Peacemaker: What makes a hero?

A spin-off of the incredible Suicide Squad movie, The Peacemaker manages to tell one of the most impactful redemption arcs on television. Anyone who has seen The Suicide Squad has no impression of Peacemaker as a hero. His mantra to kill all those required to achieve peace may seem to have at least some moral standing albeit not a prototypical heroic one. His actions in Suicide Squad make it clear that he is no hero. Make no mistake, The Peacemaker is a satire. A satire on Superhero morality, a satire on American foreign policy, and a satire about the modern world. Christopher Smith, The Peacemaker, is used as James Gunn's tool to display his views on Global Warming, America, and most importantly, Redemption.

SPOILER WARNING FOR SEASON 1 OF PEACEMAKER

Peacemaker believes his mantra deeply in The Suicide Squad but you can see his faith in it wavering from the beginning of the show. He admonishes himself for killing Rick Flagg, and that is when his arc truly begins. Christopher is not a cold-hearted villain, but a sensitive, misled individual. Growing up with an abusive father, Christopher was traumatized when he was forced to fight his brother; leading to his brother's death at Chris's hands. Peacemaker copes with his trauma by trying to find a solution, so no one would have to experience what he did. He believes a solution is to make it so that no death is meaningless again, however, somewhere along his journey, the reason behind the creation of his mantra gets lost. When Vigilante (Peacemaker's 'crime-fighting' friend) admits that they used to shamelessly kill the wrong person often, it demonstrates just how far from his vow he has strayed. It's only when Christopher kills another hero, Rick Flagg, does he begin to realize how far he has drifted away from the original reason behind his mantra.

Throughout the Season, Peacemaker begins to understand that his Father's treatment of him is why he feels the need to kill people. He realizes that the corruption of his mantra, while his fault, is caused by the toxic masculine ideas that had been implanted into Christopher. By repeatedly shaming him for not being 'man' enough, a naturally sensitive Christopher responds by trying to prove he is. He tries to desensitize himself, by pushing himself more towards killing, to prove he was good enough for his father. This created a conflict within Peacemaker, as he was competing directly against his natural urge to protect. This conflict finally leads to Peacemaker accepting the evil in the ideals championed by his father, culminating in an incredible moment where Peacemaker proves he is no longer controlled by his upbringing. Overcoming years of indoctrination and finally realizing that his father is worse than many of the people he killed before, he killed his father and did right by his previous warped actions.

Killing his Father still fit in that obviously flawed mantra that the audience had seen throughout. His father had to be killed because he did not fit in with his idea of peace. It showed growth, but James Gunn was not done with simply Christopher overcoming the indoctrination that led to the formation of his violent tendencies. He went a step further to show Peacemaker accepting his entire mantra as flawed.

In the season finale, Peacemaker is faced with a decision. Side with the butterflies and save the world (with large casualties for humans being overtaken by butterflies) or, kill the cow and cut off the butterflies' food source, perhaps even dooming earth. Peacemaker goes against his mantra completely in this moment, picking the people on Earth and killing the cow. He admits he did not make this decision out of a sense of liberty but instead because he didn't want his friends to die.

This is the completion of Peacemaker's arc from the villain, to hero. James Gunn makes a pretty clear statement about redemption. That no matter how evil and twisted someone can be, by surrounding them with the right environment, they can find value in the world as it is. Peacemaker after killing his brother, thought of the world as twisted and wrong. That's why he took such an extreme stance, to change a twisted world. So no one would ever have to feel as he felt. However, the second Peacemaker found comfort in the world, by leaving his Father behind, and feeling accepted. He was able to move past his deranged ideals and become a true hero.

Through the change in my reaction to the Peacemaker-Harcourt relationship, the strength of James Gunn's storytelling became evident. At the beginning of the show when Christopher was hitting on Harcourt, I felt uneasy and uncomfortable. Relieved when the show did not encourage his behaviour by rewarding him with a romantic partner. At no cost did I want to see those two work out, feeling like Christopher's prior actions were irredeemable. However, at the very end of the show, when Peacemaker waits for Harcourt to wake up, my emotions seem to have shifted. Props must be given to both John Cena for an incredible performance, allowing the whole journey to feel genuine, and James Gunn for writing a redemption arc that did not feel forced. This is why I believe this is such a great redemption story, for not only have the opinions of the characters in the story changed for Peacemaker, but I think it would be a fair bet to assume I am not the only audience member whose opinion flipped.