WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Peacemaker Episode 1, "A Whole New Whirled," streaming now on HBO Max.
In James Gunn's The Suicide Squad, John Cena's Chris Smith made it clear he could kill anyone with any weapon known to man. It's why he had his little contest and ego trip with Bloodsport in the jungle, trying to show that he was the expert marksman in the team and would rack up more kills. Now, in Peacemaker, Chris has dialed down the testosterone a bit, doing some self-introspecting and embarking on redemption as he figures out who he wants to be. In the process, Chris revealed what he really wants most, and it's a weapon brought about thanks to a classic Godzilla character.
It came to light when the new ARGUS handlers held council with him to ensure he stayed in line and the mission didn't go off the handles like with Task Force X in Corto Maltese. Amanda Waller believes in him, so they've recruited Chris for the mysterious Project: Butterfly -- not fully divulging details other than some hits Chris needs to pull off.
But as he heard the name of the job, he immediately was thrown back to Project: Starfish, when the team had to kill Starro, taking it too literally. As such, he thought he had to kill a butterfly, quickly jumping to the conclusion Mothra was the enemy.
He kept going on and on, annoying the crew, which is ironic as Warner Bros. recently brought the Toho character to life in the MonsterVerse films from Legendary. There, Mothra was Godzilla's ally, helping him defeat King Ghidorah and inspiring the lizard to keep protecting humanity, much like the movies over the decades.
But Chris realized he needed to fly to be able to do this, prattling on and on how he needed a jetpack. He kept harping on it, leaving the crew wondering what the hell was going on with him. It gave the impression he was delusional, high, or still suffering mental injuries from when Bloodsport shot him and dropped a building on him at the Jotunheim base in Corto Maltese.
However, it's a deep cut from the '60s because Peacemaker used a jetpack under Charlton Comics for many jobs. Not only did he hunt down assassins who wanted him dead, but he also flew around the world to bring down evil dictators and weaponeers, with the jet pack putting him on level pegging with the armadas he often brought down.
It's a nice nostalgic nod and maybe something we will see soon, because apart from his dad, Auggie, having many helmets that could make him a WMD, this jetpack would indeed upgrade his arsenal, allowing Chris to become the flying superhero he wants to be deep down inside.
To see what Chris Smith wants for his arsenal the most, Peacemaker is streaming now on HBO Max.