James Gunn’s “The Suicide Squad” film opens this coming week and will score a follow-up in the form of the spin-off series “Peacemaker” starring John Cena.
That eight-episode series is still a while off from airing and, at present, is targeting a January 2022 premiere on HBO Max. Speaking with Collider recently, Gunn got into some detail about the show from its format to its current status
The filmmaker confirms that the series will center around one big storyline and will see an ensemble cast go on a full journey with all six key characters – Peacemaker (Cena), Vigilante (Freddie Stroma), Leota Adebayo (Danielle Brooks), Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland), Clemson Murn (Chukwudi Iwuji) and John Economos (Steve Agee).
Gunn said the switch from his usual arena of film to television gives him time to explore the nuances and unique turns of these characters as opposed to a more action-centric feature:
“You are able to let things relax. You are able to really, fully focus on the characters. Something can be funny. It can go on for a little while. You get into the nuances of the dramatic relationships that you don’t have time for in a movie, and you don’t have to have that constantly chugging along [pace] that you have in a movie.
You can have a scene that doesn’t have to do with anything in a TV show, because it’s such a large format. We’ve got eight hours of storytelling, [so] we can have something go off, and it doesn’t really need to go to point A and point B and point C like you do in a movie… So I loved the format of television. I had a blast, and I think it suited me very well.”
Gunn also confirms all the episodes will clock in at 40-44 minutes each and won’t vary much unlike many other streaming shows. As for where the show currently stands, it’s well into post-production:
“[It’s] pretty far along. The first three are pretty much completely edited. Four and five are coming along. They’re a little slower, because they were directed by other people. Six, I just saw the first cut of last night, which I directed, I’m really happy with. And then eight is most of the way edited, and so is seven, which is [directed by] Brad Anderson.”
After this experience, Gunn says he sees himself doing more television in the future. The next immediate TV thing he’ll do is the “Guardians of the Galaxy” Christmas special to be shot later this year alongside the new “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” film.
