himself ever. And I do know that working with John and the rest of the crew and cast was such a special experience for James. He loved every minute of it. So if we could figure out the creative, I would hope there would be a second season."

Peacemaker will star Cena, Danielle Brooks as Leota Adebayo, Robert Patrick as Auggie Smith, Jennifer Holland as Emilia Harcourt, Steve Agee as John Economos, Freddie Stroma as Vigilante, Christopher Heyerdahl as Captain Locke, Chukwudi Iwuji as Clemson Murn, Lochlyn Munro as Larry Fitzgibbon, Annie Chang as Sophie Song, Elizabeth Faith Ludlow as Keeya, and Rizwan Manji as Jamil. 

The first three episodes of Peacemaker will debut on Thursday, January 13th exclusively on HBO Max.

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