‘Peacemaker’ Made All of These D-List Characters DCEU Canon
Now that James Gunn and Peter Safran are the big bosses at DC Films, how long will it be before these Peacemaker characters appear on screen?
Since James Gunn took over a corner of the DC extended universe with The Suicide Squad, he’s introduced a whole mess of lesser-known characters from the comics. One of the hallmark easter eggs of the show was the offhand mentioning of DC comics oddballs. Now that Gunn is one-half of the big creative power at DC Films, which of these weird characters he made cannon should get their own series?
This article contains mild spoilers for ‘Peacemaker’ season 1. If you haven’t seen it yet, what the f#@% are you doing here? Go watch it!
Vigilante
Before The Suicide Squad, Peacemaker himself was a little-known character. And one of the characters who also appeared in the panels with him was Adrian Chase – the Vigilante.
Apart from the name and the costume, the show’s Adrian Chase has a radically different (and much less depressing) backstory. In the comics, Chase was a district attorney whose wife and children were killed by mobsters. Afterward, he donned the costume and used non-lethal methods to incapacitate criminals.
Clearly, the show’s Adrian is vastly different than this namesake. Not only is he definitely not a married father, but Peacemaker‘s version of the Vigilante is A-okay with using lethal force.
Judomaster
This character is a bit tricky because we never hear him addressed in any way other than ‘Judomaster’. Chances are, much like Vigilante, the name is just about all this character has in common with his source material.
Of the four characters who have gone by the name, it seems most likely that this guy would be based on Thomas Jagger – if he’s a comic book original character at all. But Thomas does have comic book affiliations with Task Force X, putting him within the orbit of this story.
At this point, I would like to gleefully remind you that Judomaster is still very much alive. And since Peacemaker has been renewed for season 2, we’re likely to find out more about the character’s background in the upcoming season.
White Dragon
The White Dragon is another legacy character, but we can certainly say that Auggie Smith is a Peacemaker-original character. The name White Dragon has been used by several characters, mostly villains associated with the white power movement. Interestingly, William Heller, the second man to bear the name, was at one point a member of the Suicide Squad.
Matter-Eater Lad
Now is the part of the list where things get kind of kooky. Matter-Eater Lad does exactly what his name says – he can literally eat anything.
Born on the planet Bismoll, the people on Tenzil Kem’s planet evolved to eat all the things. Seems kind of silly, but the Legion of Superheroes found him pretty handy anytime they were in a tight spot. Moreover, all the gross stuff he eats apparently tastes really good to him.
Bat-Mite
Economos summed up this character pretty well. Bat-Mite is an imp, like the Superman villain Mister Mxyzptlk. Like Mxy, this little guy has near-infinite magical powers. He’s also pretty fond of scheming, although his end goal is more super-fan than nefarious.
He does, in fact, “stan” Batman. And he can usually be convinced to undo any magical damage once Batman is fed up with his shenanigans.
Doll Man
The first Doll Man, Darrel Dane, is the first shrinky-dink superhero, thank you very much. He created a formula he used to shrink himself and fight evil-doers. At the time his book was published, many of his covers and panels showed him bound or restrained, making him an interesting male counterpart to the female bondage covers of the time.
Over time, it was revealed that the use of the formula had a damaging effect on Darrel’s mind. He wound up in a mental institution, and unfortunately, there hasn’t been much to his story since.
Kite-Man
Apparently has a live-action version of the Batman villain, too. This guy is kind of a running joke. I mean, c’mon, kites?
The character’s name is Charles Brown, a callout to the Peanuts character Charlie Brown. His whole gig is kite-related weaponry and gadgets. He’s not in the stories much, but the character has seen a resurgence since DC’s animated series Harley Quinn included him in the show’s core cast.
Green Arrow
Ok, Ollie isn’t D-list, he’s definitely a high-B. But I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Green Arrow’s confirmed existence in this particular DC on-screen universe.
Oliver Queen is a wealthy businessman who secretly fights crime as a Robin Hood-like character. He’s an active member of the Justice League and an expert archer.
Sure, the Arrow has his own CW universe, but we can all agree that they Batman’ed our Oliver Queen quite a bit. With the Peacemaker finale featuring an appearance from some core Justice League cast members, Peacemaker’s assertion that Green Arrow is a brony puts the character in the same orbit as DC’s superhero mega-team.
