Danielle Brooks Joins PEACEMAKER on HBO Max

"The Color Purple" Broadway star Danielle Brooks has joined the cast of "Peacemaker," a sequel series to "The Suicide Squad."

John Cena stars in the title role, according to Deadline. Steve Agee reprises his film role as John Economos.

Brooks plays Leota Adebayo in the series, which will explore the origins of Cena's Peacemaker character, a man who believes in peace at any cost - no matter how many people he has to kill to get it.

James Gunn's "The Suicide Squad" will premiere on August 6th. Gunn also executive produces and writes the series, and will direct several of the episodes.

Brooks made her Broadway debut in the 2015 revival of "The Color Purple." She also starred in "Much Ado About Nothing" through The Public Theatre's Shakespeare in the Park in 2019.

She is best known for her role as Tasha "Taystee" Jefferson in Netflix's Emmy-nominated series, "Orange is the New Black" which is currently in production on its fourth season. Brooks and her cast received a SAG Award in 2014 for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series and Danielle was the recipient of the Young Hollywood Award for Breakthrough Actress. Brooks has also appeared in HBO's "Girls" and Master of None." Brooks grew up in South Carolina and is a graduate of The Juilliard School.