James Gunn Defends Peacemaker Killing Rick Flag

James Gunn has spoken about the brutal moment in last year’s The Suicide Squad where Peacemaker killed his teammate Rick Flag.

As reported by Comic Book, Gunn defended Peacemaker’s actions when he killed Flag during the course of the film.

The subject has come up once again since the first 3 episodes of Peacemaker have now aired on HBO Max.

Peacemaker’s actions were in keeping with his beliefs, says James Gunn

Credit: HBO Max

Read more: Peacemaker Series Certified Fresh On Rotten Tomatoes

Sent to the island of Corto Maltese, Task Force X must destroy all evidence of something known as “Project Starfish”.

However, during the mission, Peacemaker reveals he has a mission to destroy all US involvement in the project.

This infuriates Flag, and while the two of them are fighting over a hard drive that contains the evidence, Peacemaker kills Flag by stabbing him through the heart.

While episode 2 of the series has Peacemaker remorseful over his actions, Gunn leapt to the character’s defense.

Speaking on Podly: The Peacemaker Podcast, he said:

He kills Rick Flag in The Suicide Squad because there’s a piece of evidence that he believes will cause the world a great amount of disturbance and death and violence. He’s covering up the truth, so if you believe in the truth being out there no matter what, you definitely don’t agree with that. He believes that the world is better off without that bit of information [about Project Starfish]. And if that means killing a guy he really likes and looks up to, he’s willing to do that.”

Later on in the film, Peacemaker was wounded by Bloodsport and left for dead, only for a post-credits scene to reveal he is alive.

Characters in superhero films can often appear to be dead, only for them to come back, case in point, Peacemaker.

But while Peacemaker survived the events of the film, Gunn confirmed that Flag did not.

Episodes 1-3 of Peacemaker are now available to watch on HBO Max.

What do you make of this news?

Was Peacemaker right to kill Rick Flag

Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

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