This article contains spoilers for The Suicide Squad.
In under a month, James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad has carved out a place as one of the most acclaimed films in the DC Extended Universe. And in the process, it proved that a comic book movie doesn’t need any iconic A-list heroes to make audiences fall in love with its characters.
True to form, Gunn shows once again how he can turn a group of D-list characters — ones so obscure that even die-hard comic fans might fail to recognize them — and turn them into a nuanced, lovable cast. The Suicide Squad managed to make little-known villains like Bloodsport, Ratcatcher, and Polka Dot Man feel nuanced, compelling, and even relatable at times. But there’s one character in particular who, despite a lack of name recognition, has a major connection to one of DC’s most beloved stories: the 1987 graphic novel Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons.
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Ask any superhero fan about Watchmen and they’ll most likely recognize the name — not only is it one of the most influential comics ever written, it’s also the basis for a 2009 film adaptation by future Justice League director Zack Snyder, as well as a 2019 HBO miniseries that serves as a sequel to the original comic. While the comic itself features no characters from the main DC Universe, that wasn’t always the plan. Originally, Alan Moore wanted the costumed cast of Watchmen to be composed of pre-existing characters — including The Suicide Squad’s own ruthlessly patriotic super-soldier, the Peacemaker.
But while Moore would later revise the story of Watchmen to feature a cast of original characters, they were still heavily influenced by his initial plan for the cast. As such, each of the heroes in Watchmen is based on another character in the canon DC Universe. The masked trenchcoat-wearing conspiracy theorist Rorschach is a stand-in for the Question, while the gadget-wielding Nite Owl serves as an analogue for the Blue Beetle, and the nuclear-powered superhuman Doctor Manhattan parallels Captain Atom. As for Peacemaker, he served as the inspiration for another gun-toting all-American vigilante: Edward Blake, better known as the Comedian.
The Comedian is perhaps best known for his role as the victim in the murder that kickstarts the plot of Watchmen, as well as the source of the book’s iconic bloodstained smiley-face logo. However, while the Comedian is a posthumous character for most of the book’s story, his character is explored in depth through the use of flashbacks. In life, Blake was a World War II veteran who became a costumed crime-fighter, eventually becoming a government operative and committing countless atrocities in the name of his country. In a sense, he’s just as much a dark mirror of Captain America as he is to the original Peacemaker.
Despite dying in the book’s first scene, the Comedian remains one of the most memorable characters in Watchmen due to just how despicable he is. Moore depicts Edward Blake as a cold and callous man who is as loathsome as he is pathetic. But despite — or perhaps because of — his cruel nature, the Comedian is hailed as a hero, serving under the government as one of America’s most loyal protectors. The Comedian is ostensibly a great hero, but his actions prove to be anything but heroic. This dark subversion of what a superhero should be is just one layer to Watchmen’s commentary on the superhero genre.
It’s also worth mentioning that the Peacemaker, who made his comic debut in 1966, was initially created as a straight-laced hero who abhorred violence and never used lethal force. But following DC’s full continuity reboot in the aftermath of Crisis on Infinite Earths, a new take on Peacemaker was soon introduced — not long after Watchmen was first published. First appearing in 1987’s Vigilante #37 before receiving his own miniseries in 1988, the post-Crisis Peacemaker was no longer an idealistic pacifist, but a ruthless and violent nationalist. In other words, he more closely resembled the Comedian than the original Peacemaker who inspired him.
This trend of Peacemaker being characterized similarly to his own stand-in continues in James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad, in which Peacemaker is played by John Cena. At first, Peacemaker appears to be just another cocky anti-hero with a warped ideology. But once the rest of the team learns that the US government is responsible for creating Starro the Conqueror, Peacemaker reveals his true colors as a vicious double-crosser, planted on the squad by Amanda Waller to kill his teammates if they threatened to reveal Starro’s secret. Peacemaker even kills Rick Flag in cold blood before being taken down by Bloodsport, cementing the so-called champion of peace as an even more detestable villain than Starro himself.
Through his characterization as a brutal tool of a corrupt government, John Cena’s portrayal of Peacemaker of The Suicide Squad bears a close resemblance to Watchmen’s own Comedian. Despite his origin as a twisted reinvention of the original Peacemaker, it’s likely that the Comedian has in turn served as a major influence on future iterations of the Peacemaker. And with a Peacemaker miniseries coming to HBO Max in 2022 — with Cena and Gunn returning to the starring role and director’s chair, no less — the legacy of Watchmen will no doubt continue to influence future DC projects for years to come.
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