Peacemaker

So, that new Suicide Squad spinoff premiered on HBO Max with three episodes early this morning!

Going into my own opinions without spoiling anything, it's more or less exactly what you expect going in. If anything, it feels very... "DC's Deadpool", in places? And I don't necessarily mean those as complaints, mind you.

Edited by Chortleous on Jan 13th 2022 at 4:27:10 AM

So, are the butterflies any particular race in DC lore? My best guess is the Reach but this doesn't seem to match their MO. Also, I wonder how Peacemaker's dad will factor into all this.

Evidently they're original, though I've seen theories that pin the blame on either Mister Mind or Insect Queen, but neither of them really fit the bill either (the former being from a more family-friendly portion of the DCEU so extra doubtful there), so who knows?

Also with Auggie seemingly having been a previous Peacemaker and the apparent leader of a neo-nazi prison gang, dude's 100% going to be a big deal.

Edited by Chortleous on Jan 13th 2022 at 7:59:40 AM

I was more thinking, "how will this B-plot converge with the alien invasion stuff?"

Oh damn they actually kept Chris’ dad being a Nazi. Shit Ecnomos fucked up badly framing him for the crime.

I think the bugs could be related to the Hive and Queen Bee.

Interesting to note is this show answered the question of what exactly was Chris’ status during The Suicide Squad. Turns out he was an inmate, having already served 4 years for a 30 year sentence. The question is what did he get arrested for especially since its somewhat unclear whether he was working for the government or not.

Watched the first episode...is this a parody of left-wing comedy? It feels that Gunn has spent a lot of time lurking on 4chan

Having seen all three current episodes, I... wouldn't say that, at all? You can definitely tell where the writers' sympathies lay, case in point being Leota and her wife, where any jokes about them are either incidental to their being lesbians or centered on other characters being tactless and ignorant rather than just "ha ha gay". That's a hallmark of left-leaning comedy.

I can't believe Leota brought her wife and dogs to a black ops mission.

Like I know she's not used to this but Holy fuck they are smack dab in the line of fire.

The opening credits have been officially released online.

Finished the 3rd episode, so far I enjoy it though it is a bit of a mixed bag. Bargain Bin Deadpool isn't really doing it for me out of all the characters.

Jeez, didn't see the show yet, but the pure effort they put into this. Just how many takes must it have taken to pull this off without anybody cracking up?

According to Gunn the opening will also slowly change over the course of the show.

Huh just found out something about Vigilante. Peacemaker was actually in his book as a major antagonist as he proceeded to beat up Adrian and unmask him in public, being responsible for Adrian's further sanity slippage that drove him to his final fate.

Rather interesting how they are friends here.

Two episodes in and the show seems kinda meanspirited and not in a fun way. Peacemaker's consistent sexual harassment being played way softer than it should or even the whole weird cuckoldry subplot in episode 2. Like it feels like it wants to do a It's Sunny style "Bad People doing bad things" series but it's too committed to making Chris sympathetic. Watching it feels like being at a house party with a guy who thinks he's funny but is actually just a jerk.

Given the Charlton connection and the blue colors I would guess Reach for the butterflies.

I do have to ask why are the using Chris instead of a regular soldier? He doesn't have powers why not use any muscle head from the navy seals or something instead of a HUGE lose canon like Chris.

Edited by NotGrantMorrison on Jan 14th 2022 at 2:13:09 AM

My thoughts on this series so far:

Also, is that dance in the opening from Fortnite?

I disagree personally on certain things, I do really like the show, but I can see where your coming from.

I do agree there is a bit too Much emphasis on making Chris sympathetic, the idea seems to be 'Still a Scumbag, but trying to get better', but they emphasisize the latter to the point he feels kind of like a more straightforward Anti-Hero at times, when the point that even the show makes clear is that he's lying to himself. I feel like they should have emphasized his kill happy tendencies just a bit.

I've seen some speculation that Vigilante will become a villain at some point. I actually kinda buy it, do to how....Rather particularly sadistic he is shown to be, and it wouldn't be the first time Adrian was portrayed as a villain, (His monstrous Arrowverse counterpart(, and also how he's portrayed in the narrative, he shows up and begins feeding into Peacemakers Anti-Hero delusions just as he was having an epiphany and lamenting how Flagg was right about him, he could be a sort of Shadow Archetype or bad influence on him. My only problem is that given the Aliens and Nazis Adding another member to the Big Bad Ensemble may be a bit rough.

Edited by Snoketrope on Jan 16th 2022 at 4:03:50 AM

Adrian works as a devil on the should to Chris, but they make Chris already such a piece of shit it feels narraively redundant. SS seemed a stick in the mud who bought Greater Good coolaid but in his own show he comes off as a juvenile bigoted jerk. Like I think the how would be better off without the sexual harassment of his woman coworkers.

So Peacemaker is suffering from quite a bit of Worf has the Flu here

Not only has the events of the movie left him physically battered that he still hasn't full recovered from but he now also has a lot of psychological hang-ups thats majorly preventing him from operating at max capacity.

Which is prolly to prevent him from steamrolling over threats they encounter since in the movie he is incredibly hypercompetent and skilled. Though it makes the abuse he gets from his father incredibly galling since Chris is pretty strong.

Edited by slimcoder on Jan 16th 2022 at 6:36:17 AM

James Gunn apparently had to convince DC to include a jab at Batman in the upcoming fourth episode, though it was ultimately included.

I confess I can't watch this show because I was invested enough in Suicide Squad to hate that he killed Flagg.

As Gunn pointed out, they seemingly were okay with Peacemaker making fun of other DC heroes, but Batman was apparently too far and needed convincing.

So what does this mean?

They have less respect for other heroes than they do Batman?

...come to think about it, there was that whole thing with them not wanting to have Batman revealed to have performed a specific sex act with Catwoman in Harley Quinn.

It's starting to sound like they are getting protective of him, above everyone else, Superman included.

Edited by HandsomeRob on Jan 17th 2022 at 9:05:57 AM

They are. Batman is their biggest bread and butter so they are more sensitive to portrayals of him.

Though granted how protective they are varies, Titans portrays him as a cold emotionally distant father who'll immediately replace a Robin with another to validate Dick Grayson's daddy issues against him.

And also have him murder the Joker offscreen then just fuck off to another country.

But it's Titans. That series is a mess.

Well, that does look to be an actual part of his character arc in the show, that he knows it was a terrible decision and hates himself for it.

Titans still depicts Bruce in a sympathetic light. This joke was one made at Batman's expense that he wouldn't even be on screen to defend against.