Peacemaker Ignored Key Season 1 Advice That Could Have Changed His DC Universe Story

The following contains spoilers for "Peacemaker" season 2. 

Christopher Smith, better known as the sorta-superhero "Peacemaker" (John Cena), isn't exactly the brightest bulb of the bunch. He's a big lughead with a surprisingly kind heart (despite his penchant for violence), raised by a white supremacist supervillain who passed on some of his ignorance but none of his hate. While Chris can occasionally say some things that come off as bigoted, especially in season 1, before he had been properly educated by his friends, the 11th Street Kids, he doesn't mean it. That skewed perspective has meant that he's ignored some very good advice, however, including a bit that would have changed his entire life's trajectory. 

All the way back in the beginning of the first episode of season 1, Peacemaker got some advice from Jamil (Rizwan Manji), a janitor working at the hospital where Chris was recovering from his "The Suicide Squad" injuries. Jamil finally recognizes Chris as "that racist superhero" and points out that he needs to "watch white people as closely as you watch people of color." If Peacemaker had actually done that, he might have noticed that the "dream reality" he discovered through his dead dad's closet portal in season 2 was actually one where Nazis won World War II instead of staying blissfully unaware until Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland) points it out. It's a genius commentary on the social blinders people have, and keeps ol' Chris consistent as a character even as he grows and becomes a better person. 

While Peacemaker says that he "will trust white people less in the future and kill a higher percentage of 'em" to appease Jamil, he clearly didn't fully take that lesson to heart because he was so easily won over by the white supremacist-run Earth X. There were hints all over the place for Chris to notice, from the more obvious lack of people of color in the world to mirror Harcourt not understanding slang popularized by Black culture, but he was so blinded by his need for a place to belong that he didn't really look at who he was trying to belong with. 

Peacemaker's story has been one of redemption, of some deeply damaged individuals (Peacemaker among them) learning to stop perpetuating cycles of abuse and forge new paths forward that aren't founded on hatred or fear. It's a plea for everyone who's even a little bit like Chris to open their eyes and try to see the world through someone else's perspective. Throughout the series, Chris has learned the most from his best friend, Leota Adebayo (Danielle Brooks), a badass Black lesbian who has helped him recognize both his privilege and his worth as a human outside of his horrible upbringing. If only she had warned him to keep an eye out for random copies of "Mein Kampf."

In addition to being a bit of a doofus sometimes, Chris was also blinded a bit by his privilege as a bisexual white man actively chasing a romance with a straight woman. It can be hard to see issues when they don't personally affect you, so it's not a huge shock that alarm bells didn't go off for him right away. (Other than not noticing the giant mural of Hitler at A.R.G.U.S. headquarters, anyway. That one's just pure goofy himbo nonsense.) 

The most important thing, however, is that the moment the wool is yanked away from over Chris's eyes and he sees exactly what kind of world he's aligned himself with, he immediately changes course. Instead of trying to rationalize it or defend his position, he breaks up with Mirror Harcourt and starts killing a bunch of Nazi A.R.G.U.S. agents alongside the real Emilia. 

Peacemaker might not be the smartest superhero, or the most observant, but at least he knows that Nazis are always the bad guys. Maybe he's not such a joke after all.