There has been a casting change for a highly-anticipated title at HBO Max. According to Deadline, Warner Bros. Television’s Peacemaker has recast Freddie Stroma (Bridgerton, The Crew) to play the hero, Vigilante. Stroma will replace Chris Conrad (The Next Karate Kid, Perpetual Grace, LTD) in The Suicide Squad film spinoff series starring John Cena (F9, Wrestlemania 31).

Deadline reports the series is a part of film director James Gunn’s (Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol.2, Scream Queens) expanded Suicide Squad universe. With the film scheduled for an August 6, 2021 release date, the series will bow a year later, and showcase the origin story of Cena’s Peacemaker character. Described as a patriot of sorts, Peacemaker is a complex hero whose methods and means often contradict his namesake.

According to Deadline, Stroma’s character is Adrian Chase, a former New York City defense attorney who takes justice into his own hands when the mafia murders his wife and children. As Vigilante, Chase is skilled in hand-to-hand combat, an expert marksman, and elects a lariat as his weapon of choice. Vigilante also has the ability to rapidly heal and regenerate his body from wounds.

Conrad’s amicable departure was due to creative differences, according to Deadline. He leaves a cast that includes Danielle Brooks (Mahaila, Close Enough), Jennifer Holland (Zombie Strippers, The Sisterhood), Steve Agee (The Suicide Squad, Superstore), Nhut Le, and Elizabeth Ludlow (Another Life, Equal).

According to Deadline, Gunn will executive produce the series through his Troll Court Entertainment imprint. He is joined by The Safran Company’s Peter Safran (The Nun, The Crooked Man) and Matt Miller (Lethal Weapon, Forever). Gunn is set to write and direct many of the series’ episodes.

The Suicide Squad is a spiritual sequel to 2016’s Suicide Squad which starred Will Smith (Bright, Collateral Beauty), Margot Robbie (Birds of Prey, I, Tonya), and Joel Kinnaman (The Informer, Robocop). Kinnaman and Robbie will reprise their roles as Rick Flagg and Harley Quinn along with a new host of characters including Cena’s Peacemaker, Idris Elba (Luther, No Good Deed) as Bloodsport, and Pete Davidson as (Saturday Night Live, The King of Staten Island) Blackgaurd.