Posted in: HBO, Preview, streaming, TV | Tagged: hbo max, james gunn, John Cena, peacemaker, Season 1

Peacemaker Duo Discuss Chris Smith's Bisexuality, Hair Metal & More

Published Fri, 18 Feb 2022 09:52:11 -0600

One of the ways that you can tell that a show is a success is the ways it connects with viewers to the point where they're doing serious deep-dives into the meaning behind every single aspect of it. More often than not, that's a great thing (though it can occasionally get a little "gate-keepy" at times). A perfect example of that is the recently-wrapped & recently-renewed Peacemaker, from HBO Max and James Gunn. And in a sea of topics and speculation (especially now that we know there will be more on the way), one of the questions that have come up regards John Cena's Christopher Smith and his sexuality. In a recent interview with Empire, Gunn and Cena discussed the topic as they explained Smith's mindset regarding his sexuality- or more precisely, his bisexuality. Along with that, the duo also touches upon Smith's bond with Danielle Brooks's Leota Adebayo, how Smith's backstory factored into his mindset, and how his escaping into the world of hair metal was a way to help him have a broader sense of how masculinity can be defined. Here are some of the highlights:

Gunn on the Adebayo/Smith Dynamic & Smith's Sexuality: "She [Adebayo] is his polar opposite in so many ways, politically. She's a Black, gay woman. He's a white, straight — nah, he's not straight [laughs] — white, whatever-he-is male. And yet they really like each other. They have a lot in common. […] Peacemaker is an interesting character because he's so f**ked-up in so many ways, and then in other ways, he is kind of weirdly forward-thinking. John does improv all the time, and he just turned Christopher Smith into this hyper-sexualized dude that is open to anything sexually. I was surprised by that. But I thought, 'I guess it makes sense that this guy isn't one-dimensional.'"

Cena on Smith's "Period of Experimentation": During the interview, Cena speaks of Smith's time in prison as a "period of experimentation" that broadened him to new experiences. As Cena explained, "I view him as willing to do anything." Gunn also sees Smith's openmindedness when it comes to sex and his sexuality ("as long as you're not f**king animals — that he's not into"), adding, "We see in the show that he doesn't have any issues with sexuality… he's pretty open. And yet other things he's completely close-minded on."

Gunn on How Smith's Love of Hair Metal Helped Broaden His Male Perspective: "I think the hair metal is actually kind of a beautiful thing about Peacemaker. It does have that cocky male swagger that he has, but hair metal is also a way he rebelled against his father. There're the androgynous aspects of it, and his dad probably called him all sorts of homophobic slurs because he was listening to it. But he owned it. It was his. Something that was outside the realm of his father. He loves that music and he's able to just escape into it and rock out and be okay. I think he's grateful to the music for that."

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