Much like what he did with Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, James Gunn managed to take one of the more obscure DC characters and make him the star of one of the most dazzling DCEU installments yet. Of course, like most other comic book adaptations, Peacemaker Season 1 is chock full of shoutouts to some of DC Comics’ better known heroes and villains, especially in the finale.
However, James Gunn was also sure to pay tribute to a few other lesser-known characters that he tends to find more interesting, some of which were more overtly referenced than the mainstream names. To fill you in on the characters we are referring to or remind you of some you could have forgotten, let’s take a tour of all the fun Easter Eggs of the DC variety throughout Peacemaker’s premiere season, starting with one some might have assumed was just a joke.
Peacemaker Name Drops Doll Man
In Episode 3 of Peacemaker, our title hero (also known as Christopher Smith and played by John Cena) mentions his acquaintance to a hero named Doll Man - who, as Clemson Murn (Chukwudi Iwuji) explains, gets his name from his ability to “turn small.” This is, indeed, a real superhero who has actually existed longer than a some other certain characters who also shrink from both DC and Marvel Comics.
Peacemaker Knows Matter-Eater Lad, Too
Believe it or not, Matter-Eater Lad - whom Peacemaker also claims he once teamed up with in Episode 4 - is also a real character who first appeared in DC Comics in 1962. Well, I don’t know about you, but I would love to see this alien superhero’s existence in the DCEU be expanded beyond a brief mention so we can see his ability to devour literally anything in action.
Peacemaker Also Mentions Kite Man
After Episode 6’s cold open, we see Peacemaker telling a classroom full of elementary school students the supposedly far-fetched story about how he defeated the “dangerous” supervillain called Kite Man. Charles Brown Sr.’s alter ego is yet another strange but true DC character who originated as a Batman villain and would later become a recurring character (voiced by Matt Oberg) on HBO Max’s Harley Quinn series as Poison Ivy’s fiancé.
Economos Name Drops Bat-Mite
Speaking of Harley Quinn, John “Dye Beard” Economos (Steve Agee, who also did mo-cap for King Shark in The Suicide Squad) tells Peacemaker he would rather be partnered with Margot Robbie’s iteration of the Clown Princess of Crime than with him. He then doubles down on the insult by saying he would also rather work with Bat-Mite. Since he then confirms the pint-sized, interdimensional Batman fan does exist in the DCEU, I hope this means his live-action debut is imminent.
The Wayne Foundation Sticker On Peacemaker’s Fake Diary
Economos name-dropping Bat-Mite is certainly not the only overt mention of something related to Batman, and we will talk about the other soon. First, let’s talk about one of the more subtle references to the Dark Knight in Peacemaker: the sticker on the fake diary Leota Adebayo (Danielle Brooks) plants in Chris’ home that bears a close similarity to the Wayne Foundation logo.
Eclipso’s Face On Peacemaker’s Dart Board
Another Easter Egg you might have needed to hit pause to catch a good glimpse of is the image of Eclipso’s face on the dart board in Peacemaker’s trailer. This villain was originally the spirit of God’s wrath before he went rogue and began possessing living entities to carry out his craving for chaos. I wonder if he ever used Chris as a host, because that would certainly piss me off enough to want to throw darts at his face.
Allusions To Gorilla Grodd
Fans were quick to theorize that reports of a missing gorilla named Charlie meant Gorilla Grodd - a normal primate given extraordinary powers by a meteorite - was going to make his DCEU debut on Peacemaker, until Economos was able to kill the animal in question with a chainsaw, leading to one of the best musical moments of the series. However, Chris’ mention that he had fought a gorilla before could be confirmation that the character does exist in this universe after all. Plus, Charlie’s strength and impressive hand-to-hand combat certainly felt like a tribute to the Flash villain, who made his live-action debut on the speedster’s Arrowverse series in 2015.
Peacemaker Calls Green Arrow A Brony
Speaking of the Arrowverse, Peacemaker also confirmed that Oliver Queen’s master archer alter ego exists in the DCEU, but not in the most flattering way. In the season finale, Chris claims that Green Arrow likes to show he is a My Little Pony fan by attending conventions in Twilight Sparkle cosplay… but as the back-half. This is not even the most insulting comment about a DC hero in the season, let alone that episode.
Peacemaker Has Cross Words For Most Of The Justice League
It seems that Peacemaker is not too fond of the Justice League, from alluding to Batman’s no-killing rule as a sign of weakness, claiming that Superman has some weird poop fetish, and exposing Aquaman’s own sexual attraction toward sea creatures, which comes full circle in a hilarious, but controversial, Jason Momoa cameo in the season finale. Also appearing in that same scene is Ezra Miller as the Flash, whom Chris describes as “an unbearable d-bag,” to the aforementioned school children, to whom he also claims Wonder Woman once “eye-effed” him at a party. While that last comment is not quite as insulting as much as the others, it is still revoltingly presumptuous.
By rolling all of Peacemaker’s vocalized ill-will toward most of the Justice League into one, that leaves us with a still impressive total of nine DC character references in the first season of Peacemaker alone. Out of all the questions we have about Season 2, whether or not we will see more awesome DCEU cameos is one of them, but I have no doubt there will be plenty more funny Easter Eggs to look out for. Hopefully James Gunn really ups the ante on them this time, along with everything else.
