There have been several insults slung at the heroes of the DC Extended Universe in HBO Max's Peacemaker, but according to creator James Gunn, the Batman insult is one that the studio took issue with.
In the upcoming fourth episode of the show, John Cena's Christopher Smith/Peacemaker discusses the morality of killing people with his father's next-door neighbor. When the neighbor suggests that Peacemaker isn't a hero because he kills people unlike Batman, Peacemaker replies by calling the caped crusader "a p---y!" Gunn spoke on DC's reaction to the remark, telling TV's Top 5 Podcast, "I was very surprised, because they were not too fond of Peacemaker calling Batman a p---y. I'm like, 'But he talks about all these other terrible things about all these other superheroes that are much worse than calling Batman a p---y.'"
Following the events of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League, where the Dark Knight was known for cruel actions like branding criminals, the public once again considers Batman to be a hero, but Gunn points out that Peacemaker's contrasting opinion does have some merit compared to what he says about others. "Not only that, Batman is the only one he makes a fair point about; everybody else he's really just believing stuff that he read on the Internet. Everything that he believes is kind of nonsense, and Batman is the only one he has a point of view on that makes any sense whatsoever."
Although Peacemaker's choice of language continues the R-rated humor seen in The Suicide Squad movie, the insults used for Aquaman and Superman took a different approach. When asked why DC objected to the Batman insult and not the others, Gunn said, "I don't know. You’d have to ask them. I don't know why him calling Batman a p---y is potentially more offensive than him saying Superman [has a poop fetish]. I don't understand why one was brought up and one wasn't."
Despite any reservations DC may have had with the insult, they still allowed it to be included in the show. "They let me get away with what I got away with at the end of the day," Gunn confirms. It's not just DC that allowed Gunn to get away with things though, as he has spoken previously of how HBO Max allowed him to "go hog wild" with Peacemaker. Gunn said, "for the most part, these guys have been fantastic partners, but especially HBO Max was."
New episodes of Peacemaker drop every Thursday on the streaming service, with the first three available now.
Source: TV's Top 5, via TVLine