HBOMax’s superhero series Peacemaker is now three episodes in, and its lesbian main cast member, Leota Adebayo, is already giving queer fans plenty to look forward to.
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The series is a direct spinoff to 2021’s The Suicide Squad and follows Peacemaker (John Cena), a mercenary reportedly described by the film’s director James Gunn as “a douchey, bro-y Captain America.” He also has a pet bald eagle, Eagly. At the start of the series, Peacemaker is forcibly recruited into an all new team, cryptically known as “Project Butterfly” and overseen by the shady organization A.R.G.U.S.
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Like its predecessor The Suicide Squad, Peacemaker consists of a motly crew of morally ambiguous weirdos. Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland) is a no-nonsense A.R.G.U.S. black ops agent. John Economos (Stave Agee) is the resident tech nerd. Vigilante (Freddie Stroma) is something of a crime-fighter parody who resorts to deadly force in any situation and desperately wants to be Peacemaker’s best friend. Clemson Murn (Chukwudi Iwuji) is the leader with a troubled past trying to reign all these big personalities in.
But arguably the most interesting team member is Leota Adebayo (Orange is the New Black’s Danielle Brooks), an original character created for the series. Adebayo is the daughter of A.R.G.U.S. leader Amanda Waller and doesn’t seem to have any other qualifications to be on the team (this becomes a repeated source of comedy). Despite being uncertain in the field, Adebayo is eager to prove herself and maintains an air of mystery to keep the others from doubting her skills. And she’s also openly gay.
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Adebayo is first introduced outside of the team as she and her partner are dealing with the stress of moving to a new city for this assignment. Given that she is the more ordinary of the heroes, Brooks describes her as “the audience’s point of view”—a refreshing change for a comic book property given that Adebayo is a lesbian woman of color. Speaking to PODLY (the Peacemaker companion podcast), Brooks also explained her decision to sign on to the show to further representation of plus-sized women.
She may be new to this secret agent thing, but Adebayo’s got your back. @thedanieb shares why she joined @DCPeacemaker on the latest episode of PODLY. Catch the episode here: https://t.co/0PLDE0Oulb #Peacemaker pic.twitter.com/5KKGICcEXY
— DC (@DCComics) January 15, 2022
The first season of Peacemaker is scheduled to run through mid-February, with new episodes available every Thursday on HBOMax.
