Frequent sex jokes, including edgy ones about things like abortion, or a discussion about whether Aquaman "f—ks fish" and naming a child Octopussy. Characters have sex in a bathroom, breasts are shown. Cena is shown in his underwear often. A sex toy is used as a microphone.
Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.
Frequent and intense: Characters fight to the death with bloody bodies exploding across parking lots, a victim's disembodied face is picked up by a police officer, guns are used.
Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.
Budweiser bottles shown. Bands mentioned/shown. Part of the DC Cinematic Universe.
Diverse Representations
a little
Two of five main characters are Black. Leota is a well-rounded character who is also LGBTQ+. Peacemaker's father, a White supremacist, is openly racist, calling an Asian detective "egg foo young" and "chopsticks." There is some body type diversity among characters.
Peacemaker is extremely flawed; he's sexist, rude, and incorrigible, but isn't evil and wants to be seen as fighting for the greater good. Leota works hard, has a conscience, and is in a loving relationship.
Positive Messages
very little
Sometimes playing by the rules doesn't work. People can change and become better.
Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Peacemaker is an action comedy series centered on the DC Comics/Suicide Squad character Peacemaker (John Cena). After Peacemaker escapes prison and the hospital, he's back on the streets and working as a vigilante who's ordered to kill "butterflies" -- i.e. dangerous entities with powers. The series' comedy is extremely raunchy: It's rife with sex jokes, sex acts, and nudity. Profanity is also frequent, with many, many uses of "f--k" per episode, as well as "s--t," "c--t," "d--k," "f-g," and more. Violence is also frequent and intense. Guns are used, and characters fight to the death; bloody bodies explode across parking lots, a victim's disembodied face gets picked up by a police officer, and more.
I loved this show! John Cena is better than ever in this amazing TV series. It’s funny, has likeable characters and a little bit of blood! For the sex, there’s one graphic sex scene, but you can just skip that, it has not impact on the show. Then there’s also some sex jokes and references. For the violence there’s lots of fighting but there’s not that much blood or gore. The language is a constant. There are many f bombs, variations on sh*t and a** and everything in between. Over all I think this show is like an add on to The Suicide Squad. If your kid has seen that, they can watch Peacemaker.
Yeah sure there's a little bit of blood and some bad words, but really, who over 8 hasn't seen what's in this show?
What's the Story?
As viewers of James Gunn's 2021 film The Suicide Squad learned, Peacemaker (John Cena, Blockers) is a supervillain who's so devoted to peace he'll do anything to achieve it, including killing people. After the events of the movie, and spending months in the hospital recovering, Peacemaker gets a chance to stay out of prison from Mr. Murn (Chukwudi Iwuji) by becoming a mercenary for Project Butterfly, a black ops squad that has another newcomer, Leota Adebayo (Danielle Brooks, Orange Is the New Black). Other members of the team tasked with keeping Peacemaker under control include Harcourt (Jennifer Holland) and John Economos (Steve Agee).
This unbridled supervillain action comedy is a raunchy, rude, and rollicking addition to the growing DC Universe. Like a hard-R version of Guardians of the Galaxy, the series has all the touches of a James Gunn vehicle, down to the super-specific rock soundtrack (this time around it's 80s hair metal). Cena's comic chops are on full display here, and he holds his own as a lead actor who clearly relishes playing this utterly unhinged character. He also manages to add some pathos to the performance, especially in his complicated relationship with his father, who makes his hero gear but calls his son a "simp" and mocks him at every opportunity.
Brooks also shines as a foil to Cena and the show's voice of reason, and the black ops ensemble is a crack team that play off each other beautifully. A minor concern: Peacemaker's "thing" is being inappropriate in every possible way, which may wear thin after a while. As Harcourt says, "Just because you're handsome doesn't mean you're not a piece of s–t murderer." For now, it's still entertaining. Is Peacemaker silly? Yes. Over-the-top? You bet. But it's a welcome dose of rambunctious, filthy fun for the sometimes dour DC Universe.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about superheroes and supervillains. What do you think about villains given the sympathetic treatment?
Do you think this show would be successful with less sex or violence? Why or why not?
How does this show convey the idea that teamwork is important? Does it emphasize any other positive character strengths? Do characters have to be wholly heroic to model positive traits?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by
suggesting a diversity update.
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
By Polly Conway
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
