Peacemaker Season 2's Big Eagly Fight Works Thanks To One Dumb, Genius Decision

This post contains spoilers for "Peacemaker" season 2, episode 2.

As is often the case with a James Gunn-written superhero story, there's going to be a moment when a computer-generated animal goes to town on the bad guys in an impressive fashion. For "Superman," Krypto was the character where the creativity of the DC Studios' co-head shone most. In the case of "Peacemaker" and his second season, it's the feared, feathered friend of John Cena's Chris Smith, Eagly.

During the second episode of the superhero show, Peacemaker's home gets broken into by shady government agents sent by Rick Flagg Sr. (Frank Grillo), only to face the unexpected attack of a specially-trained bald eagle. Diving in and out of rooms, taking out the intruders by way of claw and carefully placed pecks, it's a ballistic little action sequence that borders on lunacy. Now, not to take the wind out of any fan's feathers, but as much as we love Eagly, a bird with a wingspan averaging 8 feet would probably find it difficult to take down a gang of armed goons in a cramped house, even if it does house a roomy interdimensional portal.

More importantly, though, he's still one lone bird against multiple henchmen. Surely someone is bound to get off a shot at their attacker, as horrifying as that idea might be. It's these hypotheticals that some fans would undoubtedly ask during this whole sequence, and what Gunn wonderfully writes his way out of with perhaps one of the most innovative, dumbest plot devices ever used in a comic book adaptation.

At one point during Eagly's attack, he's cornered while wailing on one of the A.R.G.U.S. goons, leaving him exposed for anyone else to set their sights on Peacemaker's best bud. The only issue is that the only person who has their eye on the Eagly is a man suffering from an entirely fictitious condition of bird blindness. According to the team leader, Langston Fleury (Tim Meadows), he's unable to determine just what kind of feathered creature he's trying to kill, even referring to the noble creature as a duck on occasion (not that ducks aren't noble, of course).

In any other story, this could be handled terribly, but with Gunn's careful application of utter absurdity (something that Peacemaker is well-versed in), it feels more befitting of being wedged into a "South Park" episode than a chapter in the all-new DC universe. Here, though, it feels so fitting for a show that has been littered with stupid jokes that get stretched out, making them even funnier because of it. For now, we can only expect that Fleury's ailment is an ingenious bit of writing that we can only assume will reappear in the future. As it stands, Peacemaker isn't even aware of what's happened in his home, so you can bet that when he does find out his bird almost took a bullet, he's not going to be too happy with the man who came close to giving him one.

"Peacemaker" is available to stream on HBO Max.