Peacemaker Clip: John Cena's Pet Sidekick Has A Totally Cool, Not-At-All-Stupid Name

Thanks to the HBO Max Europe launch event, today saw a teaser for the "Game of Thrones" spin-off "House of the Dragon," a clip from "Succession" season 3, and this little doozy from the warped mind of writer/director James Gunn. It's an extended clip from the forthcoming "Peacemaker" series that plays up the title character Christopher Smith (John Cena) and his pathological devotion to his own brand of justice. Oh, and did we mention he has a pet eagle? 

That's right, Peacemaker has a bald eagle sidekick named Eagly, which his cohorts waste no time in making fun of him for. Whereas the Marvel Cinematic Universe chose not to use Sam Wilson/The Falcon's ability to telepathically communicate with his bird sidekick Redwing (they made Redwing a robot drone), Gunn is fully embracing the idea of a superhero with a bird as a sidekick, and a national symbol/endangered species to boot. "Jealous of a guy's pet eagle much?"

This is an extended version of a shorter clip we saw from the same diner scene last month, featuring Amanda Waller's unlucky lackeys John Economos (Steve Agee) and Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland), who, as indicated in the stinger scene from "The Suicide Squad," are assigned nursemaid duty with Peacemaker on a very important mission. The scene also showcases Chukwudi Iwuji ("The Underground Railroad") as Clemson Murn and Danielle Brooks ("Orange Is the New Black") as Leota Adebayo. As with the end credits scene, John and Emilia are convinced this mission is retribution for their insubordinate behavior during that film.

So far, the tone of Gunn's "Peacemaker" show is very much in line with his 2010 genre-bending flick "Super," which made it very clear that what draws certain people to superheroism is distinct mental illness. Christopher Smith's jingoistic "peace at any cost" ideology is a roided-out extension of that, but with the caveat that Smith appears to be deathly capable of implementing that disturbing vision. As with "Super," it's a sure bet that Gunn's scripts for "Peacemaker" will tow that line between serious social commentary and laugh-out-loud comedy. 

The "Peacemaker" series wrapped in Vancouver this past July, with Gunn helming five of the eight season 1 episodes. Brad Anderson ("The Machinist"), Jody Hill ("Eastbound & Down") and Rosemary Rodriguez ("The Walking Dead") are confirmed to direct the other three. The first episode is set to debut on HBO Max in January 2022.