‘The Suicide Squad’ End Credits Scene Sets Up HBO Max’s ‘Peacemaker’ Series

Warning: This article contains major The Suicide Squad spoilers. Don’t read this if you haven’t seen the movie!

If you’re leaving before the end of the credits after watching a superhero movie—after over a decade of Marvel and DC movies features a little bonus at the end of the movie’s credits—well, you should probably stop doing that.

The Suicide Squad—the standalone sequel to 2016’s Suicide Squad, which is now playing in theaters and streaming on HBO Max—is already a very long movie. By the time you get to the scene where Bloodsport (Idris Elba) shoots Peacemaker (John Cena) in order to save the life of Cleo (Daniela Melchior), you’ll probably be more than ready for a bathroom break. Luckily, if you’re watching on HBO Max, you can pause and fast-forward the film to your heart’s content. If you’re watching the film in theaters, you’re going to have to hold it, though, because there is a Suicide Squad end credits scene, and it’s not something you’re going to want to miss.

IS THERE A SUICIDE SQUAD END CREDITS SCENE?

Yes. In fact, there are two Suicide Squad end credits scene, if you count the little moment that comes directly after the film’s title card—which features a previously thought-dead Weasel miraculously coming back to life and wandering off into the jungle—as an end credits scene.

But the real Suicide Squad end credits scene comes at the very, very end of the credits, after all of the filming locations and production company logos scroll by. The scene takes place in a hospital, where a doctor is explaining that they found someone under the rubble—someone resilient. The camera cuts to a man lying in a hospital, which turns out to be none other John Cena, aka Peacemaker, aka Christopher Smith. What?! But we thought he was dead!

Apparently, that tiny bullet that Bloodsport used to shoot Peacemaker wasn’t enough to kill him. Steve Agee—who plays an aide to Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) named John Economos—protests that he is being “saddled with this douchebag” as a form of punishment for disobeying Waller. But when the doctor asks what they want with Peacemaker, Waller’s other aide, Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland), replies, “Just to save the fucking world, that’s all.”

The message is clear: John Cena is not done playing Peacemaker yet, which likely won’t be a surprise to anyone who follows entertainment news.

WHAT DOES THE SUICIDE SQUAD END CREDITS SCENE MEAN?

John Cena will return as Peacemaker in the HBO Max original series, Peacemaker, created by The Suicide Squad writer/director James Gunn. The eight-episode spin-off series is set to premiere on HBO Max in January of 2022.

Peacemaker the series was announced back in September. Per Deadline, the show will “explore the origins” of Peacemaker, aka Christopher Smith, aka the man who said he didn’t care how many men, women, and children he had to kill to achieve “peace.” In addition to starring Cena in the lead role, both Agee and Holland will reprise their roles as John Economos and Emilia Harcourt.

Also joining the cast are Robert Patrick as Auggie Smith, Danielle Brooks as Leota Adebayo, and Freddie Stroma as The Vigilante/Adrian Chase. The show reportedly wrapped on filming last month, and while there’s no exact Peacemaker release date yet, you won’t have long to wait before you’ll see John Cena in that toilet bowl helmet again.

Watch The Suicide Squad on HBO Max