There's no one who can ever doubt James Gunn again. He brought a different aspect to the Marvel Cinematic Universe with his incarnation of "Guardians of the Galaxy," and brought hope back to fans of the DC Extended Universe with his reboot of "The Suicide Squad," which blew the expectations of every person seeing it. Now, he's back with a show based on one of the best characters in that film and Peacemaker is back with a vengeance and a whole lot of exciting fun. The first episode of "Peacemaker" is the perfect reintroduction to this character and beautifully expands the world he comes from.
The show was apparently conceived after James Gunn was so impressed by John Cena's dramatic acting on the set of "The Suicide Squad." I'm so glad that he was able to spot that because the idea of this show is so outrageous and dumb that it shouldn't be able to work. But it does work because of the beautiful symbiotic relationship there is between Gunn's writing and Cena's portrayal of the character. Cena does have moments where he goes for the joke, obviously, but for the most part, he is taking this so seriously that it becomes funny because of that alone. There are many scenes in this opening episode (in where Cena does stand out amidst a crew of great actors) where he had me down on the ground laughing because of how seriously he took the material. And there is a serious tone to the show, despite it being a comedy. Gunn knows when to slow it down and have moments of pure character development, which makes the supporting cast of this show all the richer. The action sequences are phenomenal, especially the big scene towards the end. Cena has the body of someone who could bench anyone, but he also has that fragile persona that makes him both hilarious and terrifying to watch in a fight. There is a lot that could go wrong after this first episode, and this show could end up being something that had potential, but for now, I'm trusting James Gunn doing his thing and doing it well.
"A Whole New Whirled" is not just a good pun, but the title of a great episode that put me straight back into Gunn's world. He knows how to set up a character to be both empathetic but also an idiot, and this character is only going to get richer as the show goes on.
The show was apparently conceived after James Gunn was so impressed by John Cena's dramatic acting on the set of "The Suicide Squad." I'm so glad that he was able to spot that because the idea of this show is so outrageous and dumb that it shouldn't be able to work. But it does work because of the beautiful symbiotic relationship there is between Gunn's writing and Cena's portrayal of the character. Cena does have moments where he goes for the joke, obviously, but for the most part, he is taking this so seriously that it becomes funny because of that alone. There are many scenes in this opening episode (in where Cena does stand out amidst a crew of great actors) where he had me down on the ground laughing because of how seriously he took the material. And there is a serious tone to the show, despite it being a comedy. Gunn knows when to slow it down and have moments of pure character development, which makes the supporting cast of this show all the richer. The action sequences are phenomenal, especially the big scene towards the end. Cena has the body of someone who could bench anyone, but he also has that fragile persona that makes him both hilarious and terrifying to watch in a fight. There is a lot that could go wrong after this first episode, and this show could end up being something that had potential, but for now, I'm trusting James Gunn doing his thing and doing it well.
"A Whole New Whirled" is not just a good pun, but the title of a great episode that put me straight back into Gunn's world. He knows how to set up a character to be both empathetic but also an idiot, and this character is only going to get richer as the show goes on.