James Gunn Revealed The Most Powerful Member Of Peacemaker's Crew (It's Not Peacemaker)

One of the fun aspects of comic-book superhero fandom is debating every character's power level, wondering what might happen if who fought who, what sorts of strengths and weaknesses they have, and so on. Sometimes these debates are backed up through some form of fact, with various major characters having their power levels canonized through some sort of roleplaying game, or trading cards, or official database, and the like. More often than not, though, fans are left to their own theories, guessing who's more powerful and why. In most cases, power levels seem self-evident. For instance, while it's entirely possible that Batman might beat Superman in a fight, given Batman's penchant for preparedness, there's little debate that Superman is a far more powerful being than the very human Bruce Wayne (just one reason why Bats shouldn't appear in a "Superman" sequel).

Sometimes, however, a major creator comes forward and states plainly what the power rankings of characters are. While this can be done within the body of the comics, movies, cartoons, or TV shows themselves, on occasion, it occurs through interviews or some other ancillary material. In the case of the crew of "Peacemaker," creator James Gunn just casually revealed the most powerful hero of the series in the post-show breakdown of the fifth episode of season 2, entitled "Back to the Suture." This program, entitled "Peace By Piece: Part Two," sees the DC Studios co-CEO give a State of the Union-style take on where all the characters of "Peacemaker" stand as the show heads into the back half of its second season. Amongst other comments, Gunn reveals that it's none other than Eagley (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker) who is the most powerful member of the "Peacemaker" crew.

Perhaps, after the first season of "Peacemaker," there may have been some doubt in fans' minds as to the prowess of Mr. Eagly. It would've been easy to write the bird off as a glorified mascot to Christopher Smith, aka Peacemaker (John Cena). Yet the second episode of this second season, directed by Greg Mottola and entitled "A Man Is Only as Good as His Bird," put all those debates to rest. The setpiece in which Eagly takes apart the A.R.G.U.S. task force led by the bird-blind Langston Fleury (Tim Meadows) is easily one of the best action sequences of the whole series so far. Like some of the other non-human combatants in Gunn's oeuvre, namely Rocket Raccoon from "Guardians of the Galaxy" and King Shark from "The Suicide Squad," Eagly is no mere animal, but a force to be reckoned with.

That reckoning occurs in "Back to the Suture," directed by Alethea Jones. In the episode, the ridiculously kooky Eagle hunter Red St. Wild (Michael Rooker) has a deadly showdown with Eagly, and only the strongest gets to survive. As Gunn states in his "Peace by Piece" interview, this episode reveals that Eagly may be even more special than we or anyone in the show previously realized:

"[Eagly is] probably the most powerful of the 11th Street Kids. He's going to have to face off with Red St. Wild. And we see that Red St. Wild's bulls-t about the primal eagle – maybe is not bulls—, that there is something incredibly special about Eagly."

In other words, chances are very good that there is more to Eagly than meets the eye. Not only is that something we're sure to find out more about, but it also allows Eagly to fit in more comfortably with the rest of the 11th Street Kids. To wit, all of them are people who've generally been overlooked, dismissed, ridiculed, or otherwise diminished in the eyes of the larger DC Universe, folks who either aren't seen as having all that much potential. Yet, as "Peacemaker" continues to prove, these 11th Street Kids (named for a Hanoi Rocks song about a tight-knit group of punk rockers) have a lot more up their sleeves than they may appear. In "Back to the Suture," we've already seen how Eagly is very likely the "Prime Eagle" that Red St. Wild speaks in hushed tones about. What this means for the "Peacemaker" crew going forward is anyone's guess. Suffice to say that, should anyone be interested in picking a fight with an 11th Street Kid, they shouldn't choose Eagly to mess with if they hope to survive.