Peacemaker: Dee Snider Praises Gunn, Cena Series’ Hair Metal Message

The last time we checked in on how things were looking regarding the upcoming second season of James Gunn‘s John Cena-starring Peacemaker, Cena took to social media to share a poster of Peacemaker’s hand making a peace sign/signaling a number two (along with Eagly), leaving us with the strong impression that someone’s getting an “itchy trigger finger” for Season 2. One person, in particular, who was pretty sure is also looking forward to the streaming series’ return is singer, songwriter, radio personality, actor & pop culture icon Dee Snider. Rocking one of the best voices in metal ever, Snider is beloved by millions as the lead singer & songwriter for the heavy metal band Twisted Sister. As far as horror movies go, we’ll always be creeped out by Snider’s twisted turn as Carlton Hendricks, aka “Captain Howdy,” in 1988’s Strangeland. But for most of us, he will always be a hero for the way he stood up to the U.S. Senate’s Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC), which looked to institute a system of identifying & marking what they considered to be “offensive content” (and would lead to the “Parental Advisory: Explicit Content” labels). Watching committee members sit there with their jaws dropped as Snider schooled them on freedom of expression, freedom of speech, the Constitution, and the importance of the creative process is mandatory repeated viewing.

So when someone with credentials like that tells Gunn and Cena that he’s proud of the way the HBO Max series has been carrying the messaging flag when it comes to “glam/hair/sleaze metal,” that compliment has some seriously righteous weight to it. “Just was thinking about this & needed to post… [James Gunn] & [John Cena] made the greatest statement about glam/hair/sleaze metal on their [HBO Max] show ‘The Peacemaker’: ‘…this was back when men were real men ’cause they weren’t afraid to be women!’ WE WERE NOT AFRAID!” Snider wrote in his tweet praising The Suicide Squad spinoff series’ very metal message- here’s a look:

“Creating ‘Peacemaker’ has been one of the true highlights of my life, both professionally and otherwise, with John Cena and the incredible creative team around me, as well as our partners at HBO Max,” Gunn said in a statement earlier this year when news of the second season was first announced. “To have something we all love so much be loved by the audience, in turn, has been a wonderful experience. I can’t wait for folks to see where Team Peacemaker goes in Season Two!” Added series star John Cena, “I am incredibly honored and humbled by the response to Peacemaker and the experience of playing this character.” Now here’s a look at Gunn’s tweet making it all official and offering tons of love for all of the support, followed by Cena’s reaction to the news:

Steve Agee (Super, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Brightburn) rejoined Gunn and Cena, reprising his film role of John Economos, a warden of Belle Reve Federal Penitentiary and an aide to Viola Davis‘ Amanda Waller. Danielle Brooks (Orange Is The New Black) joined the series as Leota Adebayo, with Robert Patrick (Terminator 2: Judgment Day) in the role of Auggie Smith. Jennifer Holland (Brightburn) reprised her film role of Emilia Harcourt, and Freddie Stroma (Bridgerton) took on the role of Adrian Chase, aka Vigilante. In addition, Chukwudi Iwuji (When They See Us) as Clemson Murn, Lochlyn Munro (Riverdale) as Larry Fitzgibbon, Annie Chang (Shades of Blue) as Detective Sophie Song, Christopher Heyerdahl (Togo) as Captain Locke, Nhut Le (Kroll Show) as Judomaster, and Elizabeth Faith Ludlow (The Walking Dead) and Rizwan Manji (Perfect Harmony) as recurring characters of Keeya and Jamil. Alison Araya (Riverdale) & Lenny Jacobson (Narcos: Mexico) were tapped for the roles of the married couple Amber and Evan, respectively.

Gunn, Brad Anderson (Session 9), Rosemary Rodriguez (The Walking Dead), and Jody Hill (The Righteous Gemstones) directed the eight-episode series. Gunn and Peter Safran served as executive producers, with Cena as co-executive producer. Peacemaker was produced by Gunn’s Troll Court Entertainment and The Safran Company in association with Warner Bros TV. The series explored the origins of Cena’s The Suicide Squad character, a man who believes in peace at any cost — no matter how many people he has to kill to get it.