Our first look at Peacemaker, James Gunn's upcoming spinoff series to The Suicide Squad starring John Cena, has been revealed. Next month, we'll see Cena's debut as the violent villain who sees himself as a superhero, and he's already served as a standout character in the trailers leading up to the release. Gunn clearly saw the potential in Cena in the role as well, leading to the filmmaker developing an 8-episode Peacemaker series for HBO Max.

James Gunn and John Cena have been working on the Peacemaker series in recent months, but an actual look at the series had yet to be unveiled. On Monday, Empire published a photo from the set of a masked Gunn speaking with Cena, who's also in costume as Peacemaker in front of an America-themed trailer. Cena is also clearly covered in blood, presumably moments after a violent confrontation.

"Peacemaker's a piece of s**t. He's not a good guy. And he wears the goofiest costume you've ever seen in your life," Gunn says of the character, making it clear that Cena fans shouldn't expect for Peacemaker to be a traditional superhero. The director went on to detail the background of the villain, who's willing to kill as many people, all in the name of world peace.

"Peacemaker has a clear set of ideals that I find really interesting," explained Gunn. "You know: 'I want peace no matter how many men, women and children I need to kill to get it.' Sounds like nonsense, but it also makes a lot of sense. And you see in John's performance how he does not feel good about it - something I thought was the seed of an entire eight-episode show."

Of expanding Peacemaker's backstory for the HBO Max series, Cena added: "This guy is a loud, obnoxious, bro-ey douchebag. That sucks. But why? At what point did he become such a douchebag and what does that mean? There's a lot to dive into there."

Cena makes one part of a very large ensemble in The Suicide Squad, which is due to release in theaters next month. Along with Cena's Peacemaker, the movie features other DC characters like Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Idris Elba as Bloodsport, Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flag, Sylvester Stallone as King Shark, Viola Davis as Amanda Waller, Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang, Peter Capaldi as the Thinker, David Dastmalchian as Polka-Dot Man, Daniela Melchior as Ratcather 2, Sean Gunn as Weasel, and Pete Davidson as Blackguard.

In the movie, "Imprisoned convicts of Belle Reve penitentiary are sent as members of Task Force X to the South American island of Corto Maltese to destroy Jotunheim, a Nazi-era prison and laboratory which held political prisoners and conducted experiments. During the mission, they come into conflict with Starro, a giant, telepathic alien starfish."

The Suicide Squad is set to be released in theaters on Aug. 6, 2021. That same day the movie will also be made available to stream on HBO Max for one month. Meanwhile, the 8-episode Peacemaker series is scheduled to hit HBO Max in early 2022. The first look at Peacemaker was first published at Empire.