Peacemaker stars John Cena as the titular DC vigilante. Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

HBO Max's 'Peacemaker' Los Angeles premiere canceled due to COVID

By Megan Armstrong | Last updated Jan 3, 2022 5:18 PM ET

One thing more abhorrent than Peacemaker is COVID-19, and specifically the surging Omicron variant.

"HBO Max has canceled the January 8 red carpet Los Angeles premiere of James Gunn’s anticipated HBO Max series Peacemaker amid a surge of the Omicron variant," Deadline relayed Monday. "We hear the decision was made before the holidays out of an abundance of caution as COVID cases skyrocketed."

Peacemaker stars John Cena as the titular DC vigilante. Created and written by James Gunn, the series is a spin-off from Gunn's August film The Suicide Squad. The official red band trailer dropped on New Year's Eve (be warned, the trailer does contain foul language):

The trailer begins with Peacemaker recounting to a classroom full of children how he "defeated one of the world's most dangerous villains" when footage of violence explodes across the screen—all in the name of peace, of course. One little boy asks whether Peacemaker has ever met Wonder Woman.

"She did spend an entire party eye-effin' me from across the room," Peacemaker (real name Christopher Smith) coolly replies.

"Dude!" a teacher protests.

"Dude, I said 'effin''!" Peacemaker reasons.

Raunchy humor and high-stakes action ensue for the next two minutes.

Jennifer Holland and Steve Agee are reprising their The Suicide Squad roles of Emilia and John, respectively. Danielle Brooks (Orange Is the New Black), Robert Patrick (Sopranos, Sons of Anarchy, The X-Files, True Blood), Freddie Stroma (Bridgerton) and Chukwudi Iwuji (The Split, The Underground Railroad, When They See Us) also star.

Peacemaker begins streaming Jan. 13 on HBO Max.

Megan Armstrong

Megan Armstrong (@megankarmstrong) is a writer whose work has appeared in places such as Billboard, GQ, Esquire, Bleacher Report, Uproxx, and others. Megan has also produced various podcasts and hosted a daily radio show at Mizzou. She grew up obsessed with sports — impressing adults by memorizing NFL statistics as a kindergartner — and grew into an obsession with music

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