Peacemaker creator James Gunn has revealed a hilarious tidbit about the uniform worn by the character Vigilante. The series, which is a spinoff of the Gunn-directed 2021 DCEU film The Suicide Squad, premiered on HBO Max on January 13 to great success. It follows the exploits of John Cena's character Christopher Smith, also known as Peacemaker, a weapons expert whose obsession with justice leads him to tremendous acts of violence, which he frequently does not take very seriously. The series also stars Danielle Brooks as Amanda Waller's daughter Leota Adebayo, Chukwudi Iwuji as Project Butterfly leader Clemson Murn, Jennifer Holland as A.R.G.U.S. agent Emilia Harcourt, Steve Agee reprising his The Suicide Squad role as tactical support member John Economos, and Robert Patrick as Peacemakers father Auggie Smith.
One of the other key players in the series is Freddie Stroma's character Vigilante. Vigilante is the mantle taken on by Adrian Chase, a sociopathic busboy who has decided to fight crime while wearing a full-body suit complete with a helmet. He and Peacemaker both have similar violent tendencies, and Vigilante quickly develops a little brother relationship with him, looking up to Peacemaker's superior expertise and frequently annoying him throughout the series as he follows him around.
On Twitter this weekend, Gunn responded to a fan question about Vigilante. The fan had noticed that Adrian Chase wears glasses, while Vigilante does not, asking if they were a prop to aid his secret identity, much like how Superman dons glasses whenever he is pretending to be Clark Kent. Gunn's answer revealed the surprising truth that Vigilante does need glasses, and in fact his helmet is prescription.
What Other DC Superheroes Need Glasses?
This touch of realism in the story of Peacemaker's Vigilante is both a clever detail and a somewhat sly subversion of the Clark Kent trope. Indeed, there aren't many characters in DC Comics who genuinely need glasses the way Vigilante does. Most of the notable heroes in the franchise, including Superman's cousin Supergirl, will don glasses as part of a disguise rather than out of necessity.
However, the Peacemaker character is not entirely alone in needing a prescription. There are two characters in the extended Batman universe who wear glasses simply to see, including Carrie Kelley, the first female Robin in the comics. Another major character who wears glasses is Oracle, the mantle later taken on by Barbara Gordon, the character who was going to be the lead of HBO Max's scrapped film Batgirl. Vigilante is certainly in good company, at the very least, even if it's a small percentage of the DC universe overall.
Source: James Gunn/Twitter
