Warning: Contains spoilers for Peacemaker.
The anticipated finale for Peacemaker arrives on Thursday, February 17, and there are many theories on what James Gunn's supposedly shocking ending will include. The HBO Max hit series follows the events of Peacemaker (John Cena), picking up after the events of The Suicide Squad, showing his involvement with ARGUS's secret Project Butterfly mission. In Project Butterfly, a group dubbing themselves the "11th Street Kids" after Finnish glam metal band Hanoi Rocks' popular song hunts parasitic alien creatures plotting world domination.
Peacemaker displays James Gunn's classic charm, from its over-the-top gore to a delightfully campy '80s hair metal soundtrack. Because of this, the show is keeping a healthy fan base—likely good news for the future of Cena's character. However, with all of its silliness, Peacemaker takes the Guardians of the Galaxy's tricks of mixing serious, heartfelt moments into the show's goofy nature and elevates things a step further. For example, episode 7, "Stop Dragon My Heart Around" gives a climactic resolution to the strained relationship between Peacemaker and his father Auggie Smith (Robert Patrick), a white supremacist terrorist named The White Dragon. All of the care and tension put into Peacemaker leads itself to an eventful ending.
James Gunn is building up a massive shock for Peacemaker's upcoming finale, going so far as to withhold the eighth episode from critics and members of the media in order to prevent accidental spoiler leaks. The Peacemaker sneak peek promo reveals that the finale, titled "It's Cow or Never," will center around the 11th Street Kids infiltrating the secret Butterfly hideout for the Cow, the producer of the Butterfly's nectar source in Peacemaker. Episode 7 essentially ends Peacemaker's white supremacist threat and, surprisingly, kills of Clemson Murn (Chuckwudi Iwuji), strengthening the show's primary objective of stopping the Butterflies. The following questions remain in Peacemaker, and they could all be answered in the finale.
Judomaster's Butterfly Secret Is Revealed
It feels like the Butterflies are a pretty undeniable threat for the human race, so it's hard to imagine whatever else could be revealed about them that would contradict this idea. Nonetheless, Judomaster (Nhut Le) tells Peacemaker that the "Butterflies [are] not what you think," leaving viewers to wonder what else the Butterflies' motives could be. Having worked closely with Senator Royland Goff (Antonio Cupo), who was formerly inhabited by the Butterfly leader Eek Stack Ik Ik, Judomaster would know quite a bit of insider information about the Butterflies. The Peacemaker Butterfly mystery remains unanswered, and considering how deliberate Judomaster's comments seemed, it's likely to be mentioned again in the finale.
It's still entirely possible that he was lied to - the Butterflies display time and again that they make calculated actions to better their motives, from who they choose as their hosts to how effectively they've spread throughout the world. One particular instance showing this is Eek Stack Ik Ik choosing Detective Sophie Song (Annie Chang) instead of the closer-by Vigilante (Freddie Stroma) when she escaped from the jar. She likely recognizes the power a police detective could bring instead of a black ops cape, even though she knows Vigilante better. All things considered, Judomaster's comments need to be explained in the finale, and the possibilities of what he meant by them are boundless.
The Cow Transforms Into A Giant Butterfly
Arguably the DCEU's most outrageous new character, Peacemaker's Cow strongly resembles a giant caterpillar. While caterpillars go through a chrysalis phase before becoming a butterfly, it wouldn't be entirely out of bounds for Peacemaker to transform the creature into a Butterfly in a drastic, gruesome way anyway. Killing the Cow is a singular objective that, if done successfully, could make the ending almost too complete. And with Peacemaker season 2 happening, an open-ended finale would give the series fodder for future episodes. Supporting the Cow transformation theory are Peacemaker's references to Mothra-like creatures that might not just refer to the Butterflies themselves.
With that said, the Butterflies do begin to transport the Cow in episode 7. Such a mission could still be infiltrated by a possibly set-up Peacemaker Butterfly betrayal, yet this doesn't guarantee either the escape or death of the Cow. The Cow transforming into a Butterfly would be bizarre and big enough for Gunn to take extra measures of secrecy, and it could possibly connect to Judomaster's comments somehow. The more likely situation is the Cow escaping in general. If the Cow does die in the finale, however, Peacemaker could still present new Butterfly mysteries to keep the show alive for the future.
Suicide Squad Cameos: Task Force X Members Appear In Peacemaker's Finale
James Gunn expressed favor for The Suicide Squad releasing on HBO Max after initially being wary about the move, because it brought more subscribers to the streaming platform and therefore helped Peacemaker get the green light. With the success of both projects, Gunn is reportedly in talks with DC to produce another TV show. Peacemaker's Amanda Waller lost relevancy in the show, but the finale could change that, especially if it sets up a potential show. Waller is the bedrock of the Suicide Squad franchise, being the catalyst for missions and characters in both the 2016 film, the 2021 reboot, and Peacemaker. Other members of The Suicide Squad could also make a finale appearance. For example, a possible cameo is Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn, but it would likely be less out of plot development and more out of fan service and setup for a spin-off. Another living Suicide Squad member on US soil is King Shark (Sylvester Stallone), who would be a fun cameo.
It's unlikely that fan favorites Bloodsport (Idris Elba) and Ratcatcher 2 (Daniela Melchior) will appear in the finale if Screen Rant's Jennifer Holland interview about her role as Emilia Harcourt is to be believed at face value. According to Holland, a fight between Peacemaker, Bloodsport, and Ratcatcher 2 would be interesting to see in the future, which implies that such a match-up won't happen in the Peacemaker finale. If the two characters never make a Peacemaker appearance, this doesn't deny their involvement in future DC shows, especially if James Gunn is involved.
Harcourt Gets Killed In Peacemaker's Finale
By popular vote, Emilia Harcourt becomes Project Butterfly's leader after Murn's death in episode 7. She's ubiquitously determined to be the most knowledgeable, professional, and assertive member of Project Butterfly. However, one of the remaining Peacemaker episode 8 twist theories is that Harcourt will die in the finale. Some factors allude to this being the case. For example, the episode 8 promo shows Harcourt telling Leota Adebayo (Danielle Brooks) to stay back "if something happens to us," potentially foreshadowing Harcourt's fate. Harcourt also spends most of Peacemaker keeping a distance from the others until she develops a connection with the team in episode 5. If she were to die after finally allowing herself to be close to the team in spite of her long-standing philosophy that doing so in black ops missions leads to dangerous consequences, Harcourt's death would conclude her character arc in an impactful, heartbreaking way.
James Gunn's Shocking Peacemaker Twist Is About Adebayo
One of Peacemaker's more endearing main characters is Leota Adebayo, Amanda Waller's daughter working on Project Butterfly. Developing a strained friendship with Peacemaker, Leota Adebayo provides a great Peacemaker character trick by looking at him with fresh eyes. She acts as an audience stand-in, expressing overwhelm to the horrific things that the other Project Butterfly members do relatively apathetically, such as killing innocent people or concealing dangerous secrets. Her relatability to the audience and her generally innocent nature make Adebayo stand out from the others.
Peacemaker builds up her importance by giving Adebayo the choice on whether to stay or leave Project Butterfly. The conflict builds when her wife Keeya (Elizabeth Faith Ludlow) encourages Adebayo's decision to leave, stating that Adebayo just doesn't belong in such a tense environment. However, she chooses to stay when Harcourt recognizes Adebayo's importance to the mission. Adebayo's deliberate return and importance to the show potentially sets up something major for her in the finale.
Jason Momoa's Aquaman Appears In Peacemaker Episode 8
One of the show's better decisions is recasting Peacemaker's Vigilante with Bridgerton's Freddie Stroma. His portrayal is significantly more comedic and unhinged as his multiple comic book iterations, but such an interpretation is entirely fitting in Gunn's Peacemaker. One of Vigilante's many eccentricities is that he likes using the mermaid emoji for multiple purposes, which Peacemaker explains to mean "happy, sad, and everything in between." Why Vigilante chooses the mermaid emoji for this all-encompassing purpose leaves further questions, if there's a deeper reason at all to it. In addition, Vigilante specifically uses the male mermaid emoji when texting it in the "11th Street Kids" group chat in episode 5. While this can easily pass off as a simple DC Easter egg at best, some fans are wondering if this emoji is foreshadowing an Aquaman cameo.
There's also a low-hanging Aquaman joke in Peacemaker episode 1 that seems out of place in the DCEU. Aquaman has long been mocked as one of DC's goofier superheroes for his telepathic abilities with fish, but the DCEU is trying to correct this image through Jason Momoa's stronger, more powerful portrayal. All things considered, a Jason Momoa Aquaman appearance during a secret Task Force X offshoot mission doesn't seem set up beyond a couple of show references. Nonetheless, it's something Peacemaker fans are speculating to be in the finale.
The Peacemaker finale releases this Thursday, February 17 on HBO Max.
