Warning! Spoilers ahead for Peacemaker episode 2.
The first three episodes of Peacemaker are now streaming on HBO Max, and it's already provided the ridiculous confirmation that one of Batman's worst sidekicks from the comics exists in the DCEU. Spinning out of the events of James Gunn's The Suicide Squad, Gunn's new series follows John Cena's Peacemaker with a new team as they seek to stop a dangerous threat to the world. However, Peacemaker is as difficult to work with as he was in the original film, prompting some of his teammates to wish they were working with any other DC character (no matter how weird they might be).
In Peacemaker, Chris Smith has recovered from the injuries he sustained on Corto Maltese from The Suicide Squad after he refused to go against Task Force X director Amanda Waller's orders. Now, Peacemaker is operating with a new team run by Clemson Murn, serving as an offshoot of Task Force X that focuses on containing an alien threat known as Project Butterfly. He's also joined by newcomer Leota Adebayo (Waller's secret daughter) as well as Emilia Harcourt and John Economos, both of whom were among the analysts who helped the Suicide Squad defeat Starro after knocking Waller unconscious. As such, Harcourt and Economos are convinced that Waller reassigning them to work with Peacemaker is a punishment.
Hilariously, it certainly looks to be a punishment considering Peacemaker's outrageous behavior. When he's not trying to hit on Harcourt, he's particularly awful to Economos. However, the analyst does get in a great comeback while stitching Peacemaker up, following yet another comment from Chris who's convinced John dyes his beard. Not only that, but he simultaneously confirms the existence of Bat-Mite in the DCEU: "I'd rather be with Harley Quinn than you, I'd rather be with the Weasel than you, I'd rather be with f***in' Bat-Mite than you," he says. When Peacemaker is naturally confused about who Bat-Mite is, Economos elaborates and confirms that Bat-Mate is indeed a "two-foot-tall interdimensional imp who stans Batman." Peacemaker is floored that Bat-Mite exists in real life as he'd always thought the character was too silly to exist. While Bat-Mite is indeed a character from the sillier pages of DC Comics and known for being a massive annoyance to the Dark Knight, the fact that he's confirmed to exist somewhere in the DCEU is as comically remarkable as it is ridiculous.
Bat-Mite becoming DCEU canon in a James Gunn project is too perfect. Considering the fact that The Suicide Squad featured DC Comics characters who were the most outrageous and bottom of the barrel (like Nathan Fillion's TDK), it makes sense that Gunn would be drawn to Bat-Mite, if only for a funny joke and reference. Seeing as how Bat-Mite is less of a villain and more of a super annoying fan that Batman has to deal with from time to time, it certainly proves how irritated Economos has already become with Peacemaker if he's willing to work with Bat-Mite over Peacemaker after only two episodes.
While it's unlikely that Bat-Mite will be seen on screen as Peacemaker continues, audiences have learned to expect the unexpected when it comes to James Gunn. Perhaps the annoying interdimensional imp could appear in a brief cameo in future episodes. Even if he doesn't, the fact that he exists at all in the DCEU (preceding plenty of more popular and prominent heroes) is truly ridiculous in the best way possible, serving as one of the series' best comic references so far.
Peacemaker releases new episodes Thursdays on HBO Max.
