The world is just mere days away from seeing what James Gunn has up his sleeves for the Suicide Squad spin-off, Peacemaker. The titular character and his seemingly insurmountable problems, stemming from his arrested development, appears to be the secondary focus, after the whole getting the bad guys storyline. The show's second lead, Danielle Brooks, portraying Leota Adebayo, the reluctant addition to the team, appears to have the even more challenging job, taking down the baddies and babysitting/counseling our Peacemaker man-child.
Danielle Brooks sat down with Variety to discuss how the role came her way and the impact it's had on her and will hopefully have on the audience. When asked how she came to be Peacemaker's (John Cena) life coach/superhero, she explains, "So, crazy enough, James Gunn watched Orange Is the New Black. He was a fan. And he wrote this part with me in mind. I was really excited because first of all, I just had a child. Working was very important, because now we have a new mouth to feed. But also we had just come into the pandemic, and it’s like, when will I work again — especially after having a kid. It’s also this kind of nerve-racking experience, because you really want to fit in their world. When you audition and you get the part, you know that you were the right choice, but when you didn’t audition, you’re like, “I hope they don’t feel like they made a terrible mistake.”
Brooks added, "So we ended up having a meeting, and we just hit it off. I explained to him [that] I’ve never seen anyone like myself in this world. It was really exciting for James to say, 'I like you the way you are. I don’t want you to get all this training and try to lose 100 pounds' or all this stuff. He didn’t try to make me fit into his world. He said, 'You already fit.' I really appreciated that."
Danielle Brooks Speaks of the New Diversity in the Genre
"I don’t know much about comics. We didn’t have comics in the house — not for any particular reason, we just didn’t. As an adult, I think they’re becoming more interesting because of directors and writers like James Gunn who are diversifying the world, so you can see yourself in someone on screen now. Like, I loved watching Viola Davis play Amanda Waller in Suicide Squad. I’m like, “Oh my gosh, there’s somebody with an afro! What?! This is cool. She’s a badass.” That’s exciting."
And as for doing her own stunts? "Come on! It’s a James Gunn TV show! Of course! I kept telling James I want to do all my stunts; please let me do everything. And I did a lot: [I] jumped over stuff and I got harnessed up in some things. They still use my stunt woman, who was wonderful, but I was able to at least attempt them first. I remember James Gunn saying, “Yo, Danielle, you’re finally an action hero!” It really just lit me up inside. It really did. I would love to do more. I love being able to surprise people with my capabilities, and just showing that, yeah, I can back-roll, too! Just retrain me, but I can do it!"
The HBO Max series explores the origins of Peacemaker and his subsequent missions, with John Cena joined by the likes of Steve Agee as John Economos, the warden of the Belle Reve Penitentiary and an aide to Amanda Waller; Danielle Brooks as Leota Adebayo, who has been described by James Gunn as a co-lead of the series with a different political view from Peacemaker's, Robert Patrick as Auggie Smith, Peacemaker's father; Jennifer Holland as Emilia Harcourt, an NSA agent who is an aide to Amanda Waller, Freddie Stroma as Adrian Chase AKA Vigilante, a district attorney and crimefighter who can quickly heal from injuries, and Chukwudi Iwuji as Clemson Murn, a mercenary who in the past has worked for Amanda Waller. Here's the red band trailer to give you a taste!
HBO will debut the Peacemaker series streaming the first three episodes on HBO Max starting January 13, 2022, followed by weekly installments of the 8-episode run.