Posted in: HBO, Max, Movies, TV | Tagged: peacemaker

Peacemaker: James Gunn Appreciates John Cena Being "Great at Secrets"

James Gunn appreciated John Cena's response when asked about the future of Peacemaker in the DCU, noting he was "great at secrets."

DC Studios and writer/director James Gunn's John Cena-starring Peacemaker was oh-so-close to a happy ending. While there was a whole lot to be happy about with our favorite folks, our main man, Chris Smith, aka Peacemaker, didn't make it out of the second season in good shape. Let's just say that Chris has been imprisoned on a planet far away from Earth, where some very shady folks are going to send metahumans (and probably pretty much anyone else) who aren't willing to play ball and get in line with their agenda (more on that below). At the end of May, Gunn was asked on Threads for an update on Peacemaker and how he was holding up – with Gunn offering the ominous, "It's not easy."

During a recent interview with ComicBook in support of his upcoming film, Little Brother, Cena made it clear that he's ready to reunite with the 11th Street Gang – but when/if that happens is all up to Gunn and Gunn alone. "Oh my goodness. Anything I would give you would just be personal speculation and not on the bullseye of the actual DCU," Cena shared. "That is a James Gunn question, for sure. He has every idea between his ears, and I have full faith and trust in him. Whether we ever hear from Peacemaker again or not is not up to me. So, what I can control is my gratitude for working with James Gunn, for him making me a better performer, for more moments like 'Little Brother.' And man, I hope I get the helmet pretty soon. I'd love to dance another time."

Based on Gunn's recent Instagram Stories post, it seems like Gunn appreciates Cena being "great at secrets," before jokingly implying that Frank Grillo wasn't – an accusation to which Grillo responded. Personally, I want to go back to Gunn's comment. So, does that mean that Cena knows what the future holds, but is in lockdown mode? Or is Gunn talking in general terms? I mean, from what we have learned about Man of Tomorrow so far, that does sound like one place we could see Chris make his return. After a two-year time jump, we can only imagine what condition Chris is in. It would be pretty cool to see Chris already out in Man of Tomorrow, and then a third season could show how that happened.

During the season finale, we learn that what Flag (Frank Grillo), Luthor (Nicholas Hoult), and the others have been looking for is their "Salvation." No, we're not talking about seeing the error of their ways. We're talking about a planet that seems perfect for using as a prison to store metahumans, a plan that Flag ends up selling to the government. Based on the data and analysis Luthor provided, they have a way to access the planet directly without the QUC. A prison planet meant for metahumans is definitely the kind of thing that serves as an overarching threat to the entire DCU. We have a feeling that Luthor's work on this is going to earn him some serious "time served." On the comics side…

"Salvation Run": Running for seven issues, from 2007 to 2008, Salvation Run was written by Bill Willingham and Lilah Sturges, with art by Sean Chen, Walden Wong, Joe Bennett, and Belardino Brabo. After a wild round of assaults from various big bads, the U.S. Government charges Amanda Waller and the Suicide Squad with rounding up supervillains so they can be imprisoned on a distant planet named "Salvation." Over the run of the series, villains either worked to find a way of escaping or ruling over their new home planet. Some of the famous/infamous names that found themselves residing on Salvation were Lex Luthor, the Joker, The Flash's Rogues (Heat Wave, Captain Cold, Weather Wizard, Abra Kadabra, and Mirror Master), Catwoman, and more.

"Salvation Run": Running for seven issues, from 2007 to 2008, Salvation Run was written by Bill Willingham and Lilah Sturges, with art by Sean Chen, Walden Wong, Joe Bennett, and Belardino Brabo. After a wild round of assaults from various big bads, the U.S. Government charges Amanda Waller and the Suicide Squad with rounding up supervillains so they can be imprisoned on a distant planet named "Salvation." Over the run of the series, villains either worked to find a way of escaping or ruling over their new home planet. Some of the famous/infamous names that found themselves residing on Salvation were Lex Luthor, the Joker, The Flash's Rogues (Heat Wave, Captain Cold, Weather Wizard, Abra Kadabra, and Mirror Master), Catwoman, and more.

Before Chris gets black-bagged by Flag and dropped off as a "test subject" for the not-very-safe prison planet Salvation, we see Adrian (Freddie Stroma) putting those skids of cash to excellent use. Welcome to Checkmate ("Making the World Better"), a counter-intelligence organization that counts Chris, Adrian, Harcourt (Jennifer Holland), Economos (Steve Agee), Adebayo (Danielle Brooks), Fleury (Tim Meadows), Judomaster (Nhut Le), Bordeaux (Sol Rodríguez), and Eagly. It seems like Flag and Waller will have some problems on their hands, and the DCU has a new intelligence agency in play. And if there was one team that won't stop until Chris is found, it's this one. On the comics side…

"Checkmate": Created by Paul Kupperberg and Steve Erwin and first appearing in Action Comics #598 (March 1988), the Checkmate organization was previously known as The Agency, a branch of Task Force X that Amanda Waller first established. Originally under the command of Colonel Valentina Vostok (Doom Patrol's Negative Woman) and designated to accomplish missions around the world that maintain the best interests of the United States, The Agency would be renamed Checkmate by new head Harry Stein. Taking its name from the winning Chess move, the organization's structure was based on Chess pieces: a King, a Queen, and a number of Bishops, Rooks, Knights, and Pawns. It should be noted that at one point in the organization's history, Maxwell Lord had taken on the title of Black King, devising a plan to use the organization to eliminate metahumans with the intent of manipulating the agency to kill all metahumans on Earth. In the end, Wonder Woman would end up breaking Lord's neck to break his control over Superman.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!