Suicide Squad post-credits scene explained (spoilers!)

Warning: Spoilers ahead! Spoilers ahead!

The suicide squad lives up to its name with most of the actors killed in a suicide mission. But a DC Comics character gets a second chance in the new movie’s post-credits scene.

This new sequel / reboot of Suicide Squad 2021 is a scabrous, divided, and surprisingly clever supervillain game, as I note in my CNET review. When the smoke clears, let’s see how the film’s climactic scene sets up the next one. Peacemaker TV series, which film director James Gunn and star John Cena will bring to the HBO Max streaming service in 2022.

Technically, two characters unexpectedly survive the carnage of the film. Once the last survivors of Task Force X complete their mission, the creature CG Weasel arrives on the bloody beach and flees into the jungle. But technically that’s just the end of the movie, not a post-credits scene. Once the titles launch, a mid-credits scene explains how Cena’s character, Peacemaker, survived Bloodsport’s “smallest ball.”

The last time we saw the chauvinist Peacemaker, he had just killed Rick Flagg with a piece of toiletries and faced Idris Elba’s Bloodsport in a shootout. Bloodsport emerged victorious, but Peacemaker ended up in the hospital rather than the morgue. This sets up an ongoing adventure for the character in a series written and (in part) directed by Gunn, which will air on HBO Max in January 2022.

Outside his hospital room, two backroom personnel from Task Force X arrive to visit him. John Economos is unhappy with what he sees as punishment for rebelling against their cold-blooded boss Amanda Waller, but his colleague Emilia Harcourt is more enthusiastic. She sees it as an opportunity to “save the fucking world …”

Which brings us to the Peacemaker TV series. John and Emilia, played by Steve Agee and Jennifer Holland, will be part of the series’ cast. Danielle Brooks, Robert Patrick, Freddie Stroma and Chukwudi Iwuji will also star alongside Cena. Stroma is expected to play DC Comics character Vigilante, aka Adrian Chase.

The plot isn’t clear at this point, but the mid-credits scene opens it up. If Peacemaker had died, the series should have been a prequel. Instead, Peacemaker’s story can continue as he struggles with the doubts and torments that can arise after killing Flag.