The DCEU’s first TV series, Peacemaker, retroactively makes The Suicide Squad a better film by adding depth to its least likable character. James Gunn’s 2021 sequel to the 2016 film Suicide Squad, The Suicide Squad reintroduced the chaotic team of supervillains forced into government black ops work with a mostly-new roster, including the buffoonish jingoist, Christopher Smith, a.k.a. Peacemaker. Smith was easily the least sympathetic character in the film, but his HBO Max spinoff series gives him some much-needed depth, retrospectively making his debut a much better movie.
Christopher Smith is introduced in The Suicide Squad as an ideal soldier. In addition to being in peak physical condition and having expertise in the use of nearly all weapons, Smith also has a single-minded obsession with attaining world peace. Perplexingly, Peacemaker has an incredible bloodlust, stating that he’s willing to kill anybody, even children, in the pursuit of his goal. This, tragically, resulted in him killing Rick Flagg to prevent him from leaking the truth of Starro the Conqueror to the public.
Peacemaker’s arrogance, jingoism, hypocrisy, and murder of Flagg made him easily the most unlikable character in The Suicide Squad, and his seeming death at the hands of Bloodsport was a cathartic moment that was later ruined by the revelation that he survived. While Bloodsport and Ratcatcher 2 were generally liked by viewers, Peacemaker seemed an odd choice to star in a spinoff TV series at first. Yet, Peacemaker, set in the DCEU timeline several months after The Suicide Squad, redeems the largely one-note character. The show explores Smith’s childlike immaturity, innocent gullibility, and traumatic upbringing under a monstrous father, making the doofus a more complex and sympathetic character.
Throughout Peacemaker, Smith’s immature behavior makes him seem less like a villainous ignoramus and more like an adult who’s emotionally and intellectually still a teenager. Smith was raised by an abusive and extremely dangerous father. Auggie Smith, a.k.a. the White Dragon, regularly spouts racist slurs against Jewish and East Asian-American people in addition to bullying his son with toxic and outdated notions of masculinity. Peacemaker desperately craves the unobtainable approval of his father, who trained him to become the deadly vigilante he is as an adult.
Peacemaker also shows a childlike belief in outlandish conspiracies, such as Aquaman being attracted to fish. He also adheres to outdated ideas of masculinity, being ashamed of crying (which he tries to hide from fellow psychotic murderer Vigilante). Smith appears to be gradually gaining a sense of self-awareness, bemoaning his reflexive antisocial behavior in private as he realizes that he instinctively pushes people away. This will presumably give him a series-long character arc, making him more than a one-note violent hypocrite like he was in The Suicide Squad.
The exploration of Peacemaker’s psychology and backstory in Peacemaker makes him a far more interesting and deep character than in The Suicide Squad. Smith’s character growth is showcased as early as the third episode, in which he hesitates to assassinate a quartet of “butterflies,” despite his single-minded devotion to his mission, as shown in his debut. By essentially rebooting Christopher Smith (without contradicting any DCEU continuity), Peacemaker makes The Suicide Squad an even better film than it already is.
Peacemaker releases new episodes on Thursdays on HBO Max.
