Though pretty much every member of Task Force X could technically be deemed a "bad guy" (that's kinda the point), John Cena's Christopher Smith, aka Peacemaker, came closest to outright villainy in The Suicide Squad when he murdered Rick Flag in order to keep Amanda Waller's secrets from leaking.
HBO Max's Peacemaker (you can check out our review here) finds Smith struggling with his decision to kill the former army colonel (who he clearly respected), with Flag's final words, "Peacemaker... what a joke," echoing as a constant reminder of his actions.
Some have questioned the decision to develop a spinoff focusing on the movie's most despicable character, but writer/director James Gunn sees things a little differently, and offered a defence of Smith's misdeeds while being interviewed for Podly: The Peacemaker Podcast.
"People constantly are writing on Twitter about how awful [Peacemaker] is and how mad they are that he killed Rick Flag — and I may get shit for saying this — but what he was doing, he had a reason for doing it. He kills Rick Flag in The Suicide Squad because there's a piece of evidence that he believes will cause the world a great amount of disturbance and death and violence. He's covering up the truth, so if you believe in the truth being out there no matter what, you definitely don't agree with that."
While Gunn makes a valid point, it's actually harder to excuse what Smith did next, as he was about to gun down an innocent young woman (who had already surrendered the files he was after) simply because he wanted to be "thorough" before Bloodsport intervened.
What do you guys make of Gunn's comments? Do you think redemption is on the cards for Peacemaker? Should it be? Let us know in the usual place.
About The Author:
Mark Cassidy is a writer, photographer, amateur filmmaker, and Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic from Dublin, Ireland.