Warning: Contains spoilers for Peacemaker episode 7.

James Gunn’s Peacemaker is just the latest entry in his work across industry lines that proves that he is able to make a call that most comic book directors have shied away from. Gunn has become known for his killer soundtracks and introducing obscure comic characters to both the DCEU and the MCU. However, Peacemaker has once again proved that James Gunn brings an additional something special to the table.

In Peacemaker, after Chris Smith (John Cena) gets out of the hospital, he is recruited by the ARGUS team to help defeat the Butterflies, headed by the mysterious Clemson Murn (Chukwudi Iwuji). Murn is standoffish but builds up a rapport with the team as they work together and her attempts to open up, and is eventually revealed to be a Butterfly himself who has turned against his species and their plan to dominate Earth. In Peacemaker episode 7, Murn is killed by Sophie Song (Annie Chang) who is now the host of the leader of the Butterflies, and when Murn’s Butterfly escapes his dead body, Song kills the Butterfly as well, ensuring that the character cannot return in any form.

Related: Peacemaker’s Vigilante Obsession Nailed The MCU’s Captain America Problem

Comic book franchises struggle with actually killing characters off, and this has been just as true in their movie adaptations. However, James Gunn has managed to buck the trend in both the MCU and the DCEU by killing off significant characters and ensuring that they stay dead. It’s a bold choice that other directors shy away from in a way that ultimately makes it hard for many narrative arcs to receive proper closure. In Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol.2, Gunn killed off Yondu (Michael Rooker) in an act of self-sacrifice that brought his arc to a tragic but important close while giving Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) his own closure on some of his issues. In The Suicide Squad, Gunn killed off Rick Flag, one of the few returning cast members from 2016’s Suicide Squad, and has used the death to great effect going forward. Now in Peacemaker, Gunn has killed off Clemson Murn, helping to raise the stakes and make it clear that character deaths are a real and important possibility in his work.

Peacemaker Rick Flag Flashback

While characters repeatedly dying and being resurrected is an important mainstay of the comic book genre at this point, the movies have struggled to feel meaningful at times as they adapt these stories. It has been a particular problem in the MCU as after over twenty movies the only characters that have truly died are Black Widow (whose death was undercut by her returning for a solo movie) and Tony Stark’s Iron Man (who has continued to have a presence in the franchise even after his dramatic death). The lack of ability to include death and closure for the MCU is highlighted by characters like Gamora, who was able to be replaced by another version of herself from an alternate timeline. Having introduced this idea into the MCU, it is hard to see how any death will feel truly meaningful in the franchise, especially with What If…? always being a place that they can return.

While James Gunn choosing to kill these characters demonstrates a level of bravery in his writing, it is possible that he is also in somewhat of a unique position. Gunn has worked extensively in both the DCEU and MCU and is clearly beloved by fans as there was public outcry over his original removal from Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol.3. This might mean that he has more sway to convince studios to let him do things his way and to make those bolder moves. Even with the characters that James Gunn has killed off in Peacemaker and before, he is not immune to bringing people back from the dead. Peacemaker himself was revived in a post-credits scene after his supposed death, along with Weasel in The Suicide Squad, and he has since walked back the deaths of both Javelin and TDK, while Michael Rooker has occasionally made noises about making more appearances in the MCU.

Next: Peacemaker Does James Gunn’s Best Trick Better Than Guardians Of The Galaxy

Peacemaker releases new episodes Thursdays on HBO.

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