As appropriate to the character and as artistically handled as it is, the orgy scene underscores a limitation of Peacemaker as a character and, potentially, a limitation of James Gunn as the shepherd of the DC Universe. Superhero stories are fundamentally kid’s stories, and Gunn seems solely interested in making decidedly-not-kid-friendly superhero tales.
Silly and Nasty Superheroes
Throughout the first season of Peacemaker, characters took every opportunity to mock the protagonist’s look. His bright red shirt and tight white pants appear even more outrageous when donned by the hulking Cena. His gleaming silver helmet does, as many observe, look exactly like a shiny toilet bowl.
Peacemaker’s costume comes directly from the comics that introduced Chris Smith, first from Charlton Comics and then from DC Comics. It’s just one of many oddities that Gunn lifts directly from the comic book page. Ego the Living Planet, Starro the Conqueror, and Rocket Raccoon are all goofy ideas that, not all that long ago, no Hollywood studio would ever consider spending significant money to bring to life.
When Gunn brings these elements into his movies and TV shows, it feels like more than just fealty to the source material. One gets the sense that he genuinely loves the weirdness of superheroes, even when Rocket is mocking a guy called “Taserface.”
That love underscores an element of superheroes that seems to disinterest Gunn. Superheroes are originally and fundamentally kid’s stories. They began in the late 1930s as disposable adventure tales for children and even though their first readers included American GIs in World War II and even though adults continue to read superhero stories, childishness remains deep in the genre’s DNA.
Yet, a glance at DC Studios’ 2026 slate reveals anything but kids’ stuff. There’s the Green Lantern series Lanterns, described as a gritty cop show in the vein of True Detective, for which Nathan Fillion has dropped a record number of f-bombs in his appearance as Guy Gardner. There’s Supergirl, which picks up from Milly Alcock’s cameo in Superman and begins with the Maid of Might hopping from planet to planet and getting drunk. There’s the Clayface movie written by Mike Flanagan, a “complete horror movie,” in Gunn’s words, about the classic Batman villain.