Warning: Contains Spoilers For Peacemaker.
There's a reason why Murn (Chuckwudi Iwuji) went rogue in Peacemaker against the Butterflies. Murn, the lead in ARGUS's black ops mission Project Butterfly, is a Butterfly himself as revealed in episode 4, "The Choad Less Traveled." Episode 3, "Better Goff Dead," reveals that the Butterflies are a parasitic alien species invading the entire world, potentially by the millions. Project Butterfly is clearly targeting these creatures, but clues hint that their complete annihilation is not necessarily the only objective. At the beginning of Peacemaker episode 4, Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland) tells Peacemaker (John Cena) that "it would've been nice to have captured it" when Peacemaker tells her that he shot a Butterfly. It's of course later revealed that he kept the Butterfly alive in his own home, keeping it in a jar and feeding the Butterfly its special Glan Tai nectar. At any rate, it's implied that Project Butterfly also intends to study the Butterflies more closely. However, Murn might actually know all there is about the Butterflies, unless his parasite wouldn't reveal any discreet information.
Murn being a Butterfly adds a few complications to the story - including several intriguing questions. He's a proper leader for the team, demanding everyone to stay on task even in the face of doing extremely difficult and morally questionable things for the mission. Despite opportunities to sabotage the mission and betray Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) for the betterment of his kind, his actions strongly suggest that he's a Butterfly gone rogue. While Murn's secret still risks a Peacemaker Butterfly plot hole, it appears evident that people infected with the Butterfly parasite still retain a sense of free will, unless it really is Murn's Butterfly going rogue and not Murn himself. The fact that he's a Butterfly, however, begins to reveal more about what the Butterflies are.
According to one fan theory [via Reddit], Murn actually helped initiate Project Butterfly with Amanda Waller after being inspired by the events of The Suicide Squad. Murn may have always been secretly against the Butterfly takeover, but he still believed that their mission was inevitable. Going against the takeover would have been futile. However, seeing a group of Earthlings take on the massive Starro the Conquerer in Corto Maltese and actually win may have flipped something in Murn and inspired him to stop the Butterfly conquest. This, of course, is contingent on how long Murn was a Butterfly in Peacemaker, but if he was infected by a Butterfly before Project Starfish, this theory helps address a key question about the otherwise mysterious Murn.
What Is Known About The Butterflies
The Butterflies are unique to Peacemaker. They're not in the DC comics, but they do compare to some DC villains such as Madame Butterfly, Mister Mind, the Iron Butterfly, and Superman's former love interest Lana Lang, a.k.a. the Insect Queen. As it's revealed right now, they require a host and provide said host with superhuman abilities. Episode 5 "Monkey Dory" proves with Charlie the Gorilla that Butterflies don't just infect humans, after Economos (Steve Agee) mentions that a Butterfly flies out of Charlie's head after he kills him with a chainsaw. In what originally seemed like a simple DC Easter egg in Peacemaker's episode 4, Charlie was originally mentioned escaping the Evergreen Zoo on a news clip. However, he was working with the Butterflies in the Glan Tai factory and is a different interpretation of DC comics' Charlie the Gorilla.
Still, anything known about the Butterflies will come from Peacemaker. Episode 5 reveals that the Butterflies solely consume a nectar-like liquid that is "dissimilar to anything on this planet." Therefore, the Butterflies are clearly extra-terrestrial beings. Based on how they used Senator Royland Goff (Antonio Cupo), they seem to have a strong climate change agenda, presumably to preserve Earth for their interests. They also clearly require a host, as outside the host they are considerably weaker. Whether using a host is their way of adapting on Earth or if that is their general nature is up for debate. Peacemaker reveals enough about Butterflies to establish them as an interesting threat, but many questions about them remain.
The Two Groups - Butterflies For and Against World Domination
It's unclear what exactly "World Domination" really means for the Butterflies, but one thing's for certain - they want to invade Earth en masse, and their presence would affect life immeasurably. Judomaster (Nhut Lee) reveals that the Butterflies are "not what you think," so it's possible that the Butterflies aren't as harmful as Project Butterfly implies them to be. Still, they're a worldwide parasite that gives their hosts violent outbursts and superhuman powers. Inhabiting the planet, infecting life on Earth and eating an alien nectar puts the planet's ecosystem at risk, despite their climate change efforts. While it's true that the Butterfly's secret plan in Peacemaker may just be to find a new home for their species, it would be odd for Murn to go rogue if that were the only issue at hand.
Therefore, there's clearly something about the Butterfly invasion that has the potential to go against their best interests. While they may indeed be making Earth their new home, their plans could easily run deeper. There's a reason why the Butterflies are on Earth and not their home planet, and it's yet to be revealed why. If the Butterfly home planet was destroyed, there's a cause behind it that could potentially affect Earth. Likewise, if they were kicked off their planet or decided to move elsewhere, there's a reason behind this that would be very telling about the species.
Murn's Involvement With Project Butterfly Suggests That He's Rogue
Waller likely knows Murn's a Butterfly and trusts him with the mission. Proof supporting this is Waller's dismissal of her daughter Adebayo's concerns about Murn's past, which could change in Peacemaker's episode 6 if Adebayo reports to her about Murn's outburst. Still, Amanda Waller supporting Murn's mission suggests some things about the Butterflies, considering how unlikely it is for Murn to secretly try to sabotage ARGUS's mission. This all affirms that Murn is likely trying to betray his species, with events from The Suicide Squad motivating him to do so.
Again, while the Butterflies' interests may not be as sinister as they're perceived, their presence does disrupt life on Earth. Their invasion plans may not be entirely bad for Earth, but Murn's betrayal is telling. Until then, there's a lot left to know about the severity of the Butterfly threat.
Reasons Why ARGUS Really Wants To Eradicate Butterflies
Maybe the Butterflies aren't Peacemaker's worst threat, but they're certainly the main threat. As mentioned previously, ARGUS likely wants to do more with the Butterflies than just eradicate them, but eradication is still clearly an objective. After all, episode 3 shows the characters having to shoot children just because they exhibit Butterfly behavior. Such a heinous action makes the Butterfly eradication absolutely vital for Project Butterfly, yet why it's a black ops mission remains in question. The Butterfly threat is global, yet in episode 5 Peacemaker points out that it's just "the five of us against an alien invasion" - six if he's including Economos. Harcourt mentions to Peacemaker before his remark that "anytime anyone officially starts to deal with the Butterfly situation, someone higher up in the government shuts them down." The project is so secretive that outside help is shut off, even though it could speed the mission up.
Peacemaker's Project Butterfly has a dark side; although exactly how dark it is remains unknown. Still, Waller is going to great lengths to keep it hidden - according to Adebayo, she's secretly diverting funds to the project from other operations. On the surface, it seems like the characters are killing the Butterflies because of how dangerous they are. However, Murn's unwavering involvement suggests something deeper happening. Perhaps Murn is seeking world domination while the Butterflies just want survival. Maybe Murn is part of an extremist Butterfly faction. Or, the Butterfly threat is what the characters think it is, and Murn is compelled for some reason to do something about it.
With Waller taking great lengths to cover up Project Butterfly, which likely includes Leota shooting people after Peacemaker kills them, it's not officially clear why Murn wanted to go rogue. The events of The Suicide Squad may have encouraged him to go against his kind, but whether that reason is good or bad is yet to be seen. Regarding the mission's clandestine nature, the fact that there are Butterfly-infected government officials that could stop their cause gives a decent reason for why Project Butterfly's extreme secrecy isn't necessarily malicious. However, even though the Butterflies could pose a threat to Earth, it's not apparent that Murn went rogue for Peacemaker's Project Butterfly with good intentions.
Peacemaker releases new episodes Thursdays on HBO.
