Peacemaker creator James Gunn revealed which character from the DC Extended Universe series he feels would never kill Rick Flag, as John Cena's Christopher Smith did in The Suicide Squad.
Gunn explained how the "heroes" in Peacemaker deal with authority, telling Vulture that Jennifer Holland's Emilia Harcourt isn't actually all that different from Chris because their belief systems both prevent them from killing innocent people. "She and Peacemaker, in that respect, are almost exactly the same," he said. "Now, the difference is, Harcourt would’ve never killed Rick Flag. She would’ve never done that in a million years because she prioritizes those fellow soldiers ahead of the orders."
In The Suicide Squad, Peacemaker kills Flag when the latter threatens to reveal the secrets of Project Starfish to the world. Determined to fulfill his orders from Amanda Waller to keep the details of Task Force X's mission completely off the books, Peacemaker stabs Flag through the heart, and this moment comes back to haunt him throughout the spinoff series.
While the decision to have Peacemaker kill Flag was controversial among fans, it's something Gunn has defended. "People constantly are writing on Twitter about how awful [Peacemaker] is and how mad they are that he killed Rick Flag — and I may get shit for saying this — but what he was doing, he had a reason for doing it," he said in January. "[Peacemaker] kills Rick Flag in The Suicide Squad because there's a piece of evidence that he believes will cause the world a great amount of disturbance and death and violence. He's covering up the truth. So if you believe in the truth being out there no matter what, you definitely don't agree with that."
Shortly after The Suicide Squad was released, Gunn touched on Flag's ideals, which would ultimately get him killed. "You know, I think in the beginning of this movie, there are two characters that somewhat have compassion and, and, you know, emotion," he explained. " That's [Flag] and Ratcatcher. So I think that [Flag] really becomes, in a way part, of the heart of this film. He is, but he's also incredibly idealistic. He believes in what he's doing. He is, you know, America's hero."
Season 1 of Peacemaker is available to stream on HBO Max. Season 2 has yet to receive a premiere date.
Source: Vulture