Can Peacemaker Die, Or Is He a Metahuman Who Can Survive Almost Anything?

John Cena reprises his The Suicide Squad role in James Gunn’s new series, Peacemaker. His DC Comics character is strong, agile, and resilient. But his near-death experience in the movie and his action-packed sequences on the HBO Max show have some fans wondering if he’s a metahuman who can defy death.

So, can Peacemaker die?

Cena’s character is based on the DC Comics superhero, Christopher Smith, The Peacemaker. His abilities include marksmanship, espionage, strategy, and hand-to-hand combat in the comic books. The hero can fly and communicate with the technology in his armor, suit, and helmet. And he has access to dozens of the military’s highly advanced weapons. 

In The Suicide Squad, Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) introduces Peacemaker as a trained killer. “This is Christopher Smith, known as Peacemaker,” she says. “In his hands, anything is a deadly weapon. His father was a soldier who trained his son how to kill from the moment he was born.”

In both the comics and James Gunn’s film and series, Peacemaker is a human hero, similar to Batman. So, while he may be strong and resilient, it seems Peacemaker can die, unlike other alien or metahuman heroes. And if the ending of The Suicide Squad is any indication, any severe injury will land him in the hospital. 

Peacemaker was supposed to die in ‘The Suicide Squad’

Not only can Peacemaker be killed, but he was also actually supposed to die at the end of The Suicide Squad. Gunn revealed that he went back in and added the post-credits scene featuring a hospital-laden superhero after HBO Max greenlit the Peacemaker series. 

“It got added because [of] the TV show,” Gunn told Collider. “I didn’t say I was going to do the TV show until after the movie was basically finished being cut. So then I got asked to do the TV show, and then I said I would do it. Then when we started shooting the TV show, I shot the post-credit scene.”

‘Peacemaker’ likely won’t meet his death on the HBO Max series

From alien butterflies to a judo master, Peacemaker continues facing formidable foes as the season progresses. But despite the danger and Amanda Waller’s nefarious secret agenda, it doesn’t look like the superhero will meet his death on the HBO Max series. 

According to Gunn — who wrote and directed Peacemaker, The Suicide Squad, and Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy films — he has plans to bring one of the show’s main characters back for an upcoming DCEU movie.

 “One of these characters, which people have kind of figured out, one of these characters is used in a future big DC movie that’s from here,” he said in an appearance on The Hollywood Reporter’s TV’s Top 5 podcast. “So we are connected to all of this.” 

“Who knows what role these characters are going to play in the future?” Gunn added. “I mean, no one knew who the Guardians of the Galaxy were, and then all of a sudden, they’re massive players in Infinity War and Endgame. So who knows what’s going to happen with Peacemaker in 10 years, five years, or whatever.”

Gunn didn’t specify which character would return. But considering how much of a fan favorite Cena is, many believe it is him. 

New episodes of Peacemaker air Thursdays on HBO Max.