Everybody is probably familiar with that awkward feeling that comes with meeting coworkers at a new job for the first time. Maybe they're just hard to get along with. Maybe they have karaoke on Mondays and that doesn't jive with the newcomer. Or maybe the job involves killing targets under the threat of an exploding tracker chip embedded about spine-deep. Everybody gets three guesses which of these scenarios is most relevant here.
A new clip from the upcoming HBO Max series Peacemaker just came out, and it captures that feeling of getting to know the rest of the team at a new job, provided that new job is a contract killer position. John Cena's titular anti-hero who thinks he's a regular hero gets the opportunity to sit down with the folks he'll be working with for his less than voluntary new job, and it definitely looks like the kind of crew that would accompany a man so dedicated to peace that "I don't care how many men, women, and children I need to kill to get it."
The clip gives some insight into why Peacemaker is going back into the killing business after the events of The Suicide Squad, from which this series is a spinoff. He's still got that bomb in his head courtesy of Viola Davis' Amanda Waller, so he's now tasked with taking out some new targets under the threat of detonation. But this time, he's got a whole new team, which unfortunately doesn't include a semi-sentient talking shark played by Sylvester Stallone.
This time around, Peacemaker's crew is a bit more grounded, featuring additions like Jennifer Holland as NSA agent Emilia Harcourt, who serves as Peacemaker's handler and acknowledges her presence with a nice stiff middle finger. Next up is Steve Agee as John Economos, who showed up alongside Harcourt in The Suicide Squad working under Amanda Waller at the prison. Finally, Danielle Brooks is joining up this time around as newcomer Leota Adebayo, whom director James Gunn describes as a series co-lead with a contrasting political view to that of Peacemaker himself.
It's a ragtag bunch of misfits, which seems to fit with Peacemaker's style. The clip shows off how excited he gets at first thinking he'll be fighting another big monster like he (sort of) did in The Suicide Squad, even asking if he'll get to use a jetpack. So while it looks like his targets will be of the human variety, that sort of enthusiasm is a pretty good indicator of what kind of energy viewers can expect in the series.
The show is deliciously close to its premiere, so fans won't have very long to wait before finally getting to enjoy the inevitably unhinged carnage. Cena's lead character is bound to keep audiences entertained, and this new crew already looks ready to intensify that feeling tenfold.
Peacemaker premieres January 13th, 2022 on HBO Max.
Source: Rotten Tomatoes TV|YouTube