John Cena has spoken about how his “grossly inappropriate” outtakes from The Suicide Squad inspired the forthcoming Peacemaker TV series.

The actor plays the character of Peacemaker in the new DC Extended Universe movie and will reprise that role in a series for HBO Max.

• READ MORE: ‘The Suicide Squad’ review: a bold and boisterous reunion with the DCEU’s best bad guys

Speaking to NME, Cena said: “In pushing the boundaries of Peacemaker, I started to lean into a lot of the nuances that I enjoy. None of it made the movie – not one bit – and everyone on the cast was very patient during that exploration. A lot of it was grossly inappropriate – certainly not acceptable – but you do get to a place where you define a character.

“Although none of those outtakes, not one, made the movie, I think a lot of those moments might have inspired James [Gunn, director] during the pandemic to write the Peacemaker episodic to be able to lean into some of those moments. So I’m very gracious and thankful for the cast and James as well for allowing me to waste a whole lot of time.”

Gunn recently confirmed details of Peacemaker, which has already wrapped production. The series will air in January 2022 and will be broadcast in eight parts. Each episode will run to around “40-something minutes”, according to the director.

“I loved the format of television. I had a blast, and I think it suited me very well,” he said. “You get into the nuances of the dramatic relationships that you don’t have time for in a movie, and you don’t have to have that constantly chugging along [pace] that you have in a movie.”

Meanwhile, in a four-star review of The Suicide Squad, NME said: “This film is a bombastic, full-throttle romp that’s easy to follow whether you’re a DCEU stan or not […] Bold, boisterous and only schmaltzy right at its climax, The Suicide Squad proves you can spend time with the bad guys without regretting it afterwards.”