Peacemaker Trivia | 45 facts about the HBO Max series

Peacemaker is an American superhero TV series created by James Gunn for HBO Max, based on the DC Comics character of the same name.

Let’s find out more about the series!

1. Peacemaker is an American superhero TV series.
2. It was created by James Gunn for the streaming service HBO Max.
3. It was based on the DC Comics character of the same name.
4. It is the first DC Extended Universe (DCEU) television series and a spin-off from the 2021 film The Suicide Squad.
5. It is set after the events of the film, the series further explores jingoistic killer Christopher Smith / Peacemaker.
6. It is produced by The Safran Company and Troll Court Entertainment in association with Warner Bros. Television, with Gunn serving as showrunner.
7. John Cena stars as the title character, reprising his role from The Suicide Squad.
8. Gunn conceived Peacemaker after noting Cena’s strength as a dramatic actor while filming The Suicide Squad, and wrote all eight episodes while completing the film during the COVID-19 pandemic.
9. HBO Max ordered Peacemaker straight-to-series in September 2020, and additional casting took place over the following months.
10. Filming began in Vancouver, Canada, in January 2021, with Gunn directing five episodes.
11. Production ended in July. Gunn chose to use hair metal songs for the series’ soundtrack, including “Do Ya Wanna Taste It” by Wig Wam for the opening titles.
12. The title sequence features the series’ cast performing a choreographed dance number.
13. Peacemaker premiered on HBO Max on January 13, 2022, with its first three episodes.
14. The rest of the series was released weekly until February 17.
15. Each episode received higher viewership than the last, with the season finale breaking the record for highest single day viewership of an HBO Max original episode.
16. The series has received positive reviews, with praise going to Cena’s performance and Gunn’s directing and writing.
17. A second season was ordered in February 2022, with Gunn set to write and direct all episodes.
18. Additionally, several other The Suicide Squad spin-off series featuring characters from the film and Peacemaker are in development.
19. James Gunn wrote the entire first season in 8 weeks during COVID quarantine out of pure boredom, not actually believing the series would ever get picked up.
20. James Gunn added post-credits scene to each episode as a way to reward fans who always watch to the end of the closing credits.
21. When asked how they matched the bloodstains on Peacemaker’s uniform in the opening of Episode 1, James Gunn is pretty certain they just used the same one from the end of The Suicide Squad.
22. Eagly is voiced by Dee Bradley Baker, who had previously voiced Sebastian the rat in The Suicide Squad (2021).
23. Peacemaker was the template for the character “The Comedian” from the Watchmen movie and comic book series, also based on DC comics.
24. The series is set in the town of Evergreen, in “Charlton County.” Charlton Comics owned the character Peacemaker before DC acquired the rights in the 80’s.
25. This is James Gunn’s first TV show. He approached the feature using his experience of writing film scripts and his knowledge of television series that he had seen. Gunn saw the difference between film and television as the former needing to be “more cut and dried” due to the limited runtime while the latter has more time to explore complicated characters and relationships.
26. The flag outside Auggie Smith’s home is hung upside down. U.S. Flag Code states that the flag should never be displayed upside-down “except as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property.”
27. The second live action appearance of Adrian Chase/The Vigilante after Arrow (2012).
28. Beyond the first episode, James Gunn is also directing several others and has written all eight episodes of the series.
29. Peacemaker and Vigilante are depicted as allies. In the comics, Peacemaker murdered Adrian Chase’s successor. This led Chase to don the outfit again to seek revenge and try to kill Peacemaker.
30. The license plate of Peacemaker’s car on the poster reads “PSS-MKR”.
31. The opening score “Do ya wanna taste it” is performed by Norwegian glam-rock band Wig Wam. They came in 9th place in the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest in Kyiv, Ukraine. Not with the same song though. Their first claim to fame was called «In My Dreams».
32. James Gunn chose to film the show in Vancouver because he wanted the series to be set in the Pacific Northwest, and because he felt that Canada was supposedly managing the Covid-19 pandemic better than the United States so filming would be safer there.
33. The fictional company, Glan Tai is named after the subdivision James Gunn grew up in.
34. The show producers cite the drama series Better Call Saul (2015) as an influence on the show.
35. The symbol of the serial killer Red John from the TV show The Mentalist (2008) is found on the door of the team base of operations.
36. Peacemaker drives a 1976 Mercury Comet.
37. The show producer described Auggie Smith as “All in the Family (1971)’s Archie Bunker on steroids.”
38. There’s a lot of Penny Arcade merchandise that appears throughout the show.
39. Peacemaker’s home city, Evergreen, is in Charlton County. Peacemaker first appeared in “Fightin’ Five” #40, published by Charlton Comics, in 1966. Peacemaker #1 was published by Charlton Comics in March 1967.
40. The license plate of the car that Vigilante steals from the racists reads 14 WRDS. “14 Words” is a reference to the most popular white supremacist slogan in the world: “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children.”
41. Christopher Smith has a copy of Captain Carrot and his Amazing Zoo Crew issue #3 on his living room table.
42. In the final episode in the hospital scene, you hear someone over a loudspeaker calling for a ‘Doctor Davis’ to answer the telephone. This dialogue is taken directly from the opening track ‘I remember now’ on the Operation Mindcrime album by Queensryche. This is in keeping with the predominantly 80’s rock/metal theme.
43. Freddie Stroma replaced Chris Conrad as Adrian Chase/The Vigilante, after Conrad left the series due to creative differences.
44. The stoic faces everyone has in the opening credits dance routine represents the mind control people undergo in the series.
45. When the Butterfly-possessed Song tries to assure her partner, she makes a freaky smile. She then notes how her kind “keeps forgetting smiles look different on each face”. After being possessed, the police station inhabitants are shown all bearing very creepy huge smiles.