Over a Month Later, I’m Still Riding the High From Peacemaker Season 2
When I tell you that Peacemaker, a superhero played by John Cena with a bald eagle as a sidekick, is the progressive king we have all been waiting for, please know that I was not without my preconceived notions going into the show.
John Cena will forever be associated in my mind with wrestling, which to me is an inherently Republican-coded activity (though I’m willing to have my mind changed about this). That, plus the whole patriotic shtick—or so I thought—completely turned me off to Peacemaker.
As a superhero skeptic, I reluctantly decided to give this series a chance, my expectations low and my phone within arm’s reach, ready to be scrolled at the slightest perception of boredom.
Bill and I have a running measure of what we call “the biggest upset.” Any piece of media recommended enthusiastically by Bill and met with swift and sharp resistance from me is an eligible contender for this lofty designation. Previous hopefuls include the Disney+ series Loki, the book City of Thieves by David Benioff, and Stephen King’s The Green Mile. I’m here today to announce that Peacemaker has stolen the title of the biggest upset of all time.
Based on the comic book character by the same name, Peacemaker, also known as Christopher Smith, is a classic antihero with a valiant mandate to, quite literally, fight for peace. He is haunted by the ghost of his dead father, who was a Nazi officer and white supremacist. Grappling with the complicated relationship with his father and guilt over the death of his brother during their childhood, we see Smith fighting his own personal demons while simultaneously warding off various enemies against humankind as Peacemaker.
Both seasons one and two of Peacemaker gave me a run for my money. But season two in particular left me feeling inspired, and even, dare I say, optimistic?
In the second season, Christopher Smith discovers a portal to a seemingly infinite number of alternate dimensions. In one of the universes he visits, he finds he is an actual superhero, free from the bad reputation and criminal record that plague his real life. In that universe, his brother is still alive, and he has a romantic history with Emilia Harcourt, his long-time love interest and vigilante partner.
When he accidentally kills the version of himself from that universe, Smith begins living in that alternate reality, facing the dilemma of whether or not to return to his real life. Meanwhile, national security agent Rick Flag and his team are monitoring Smith in an effort to confiscate his interdimensional portal. But Flag’s pursuit of Smith is also motivated by the death of his son, who was previously killed by Smith.
As Christopher Smith / Peacemaker becomes more enmeshed in his new alternate reality, we witness his internal struggle as he decides whether or not to leave his old life behind for good. His predicament offers an exploration of the multiverse hypothesis. But it’s about more than just Smith’s personal life and relationships.
In this other dimension, white supremacy seems to be the dominant ideology of the general public. When Leota, a black woman who is a friend and comrade of Smith, enters the alternate dimension in an attempt to bring Smith back, she is chased down by a large mob of all white people. Some fans have theorized that in this alternate dimension, Hitler actually won World War II, though it’s never explicitly stated. Aside from the rampant white supremacy, there’s other evidence that corroborates this theory, such as the absence of any American flags and the swastika-like symbols that appear in the title sequence.
With how volatile and unprecedented the political climate feels right now, it’s interesting to see a version of our current selves portrayed as an alternate reality. It’s like looking at a painting in a mirror, and somehow the details you didn’t notice when looking at it outright start to come into sharper focus. It might be an exaggeration to say white supremacy is the reigning philosophy of modern America (or it might not be). But at a time when brown people are getting kidnapped off the streets by the government, DEI programs are being actively dismantled, and social safety net programs that disproportionately help people of color are losing funding, there is an argument to be made that classic American racism is making a comeback. How different are we, really, from Peacemaker’s alternate dimension?
The HBO series Peacemaker stands in stark contrast to Prime Video’s The Boys, which at face value might appear to scratch the same itch but which offers a very different narrative perspective. Peacemaker is the antithetical counterpart to Homelander, the lead villain in The Boys. While Homelander is a dystopian (and not wholly unrealistic) representation of the U.S. government, Peacemaker offers an affirmative vision of what this country could stand for.
That’s not to say that the fictional world Peacemaker lives in is a model society. It’s rife with corruption, vengeance, and xenophobia. Where inspiration can be found is in the bonds between Christopher Smith and his companions. They’re a motley crew who, at a glance, don’t appear to have much of anything in common. They frequently disagree and inadvertently hurt one another. But at the end of the day, they all make a good faith effort to do their own respective versions of the right thing.
Peacemaker himself offers a kind of complexity and depth not often portrayed in mainstream superhero franchises. Most notably, he is openly bisexual while bearing a hypermasculine exterior—I truly can’t think of an equivalent in conventional media. The fact that incels online fell for the bait-and-switch is just icing on the cake. But honestly, even to call it a bait and switch feels like an insult. It’s more than that. It’s a real twist on the muscly bravado one might expect from a stereotypical on-screen superhero
And his sidekick, Eagly, America’s national bird and the ubiquitous symbol for all things American, somehow manages to endear the audience and make us laugh, all in spite of the questionable moral values which the bald eagle conventionally represents in American culture. Eagly has so many unforgettable moments, but the one that continues to live in my head weeks later is when he breaks into the fridge and tries to bust out the cold cuts with his beak.
Peacemaker is a show that centers diversity in a way that doesn’t feel contrived. And Christopher Smith, with his undeniable flaws, is the role model that we all need, whose equivalent is seldom found among the ranks of those actually in power. If you haven’t watched it yet, GO NOW! At the very least, do yourself a favor and check out the song from the title sequence, which by now has got to be my most played song on Apple Music.
